Cub Scout Woodworking Projects

[SeattlePioneer 144]

So....

 

 

What are the characteristics of a good Cub Scout (Tiger Cub, Wold or Bear) woodworking project?

 

What are good projects you have seen or done?

 

What ones didn't work well, and why?

 

 

[SSScout 1615]

This is a real "It Depends" thing. It depends on the responsible adult , it depends on whether they are Tigers or Webs, it depends on the tools available, workshop/garage/porch available.....

When you settle on a project, be it "personal" or a "group" thing, make sure the boys have a hand, first in the choosing, and second in the interpretation (if not the creation) of the plans....

Hand tools , for sure. Home Depot can provide good simple projects, small step stools, bird houses, kitchen spice racks....

And this is definitely not a PWD thing. You need to find a REAL project, something that is USEFUL. A bookcase....

One of the hardest things is finding the hand tools. So many folks have collected powertools of various types. A 9 year old who has learned to handle a handsaw and cut a straight kerf is a kid who has gained no small amount of confidence and motor control. Hand drill? Brace and bit? Holding and pushing a block plane?

This brings up the need to teach proper use. Never let the boy hold or use a tool unsafely or improperly. It is a TOOL. Respect the edge. It is not a "gun" or a "boat" or ...

 

Howzabout building a fence for your CO? Ever see a 8 or 9 year old use a posthole digger? It is a joy (to me) to see him lift and push that thing, and then "help" his dad/uncle/CM to get it deep. That is satisfaction, getting a deep hole! Or a play ground set? Play Castle ?

 

It should be a project that is relatively "mistake proof". That is to say, if the nail isn't exactly straight , or the cut perfect, it will still go together and function. Hence, a sturdy, simple step stool is good. You definitely let the boy try to cut with the saw, but if dad has to complete the job, that's okay. You make sure you make it clear that the boy has done a good try. As my dad, the one armed carpenter, use to say, putty and paint, glue and screw can hide a multitude of sins....

 

Building Cub Carts can be a fun thing. You get to "race" them afterward. The problem with these, tho, is who takes it home?

 

It just seems so many boys have no chance to use their hands , to stack and put together. When I do CSDC, I am always surprised (why? I've been doing this so many years) how so many of these boys seem to have no sense of where their hands are. Their lack of a proprioceptive sense becomes apparent in Archery, Crafts, even folding flags. It becomes fun for them as if they have had no previous chance of throwing a rope or ball (at age 7, 8??) .

 

Make the opportunity and watch the smiles....

[Fehler 118]

Best are projects that can be done in one meeting. Boys at this age are not in favor of putting down a half-finished project and picking it up later. Unless the next meeting is the painting/staining part.

 

Napkin holders are pretty easy. Two cuts, four nails, and done. Birdhouses are popular, But with the amount of time better to have all the wood pre-cut and nail holes pre-drilled, otherwise the time spent pulling out the nails and re-nailing them is a pain. Always nails, never screws (except that one screw in the back to hang it.

 

We did belt-loop displays, with a wood picture frame of 1X2, and long rubberbands strung accross it with a staple gun. Finish with stain, put a bracket on the back to hang it on the wall and the boys were pulling off their belts to get their loops on it as the meeting ended.

 

[Sidney Porter 104]

I think with wolves we made pinewood derby car display stands. It was 3 pieces of wood.

It was similar to this only the top was flat and was sized to fit inbetween the wheels.

http://www.pinewoodpro.com/pinewood-derby-car-stand.htm

[Sidney Porter 104]

We did not make it but the webelos den ahead of my son's made a catapult out of wood.

[Twocubdad 665]

Funny you should ask. Here's the presentation I'll be making this weekend:

Crafts & Woodworking

20 Minutes

 

Resources:

All levels of Cub Scout handbooks

Cub Scout Leader Handbook

Age-appropriateness Guidelines Chart

Whittlin’ Chip pocket cards

Idea books

 

Sample Tool Kit:

Hammer, saw, coping saw, hand drill, tape/ruler,

square, screw drivers, wrench, clamps, shooting

boards, sandpaper, goggles, gloves, thumb guard,

pencil.

 

Project Materials

Sweet potatoes, carving knives, instruction poster,

step stick, finished carving, drop cloth (if inside).

 

Introduction

Crafts are an iconic part of all summer camps, Cub Scout Day Camp included. Crafts give young boys valuable experience in a number of areas:

• Learning new skills

• Following directions

• Taking care of tools and materials

• Imagination

• Pride in craftsmanship

 

One of the big things crafts bring to a camp program is a focus on small motor skills. Day camps tend to be all about gross motor skills – running, climbing, canoeing, swimming. But crafts are about using your hands and fine coordination. The crafts lodge can also be a break from the loud, fast action of the rest of camp. It can provide the boys a calming time.

Selecting projects

Several factors are considered when selecting craft projects for camp. Camp projects should be interesting, fun and something the Scouts have not typically done in den meetings. Because day camps frequently cover several days and several sessions at the crafts lodge, day camp projects can be larger in scope that that for a typical den meeting. But think about how you will label and store individual project from day to day.

Other factors:

Age appropriateness -- Our starting point for this are the Age Appropriateness Guidelines in the Guide to Safe Scouting. Bottom line: No power tools and no knives for Tigers and Wolves.

 

Cost & Equipment – What is the budget and how much will each project cost? What tools and equipment will be needed? Do I need electricity and is it available? What alternate resources do we have for materials? How much time do we have?

Theme Relatedness – Craft projects are an excellent place to incorporate the Camp’s theme. Perhaps the craft becomes something useful in another camp activity, like musical instruments, costumes or props for a skit; raingutter boats for a later regatta; lures to be used at the fishing station. One camp with which I am familiar had a Lewis & Clark theme. Almost every man on the expedition kept a journal. The camp’s craft was for the boys to make a leather-bound journal which they used throughout the week of camp, recording advancement, results of activities and names of new den mates.

 

Safety

It is critical that all tools and equipment be safe, sharp and in good working order. Match the tools to the ability and strength of the boys. Safety is mostly about control. If you have a little guy struggling to hold a saw that is as big as he is , he can’t control it and won’t be safe. Teach the boys to use tools properly and safely. Consider having the boys earn their Whittlin’ Chip cards at camp, either as a part of crafts, or at a separate activity. Have sufficient qualified supervisors so they have enough eyes to see dangers before accidents occur.

 

 

Teaching Techniques

A leader’s job and challenge in teaching crafts is to pique each boys interest and curiosity and encourage him to try. It is important to give him the opportunity to be creative and be proud of his creation. I think it is important that we give our Scouts every chance to be successful. Success breeds all those great things we listed above. I hate going to a camp and seeing boys struggling with poorly maintained tools which are impossible to use. The Scouts get frustrated, ruin the projects, have no fun and reluctant to try that craft or hobby again.

 

To avoid that we need:

• Appropriate projects and equipment

• Step by step demonstrations

• Prepared drawings of each stage

• Buddy System

• Sample of end product.

(INTRODUCE PROJECT)

 

[Daped01 61]

I think with wolves we made pinewood derby car display stands. It was 3 pieces of wood. It was similar to this only the top was flat and was sized to fit inbetween the wheels. http://www.pinewoodpro.com/pinewood-derby-car-stand.htm

my wolves made this last night!

[SeattlePioneer 144]

On the PWD trophies boys made last year, the 2x4 riser was cut at a 45 degree angle, with a nail in front. The car sat on that angle and was held in place by the nail.

 

 

I make pumkin carving tools for use at Halloween. The rthin metal in a hanging file is removed and cut to length with sheet metal shears.

 

Boys put the metal between two pieces of wood and then nail the two pieces of wood together with the meatl in the middle.

 

The metal can be sharped easily with a grinder and cut to length as needed.

 

 

I'll be making stilts next Tiger Cub meeting. A 2x2"x8 foot piece of lumber is cut in half by the boys and two pieces of 2x4 lumber are nailed on as steps. Once built and decorated, the boys have fun learning to use their stilts.

[SeattlePioneer 144]

On the PWD trophies boys made last year, the 2x4 riser was cut at a 45 degree angle, with a nail in front. The car sat on that angle and was held in place by the nail.

 

 

I make pumkin carving tools for use at Halloween. The rthin metal in a hanging file is removed and cut to length with sheet metal shears.

 

Boys put the metal between two pieces of wood and then nail the two pieces of wood together with the meatl in the middle.

 

The metal can be sharped easily with a grinder and cut to length as needed.

 

 

I'll be making stilts next Tiger Cub meeting. A 2x2"x8 foot piece of lumber is cut in half by the boys and two pieces of 2x4 lumber are nailed on as steps. Once built and decorated, the boys have fun learning to use their stilts.

[Sidney Porter 104]

I would say that most of the stuff we have made: pinewood derby car stands, bird houses and bird feeders were pre cut. So it was mainly assembly. We ran into two problems not enough manual hand tools (everyone has electiric) so the few manually ones you have it takes awhile to let all of the scouts cut everything. I think for wolves they got to practice with all of the tools but the final projects was pre-cut.

 

We did make picture frames which they cut with a miter box we used wooded yard sticks as the wood, so the wood was pretty thin and quick to cut. The corners were 45 degree angles so there was some discussion around that. We walked around the house and looked at som trim work and discussed how the carpenter sometimes need to make compound miter cuts.

 

[Sidney Porter 104]

On the PWD trophies boys made last year, the 2x4 riser was cut at a 45 degree angle, with a nail in front. The car sat on that angle and was held in place by the nail.

 

I hink I like you design better for a display purpose. It sounds like it displays the top of the cars better. The ones we made you end of seeing the side of the car which usually isn't as interesting.

[Stosh 3452]

Popsicle sticks and beads the diameter of the width of the Popsicle sticks. Using the awl on their jack-knives, make a hole 1/4 " from one end on all their sticks and a second one at the 1/2 way point of the stick. Lace all the sticks together through the hole at the end with elastic cording. Then thread alternating between stick and beads through the holes at the midway point with same elastic cordage. Once you have enough, tie off. Should look like a circle trivet for mom to use in the kitchen. It also folds up a bit for storage.

 

By the way, my mom used hers on a regular basis until she passed at the age of 74. It's back in my drawer now.

 

Just moved to a new home so I can't locate it right off to let you know how many sticks and beads one needs for each trivet. One may have to make one to get the count.

 

No power-tools needed and a toothpick may be needed to push the elastic cordage through depending on how well the boys do on the holes. If one has a hand crank drill that would make the holes a lot quicker. Boys would need to measure out and mark hole locations before drilling.

 

May not be a work of art, could paint it if one wanted to, I never did, but it was useful. Elastic cord broke once and was replaced and it was as good as new in no time at all.

 

Stosh

[SeattlePioneer 144]

I attended the Mt Baker Council University of Scouting/Pow Wow a couple of weeks ago.

 

At the Cub Scout Woodcraft class, a simple catapult was built by all:

 

 

The materials were a paint stirring stick, a rubber baqnd and a couple of sections of 1/2" PVC pipe.

 

Cut one piece of pipe a couple of inches long and put the rubber bacd around the pipe, then around the paint stirring stick and again around the pipe, so that the pipe holds the stick off a table. That's your catapult.

 

Another small piece of PVC pipe is hot melt glued into an end of the stick to hold what you launch.

 

Put a small marshmallow in the pipe to launch, AND BEND THE STICK DOWN TO THE TABLE ---- SPROOONG!

 

A nice, simple project. lenty of fun having contests for distance and hitting targets.

 

Probably would be a good activity for a recruiting night.

 

Cheap, simple and fun.

[hondaman 26]

When I was in Cub Scouts, we had quite a few good projects, some of which are still sitting around my place or my mom's place today.

 

We didn't do any wood projects in my Tiger year, but I think a lot of that had to do with when I was a Tiger. Tigers were still a newish thing when I was in Cub Scouts. I wore the bright orange sweatshirt with the iron-on paws and the orange and white cap, and we didn't even have specific paws back then--they were all black paws. I'm not 100% sure about this, but I think they started having "achievements" in the mid-90s; if anyone can confirm that would be great!!

 

In our Wolf year, we made three projects. One was a bird feeder, which I actually still have and used for many years. I'm not sure if it was a Cub Scout kit or just one we found at the local home improvement store (back before we had Lowe's and Home Depot in my area!) but it was pretty easy to put together and emphasized the correct use of a hammer--plus it had a nature component since we talked about birds a bit. Later that year, we made Santa Clauses out of hammer handles. This was more of a craft project than an actual wood project, but it did use a few wooden pieces. I still have this Santa and put him up every Christmas! Our final project was a key rack. I'm not sure if it required much more than gluing pieces together, but it had to have been an official BSA product since it had the logos and everything on it--and I'm pretty sure we did sanding with this one (come to think of it, I think we had to sand all of these projects since I remember every boy had one of those black rectangular sanding blocks).

 

As Bears, we made a bird house. Again, this was an exercise in proper hammer use and had a nature connection. Yes, I put it up near my bird feeder. Again, I'm not sure if it was a kit or not. Later, we made a larger wooden snowman. Like the Santas, these were more of a craft project and were based off a snowman my mother (our Den Leader) had found at a craft show--my grandfather made a template for it.

 

The only thing I remember making in WEBELOS was a bug box out of either maple or pine. We used a staple gun on this one. I'm pretty sure there was balsa or corkwood on this somewhere, too--I seem to remember cutting it with either a small saw or an Xacto knife.

 

While we're on this subject, I must say I'm surprised at the number of boys who can't use a hammer properly by the age of 11. I have taught woodworking courses at my church for children aged 7-11, mostly boys (occasionally some girls). In any given group, almost 80% of the boys start out holding the hammer near the head, then get frustrated with them. Occasionally, you'll get someone who really knows what they're doing (my best hammerer was actually a girl), but it seems it's just become a lost art. I think I spent more time showing these kids how to hammer than anything!

 

One word of advice--if you've got Tigers or other younger boys (or boys who haven't swung a hammer yet), start them off with a ball peen hammer. The smaller size makes it easier for them, especially if they aren't all that strong. Work up to a claw hammer once they master the smaller one.

[hondaman 26]

Also, to add to my previous post....I thought of a good idea for WEBELOS-aged boys, based on my first shop project from middle school (since power tools aren't required unless you're the one cutting the pieces, I feel a fourth/fifth grader can handle it). It's a letter opener and is a two-day job.

 

Get a piece of cherry wood. Cut it into 6" x 1" pieces. Then, do the same for maple. Have the boys use a ruler and a coping saw to cut the maple piece in half, then shape one end of each piece so that it is rounded. The tool to use here is a double-cut file. To me, there is no better tool to introduce than a file, since it requires both precision and patience. In a day and age of instant gratification, it's all too common to see boys become frustrated with files (keep in mind they've never known a world without one-click downloads).

 

This will require the use of a vise for support; I recommend getting the vacuum-mounted vises (they're about $15 and should stick to just about any surface; I've mounted mine to everything from wooden workbenches to ceramic tile). Glue the two pieces on the base of the cherry piece (one on each side) to create the handle. This whole process should take about 30 minutes or so to this point. Since the glue will need to set, it's a good idea to set it aside and do something else for the rest of your meeting.

 

The following week, devote an entire meeting to this project. Shape the blade and some handle grips. It's also a good idea to round off the end. Again, use a double-cut file and a vise. This should take them a while. Once this is done, sanding can be performed. Emphasize the use of 80 grit, 120 grit, and 220 grit in that order (since you'll want a coarse sandpaper to take out the file marks, medium to remove marks left by the coarse, and fine to finish things off). Wrapping sandpaper around the file works very well. Finally, use linseed oil as a finish (make sure you have Borax or pumice soap on hand to clean up with).

 

This project takes a little longer, but I could see it being done over the course of two meetings.