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pin layout

I knife the tails onto the pin board. I haven't used a pencil for a couple of years now. It seems like every few years I pick up a new method doing dovetails. 

the exciting part

Pins meshing with the tails off the saw. I had to trim one pin on the top board. It was snug but going together. However, it was also splitting the board.

hmm.....

Not quite what I was expecting on the door fit. The height is about an 1/8" shy but the length is over about the same. I was expecting both measurements to be on the short side.

this is ugly looking

The carcass is dry fitted and the diagonals were less than a 16th off. This gap is tapered too with it wide at the bottom tapering away to nothing at the top.

fussy time

Spent some quality time see sawing back and forth trying to get the diagonals to agree dead nuts. I got the back that way but the front I could only manage to get them to less than a 16th

aren't square

One of the doors is less than a 16th and the other is off by an 8th. But from my way of thinking on it, this isn't enough to cause the gap I have between the carcass and the doors.

Big Red to the rescue

According to Big Red this door is square all the way around. This is the one that diagonals were off less than a 16th.

hmm......

Big Red said the top two corners are square but the bottom two aren't.

head and butt scratching

I don't understand this headache. I thought that maybe the sides were bowed but they aren't. A straight edge laid on the outside and inside says they are flat and straight. Still have a tapered gap on both doors - the right one a wee bit more than the left one.

planing the doors

I laid the doors in the opening and penciled a line that I planed down to. I bought this Lee Valley jack plane about 12 years ago to be my main #5 bench plane. But after a couple months I changed my mind. I use it now 99% of time to plane end grain. This plane is phenomenal at planing end grain and the iron edge retention is the best of any plane I own. 

hmm......

The left door fits in the opening snugly. The tapered gap has shrunk a lot but it is still there.

right side door

The door is a looser fit then its left side sibling but the ugly, tapered gap is still there. I am at a loss to explain it. The door is square and the carcass inside corners are square - WTF?

door astragal

I plan on using an astragal to cover the the joint line where the doors meet. It will also serve another purpose. If I have to shim the doors, I can hide the shim under the astragal. This way I won't have to glue one on the hinge side of either door. I think the left door will be ok but I will probably have to add a shim to the right hand drawer.

needs a switch

Still haven't been able to locate a switch for this router. All I know about it that is it was made in England and no tool repair sites have a switch. All of them list it as without replacement. It wouldn't turn on when plugged in - I thought I had left it hardwired on but I hadn't. I need to rout a rabbet in the doors for the glass.

I've been thinking of buying another router and I'm leaning towards getting a plunge router. But I can't make up mind on cordless or corded. Maybe Santa is listening to me moan about it.

done

Rabbets routed and the corners squared up. I plan on using flush (to the front) muntins on these doors.

double checking, again

Big Red says this corner is kind of square. The bottom is square but it runs out with a gap of about a 16th at the top of the blade.

confusing

This is the back of the carcass and the left side has a gap. 3 corners are square and this one is toast. On the front 3 corners are square with the 4th close but no cigar.

Big Red Says

Not one photon is leaking by at this corner.

more confusion

The diagonals at the front are dead nuts the same. Both say 45" outside corner to outside corner. Big Red says the inside corners are square. The left door lays up square and tight on its side but the right still has a tapered gap. I spent my post stroll trying to come up with a reason why it is OTL (out to lunch). Clueless as to why. This will probably change too once I glue the carcass up.

Spent a lot of dead time in the shop cycling through checking the same things over and over and no light bulb came on. It was starting to be frustrating so I killed the lights and left the shop early.

accidental woodworker

I decided to move up a size on the side axe, for these wider panels today. I handled it ages ago, but forgot that I had smoothed the new handle, so I was able to go straight at it.

I was a bit concerned that I had put too much offset into the handle, but it worked beautifully and made short work of rough flattening the board.

Then onto the bench for scrub plane and then jointer.

A stubborn low point persisted; but that's what smoothing planes are for. Lovely big panel.

yikes

First day that the temp got below 32F - 0C. I thought it was a wee bit chilly when I went to grocery store this AM. The first day of winter is the 21st, 16 days from now. By 1600 the temp had only zoomed up to 28F - -2.2C. Hope it warms up again to above freezing soon.

hmm......

Figuring out the width of the bookcase. As is the board is 11 1/4" wide. There will be a 3/4" back and 3/4" for the doors that will eat up some of the width. That makes the width available at around 9+ inches. 

A standard hardcover book is 6" x 9" and it is called an 'octavo'. Most books (hard/soft cover) fall mostly between 5" x 8" to 8.5" x 11". Most of the books I have fall well within these dimensions. This will work for most books and I don't want to glue up stock to make it wider. 

reference edge

Worked on sizing the sides and top and bottom. First batter was getting one edge, flat, square, and straight. This is one of the few time I use my #8.

done

The width ended up at 11 3/16" which is wider than I expected it to be. Ends are squared off and the length is a 16th under what the width and height of the doors are.

dovetails are in the batter's box

I always lay out for dovetails the same way. The reference edge becomes the back with the reference face, facing out. I mark the inside with an X and label the corners.

half pins sawn

Chopping the tail waste. I thought of sawing the waste with a coping saw but nixed it. I like chopping the waste and it is easy and quick in soft pine.

tails done

I still have to clean the baselines and tomorrow I'll do that before I layout for the pins.

expensive

Spent about two hours searching the web for these handles. What I find incredibly stupid is that these are sold by the each. I looked at a bazillion sites selling them and not one offered them as a pair. What good is one chest handle? It is like selling a car with only two tires. A point that will drive me to buy these again is that they come with oval head brass screws! I got these from Hardwick & Sons.

what I bought them for

Haven't given this to my sister yet. Realized moving it around a few times that it is awkward to pick up. Right now it is empty but with stuff in it, it will be even more awkward to pick up and move.

Funny thing happened the other day. My ability to answer comments as R Boumenot is working again. For a couple of years I could only respond to comments anonymously. Another quirk with blogger that has come 360 again.  

accidental woodworker

The creak of the door is slight and the hint of finish lingers, but in the light it somehow feels empty. The tangy smell of fresh cut cherry is gone and the dust that once floated in the air has settled. There is a strangeness to the shop when a project is complete, it is not a feeling of loss, but one that announces change. Lumber that was cut and dimensioned became legs and rails, curves and joints. The bench still holds chisels and saws, a square, and pencil as if misplaced.

Measuring tools are placed in their drawers and chisels at the sharpening station. A brush whisks shavings off the table top while a broom sweeps them into a pan. Soon there are only unsharpened tools, then only a pencil remains.

It’s been a year since the bar stools were complete and many things happened over that time, a trip to Olympic national park, the beginnings of several new projects and of course time with family and friends. Like many bloggers I have gaps in what I post, but I offer no apologies or explanations just thanks for following along and your questions and comments are always welcome. In the next few weeks I will tidy up my half finished notes and send them out, many will not have stories but they are over a year old and I have others to post.

I did want to note the passing of Hobbes (its been well over a year) but as you all know dogs hold a special place in our hearts and he certainly spread his energy (only English Setter owners will fully understand) over 14 years. Run my friend, run……

Recently Li’l T got a small rasp and has been going to town carrying it around the house with the rasp and a scrap workpiece from Dada’s latest project.  The time has come for Grandpa to think about lighting the torch to be passed to this little guy and his littler brother, Mighty M, who wants to be doing everything his big brother is doing.  Littlest brother Wondrous W is only a month old so he is behind the curve for now, as is their cousin Dynamic D who is nine months old.  Yeah, walking and talking are helpful in the process.

About 35 years ago I made a pair of half-scale but honest to goodness workbenches for my girls.  To that end I recently took Mama’s workbench to live in Dada’s little workshop in the garage for Li’l T amd Mighty M to sue to their hearts content.

This new epoch makes tools a part of the equation for every Christmas and birthday from this point on.  Whew.

 Yesterday I walked my full route and although I finished it, I felt it. My legs hurt  a little bit this AM. It took me about 10 minutes longer than it had before I got sick. I had woke up at 0545 this AM but I rolled over and fell back to sleep until after 0700. Today I walked 3/4 of my normal route and I'll keep at that one for a week or so. I didn't think I would need to work back up to what I had been walking.

done

I got 3 coats of shellac on both of these. The left one I will mail to my sister. The one on the right will live in the boneyard. 

last one for 2025

I'm not sure what to call this project. It is a bookcase that will have two glass doors. I have enough pine to make this but not for the back. I'll have to make a road trip to Woodcraft in Woburn to buy a couple sheets of 6mm plywood.

stickered

I picked the flattest boards I had in the stash for the carcass. Top, bottom, and sides being allowed to get any stupid wood tricks out of their system for 24 hours.

I sized the boards so that they were a 16th under the size of the two doors. I would rather deal with the opening being under vice over sized. I haven't decided on a front/back measurement yet. The boards as is are 11 1/4" and my initial choice for the depth is 11". Most books aren't that wide. hmm........

accidental woodworker

 The oohs and aahs commenced at 0753. It seemed like it had taken me a bazillion years to finish this. Glad to finally put a check mark in the done column and see what is next in the queue.

glamour pic #1

I used a dab of red Lock tite on all 3 drawer knobs. In hindsight this would have presented a little better if the two bottom drawers were half their current heights.

glamour pic #2

The dovetails are symmetrical but not evenly spaced. I have wanted to try something like this for a while and I like it.

glamour pic #3

All the exterior surfaces are cherry with the exception of the quarter round moldings on the single drawer enclosure.

last glamour pic

I had to plane the single drawer because it was sticking. I planed the right side top edge and hollowed the back. The drawers aren't a piston fit but when closing the bottom two drawers, air pushes open the non closing drawer.

new one

My sister got back to me and she said the compartment was too wide - she only had about 1/2" thickness worth of cards. She didn't like the height of it neither. I shortened it on the height and the length.

hmm.......

Miters first and then do the grooves. I don't have to worry about blowouts planing across the grooves.

shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't

Penciled in the miters and then measured from toe to toe. Got way past the needed 3". I marked and sawed it off at 3 1/4".

dry fit

Decided to round the front edge. I think based on the scale of this that a rounded front edge will look better than it being squared off.

layout

This is easy to layout. Extend the center line of the bottom onto the cherry. Put the pencil on one side end point and place the compass point on the cherry board center line. Lay out the arc easy peasy.

not quite half

yikes

It is 3 frog hairs over 3" wide. On the dry fit it was 3 1/8". I noticed that the miters were not even. That is because the thickness of the back piece isn't the same as the sides. Fingers crossed that the cards my sister has are a few frog hairs shy of 3".

accidental woodworker 

Source

Almost but it doesn't count for projects, only hand grenades and horseshoes. I might be able to get the final coats of shellac on after dinner. But if I don't the oohs and aahs will definitely commence tomorrow.

I had too

Picked it up several times and it held together. No evidence whatsoever of it groaning or disliking being picked up. I didn't shake it - just lifted it this way and by the sides. Satisfied my curiosity about the dowels being strong enough to support the whole carcass.

my favorite router

I have 12(?) routers and this is the one I would save and take in case of a fire. Routing the depth on the cross dadoes for the front partition.

the last to be done

This is it for the shellac. I got 6 coats on the drawer fronts and fingers were crossed, that I would get 6 on this before I killed the lights.

miters shot

The 1/8" plywood I am using for the bottom swelled a wee bit. I had to sand the edges with 80 grit before it fit in the groove for the bottom. The scrap pieces in the groove were to prevent blowout while shooting the miters.

sizing the bottom

I entertained the thought of making the front edge rounded instead of leaving it squared off. Since this is the prototype I went for square. Clamped this dry and got the length of the front partition.

left wiggle room

I extended the bottom past the front edge by a 1/4". Room for a small rounded front or I can plane it flush and square. Depends upon the mood I'm in when and if that happens.

dry fit

This was a tricky glue up. The PITA was keeping the back miters aligned as I attempted to clamp it. It took a lot of cajoling, threats, and well thought out expletives before it looked good. Stopped fussing with it and walked away to let it sit.

stop

I'll saw off a piece of this cherry to act as a stop for the cards. Donna wants to display one while the others are stowed.

doable

Got four coats on before I killed the lights. It is looking like I'll have six on before I hit the rack tonight.

hmmm.....

Eyeballing this one last time to make sure it hadn't shifted on me. I didn't touch it, just eyeballed it from all the angles especially the miters. I cut out three 2" x 3" pieces of cardboard to check out the fit. The 2" is fine but the 3" is toast.

wee bit shy

I made the back 3 5/8" thinking that was enough for the miters to leave the width a bit more than 3". I was wrong and I'm under 3" and the cards don't fit. At least I'll able to proof the concept and check if this is something my sister was looking for.

came today

This book is the zenith of wooden plow plane porn. I read 25 pages right after lunch. I might be finished with this before lights out.

accidental woodworker 

 The current project is inches from the finish line. Shellac is going on and I should be done with that in the AM tomorrow. Started on a quickie project for my oldest sister. Her explanation of what she wanted was as clear as mud. So round one may stay a prototype.

done

The sanding is finally done. I had to do one more round of sawdust and super glue on the half blind tail gaps. Thankfully super glue sets almost instantly under sanding pressure so it didn't hold anything up.

huh?

How did I forget to plug this?

did this side but......

I'm glad that this done woodworking wise. However, based on the past hiccups I have had to deal with, I'm half expecting to have something else pop up and shake hands with me.

hmm........

Part of the 1/8" dowel broke off in this hole. I tried getting a brad nail in it to extract but it wasn't working. Nail is dead centered but every time I pulled on it just the nail came away.

#1 flat head screw

This worked and effortlessly pulled the dowel out. If this hadn't worked, drilling it out was next in the queue.

glued and cooking

Fingers crossed that this will be the bee's knee. I think it will be fine dealing with the bottom expansion and contraction but not so sure on picking it up by the single enclosure.

3 coats

The 3 drawers have 3 coats everywhere. At least 3 more coats to go on the fronts and the sides.

the new project

This is a small project for holding cards, 2" x 3", with inspirational sayings, with a 'stand' to display one at the front. 

cross dado

The back will be mitered and the dado is the front wall of the card storage compartment. The bottom will go from the back all the way to the front.

I'll be back

The plan is to return to the shop a couple of times before and after dinner. I got 3 coats on the carcass bottom, back, and sides. I want to get four on the bottom before flipping it and slapping 5-6 coats on the top and the single drawer enclosure.

accidental woodworker 

Well boys and girls the big event finally happened. At 1117 today I went on my first post lunch stroll in about 3 weeks. The first part of the walk is up one hill, down  another one, and finally up one more hill before hitting flatness. All went well and better than I anticipated. I got winded on the first hill, out of breath when I got to the top. Within 30 feet I was walking without any shortness of breath. 

I got back to the barn an hour and 12 minutes after I left. I only walked 1/2 of the route I usually do. I wasn't breathing hard and my legs didn't ache. I also didn't feel the need to nod out at my desk. Tomorrow I'll try walking my usual but I'll do it slowly.

small chamfer

There were a few chips missing on the edges with the tails/pins. I planed a small chamfer on the front and sides to remove them. The chamfer also broke the sharp edge of the arris. That softened the squareness of it a lot.

hmm.......

This sucks because of where it is. I thought of doing a small chamfer on the inside front edges but nixed it. To my eye, having a chamfer on the inside and outside edges would look silly. Instead I'm going to leave this as is. I will ever so lightly sand it just enough to soften the sharp edges. 

wash, rinse, and repeat

I couldn't find any cherry that even remotely came close to matching this in color or grain. I'll treat this the same as the single drawer opening. There is another chip on the back that will get the same treatment.

hmm....

After sanding with 150 a couple of more gaps popped out and said hello. Filled them in with cherry sawdust and super glue. Decided to kill the lights here and head upstairs for the duration. Sanding is not something I like doing and any excuse to not doing it seemed like a fine idea.

The pneumonia/cold continues to improve. I have now spent 4 nights in a row where I slept straight through. No waking up due to coughing. The amount of snot I'm blowing into tissues is way down from a 100lbs per hour to about a pound. Don't want to jinx myself by saying I'm cured yet. The wife is also feeling and looking better, but she isn't out of the woods yet neither.

accidental woodworker  

 I'm feeling so much better but that comes with a caveat. I am also bone weary, and I just want to lie down and do nothing. I felt good when I first woke this AM but I then nodded out at my desk after posting for over 3 hours. I think the pneumonia cough is gone and the cold, has improved, but lingers still. Not a 100% yet but I think I'm close, oh so close.

Still haven't gone on a post lunch stroll. I am going to try a walk around the block tomorrow to see how well I do. Not sure how that will go. Will I be short of breath or will the exertion of it be too much. I'll find out either way then.

knob layout

Before I changed my mind on the knobs, I laid them out. Simply centered them on the drawer fronts.

sneak peek

I like this look. The knobs are just large enough where they don't over power their drawer fronts. They should pop a wee bit more once the shellac is applied.

last step

The woodworking is done, I think and I'm ready for finish. Before the final sanding I filled any gaps in the tails/pins with cherry sawdust and super glue. 

the plan

Went back and forth on how to attach the single drawer enclosure to the two drawer top. Initially I was going to use epoxy but I didn't have a warm and fuzzy with that. Instead I decided on using 1/8" dowels. I am using 3 dowels on 1/2 the length of each side. Clipped brad nails were used to transfer the dowel positions between the single and the two drawer enclosures.

fingers crossed

Ready to see how well I did. I used a drill guide to drill the holes in the enclosure and the top. The wooden pins are a frog hair thinner than the 1/8" holes I drilled. Not sure if I would need that amount of wiggle room.

ta da

Nailed it, literally. The back is flush with  the back of the bottom but the centering is off. The right side is a 1/8" off center from the left side. I can't see it and I thought I had been extra careful when I laid it out. The important thing is the dowels all lined up dead on.

the tedious part

I have already sanded with 80 and 120 with sanding blocks. I'll finish with 150 and 220 before calling it done. I stopped after sanding this with 150. Hopefully I'll finish the sanding in the AM/PM tomorrow.

accidental woodworker

A feature on the front page of the Heritage Crafts Association, for all of our hand tool work shown there.

A Voice for Craft - Heritage Crafts |

A direct link to the page.

Jon Bayes, Maker at Heritage Crafts |

Also, this week a date has been set for the exhibition at Birdwood House, Totnes for the same stuff; put the date in your diary and come along and show support; 11-18th July 2026. All the furniture and woodworking demonstrations, obviously!

And in other exciting news, my welcome pack from the Guild of Master Craftsmen arrived, replete with stickers for the van.

One of our family’s favorite children’s books is called Very Worried Walrus. It was part of the Sweet Pickles books published in the late 1970s. Each book featured an animal character (such as Moody Moose or Responsible Rabbit) whose all-too-human foibles got him or her into trouble. Some of the stories are better-conceived than others, but the story of Worried Walrus is perfect. If you ever find a used copy, get it.

The premise of the story is that Walrus is about to ride his bike, but he is worried about all the things that might go wrong. His companion, Positive Pig, being of an optimistic disposition, encourages him to try anyway. Nearly the whole book is taken up with Walrus spinning out a tale of mishap upon mishap that ends with him being nearly drowned in a river and trudging miserably for endless miles at night in the rain. Of course, it’s all in his imagination, and once Pig shakes Walrus out of his self-inflicted nightmare, Walrus reluctantly gets up on his bike, starts riding, and immediately crashes. He gets up, dusts himself off, and realizes that he is fine–and that’s where the book ends.

It’s an insightful, funny lesson about the senselessness of what we now call catastrophizing. And the story has proved to be a reliable guide as I have considered the best approach to safety in the workshop, especially when I have gotten my kids involved and taught them to use my tools.

Periodically I have published articles that feature my kids participating in the craft. And every time–and I mean every time, aside from this blog–I have published an image of one of my kids doing woodworking, some well-meaning grown-up has wagged a virtual finger while providing a mini-lecture on safety.

“Shouldn’t that toy box have a soft-close support for the lid so the kids’ fingers don’t get slammed in the chest!?!”

No, sir, it shouldn’t. The kids know the lid is heavy, and they know better than to let their fingers get caught in it. Same as you. How dumb do you think my kids are?

“Shouldn’t that child be supervised while she uses those tools?!?”

Sir, where do you think I was when I took the picture? I was standing right there. Do you think these pictures just take themselves?

But my favorite safety-first reaction was when a nationally-circulating woodworking magazine ran a picture of my kids using handsaws and eggbeater drills, and one reader wrote in chiding me for not having my kids wearing safety glasses.

Sir, have you ever actually used tools like these? When was the last time you were sawing a board by hand and had a wood chip fly up and hit you in the face? How often does an eggbeater drill spray dust in your eyes? What possible use would safety glasses be in an environment like this? Do you wear steel-toed boots when picking up a package from your front porch? Do you wear welding gloves when pouring hot coffee–you know, just in case?

(My actual answer to the letter was a little more diplomatic, but that’s what I wanted to say. I feel better now. Thanks for listening.)

That letter in particular got me thinking not about injuries that could occur to my kids but ones that have actually occurred to them. I made two quick lists, one of things my kids have gotten hurt doing, and another of things my kids haven’t gotten hurt doing:

My kids have hurt themselves while…..

• Walking down stairs
• Walking up stairs
• Closing a door
• Skating
• Getting in the van
• Drinking milk
• Cuddling the cat
• Playing soccer
• Jumping on the trampoline
• Playing on a Nintendo Wii

My kids have not, however, hurt themselves while…..

• Shooting a bow and arrow
• Tending a campfire
• Sawing boards
• Handplaning boards
• Using an electric drill
• Using a sharp carving gouge

Just like everybody else, my kids have hurt themselves while doing ordinary, everyday activities, yet not once has the injury been debilitating or life-threatening. My kids actually have a superb safety record in the wood shop. We’ve had a few cuts that required Band-Aids, but that’s it.

That’s because they know the tools are sharp. When you use tools regularly and in the proper manner, you develop a respect for what they can do–both to the workpiece and to you. I remember some years ago I had ordered a new blade for a hand plane. My kids noticed that the the blade was wrapped up with paper announcing “Caution! Sharp!” I could practically hear the kids rolling their eyes. “Of course it’s sharp!” they said. “It’s a woodworking tool!”

I am not saying that I would hand a sharp carving chisel to just any 8- or 10-year-old. Children have to be gradually introduced to tools of all kinds if they are to learn to use them properly–which includes using them safely. In our house, age 10 was a rite of passage: that’s when each child got his or her first pocketknife. It’s the smallest Swiss Army Knife with a little blade, a file, and scissors. Carrying that tool around gets them used to using sharp blades to solve little real-world problems like opening boxes and snipping threads.

My wife and I also taught them how to handle pots and pans on a hot stove. When they were preteens, we assigned each one to be a kitchen assistant one night a week. That included helping with food prep, cooking, and cleanup. Now as teenagers, they can each cook a whole meal–and wash the dishes afterward–totally unsupervised.

When they were younger, my kids were shocked to learn that some of their friends still weren’t allowed to use the stove. I know their parents were just trying to keep their kids safe, but they’re also depriving their children of the opportunity to learn real-world skills. If people don’t learn to cook or clean or fix things as kids, then when are they going to learn these things at all? When they’re as big as we are? By then it’s far too late. The body may be “big enough,” but the motor skills required to deftly flip a pancake or drive in a nail won’t be there unless the skill has been practiced already. Instead, these young adults will have learned that “I don’t do that. Mom and Dad do that for me.” It’s called “learned helplessness,” and it’s debilitating.

I have discovered that many of us adults are pretty poor judges of relative risk–telling the difference between things that look risky but aren’t vs. things that don’t look risky but are likely to cause damage. I know parents who wouldn’t let their kids touch a pan on a hot stove, but they’ll give their kid a smartphone and allow hours of unsupervised access to the internet and social media. But let that kid try to saw a board in half with a handsaw, and we immediately run up and try to put safety goggles on him.

I promise I’m not an advocate of free-range parenting. I’m just not into smothering children. I want my kids to grow up into mature, responsible, independent adults who know how to use tools to solve real-world problems. Learning how to do that involves taking little risks here and there. No risk, no learning.

When I’m deciding when to allow my kids to take risks, I have found it useful to think through the worst-case scenario. Not in an “Oh-my-gosh-that-looks-so-dangerous!!!” way, but in a “what is really the worst that is likely to actually happen?” way. In other words, given the laws of physics and the tendencies of human nature, what is the worst thing that could go wrong here?

At the stove, it’s a burn, a cut, possibly some broken glass–nothing that you or I haven’t had happen to us in our own kitchens from time to time, and nothing that first-aid can’t take care of. It’s the same with most hand-powered tools. With a hand saw, for example, it would be very difficult to inflict an injury on yourself that couldn’t be treated with a Band-Aid. A chisel used inappropriately could send you to the ER for a few stitches–and I know because I’ve done it to myself! But that’s about the worst accident that’s likely to happen.

There are, of course, other kinds of woodworking that are far more dangerous, like ripping thin boards on a table saw or cutting up a fallen tree with a chainsaw. Those are activities that, if something goes catastrophically wrong, could leave you permanently disabled.

Then again, so can driving a car. But somehow, I’m guessing that if I posted a picture of a 15-year-old kid using my chainsaw (even with proper safety gear) I would get a few safety-mongers wagging their fingers, even though that same kid can be legally allowed to guide a 1-ton piece of metal at the rate of over a mile a minute down a concrete path within mere feet of other, similar machines, many of which are being operated by people who could well be texting or drunk–as long as I’m sitting next to her.

In reality, we take reasonable risks like driving and cooking every day because we know those activities are worthwhile and necessary, and because we have developed the skills to do these things fairly safely. We didn’t learn those skills by avoiding those activities. At some point, we had to put the car in gear. We had to turn on the stove. That’s why I think it’s really important for kids to grow up using basic tools of all kinds: hammers and nails, drills and screws, saws and hatchets, wrenches and screwdrivers, without grown-ups trying to wrap them up in unnecessary safety gear. They also need to know how to use pots and pans, spatulas and kitchen knives. And they need to know how to use that most basic tool of all–fire. Because soon they will grow up and need these skills, and I won’t always be there to supervise them.

Life is harder than it looks. Cooking, woodworking, even just tending a fire–these things aren’t easy. When you first start building fires, you will be surprised that the trick isn’t usually to keep it from spreading and burning down the whole neighborhood; the trick is to keep it going at all. On a screen, a few swipes or taps or clicks in the right order will usually get you the results you want, whether it’s the image of a fire onscreen or a fast-food meal delivered to your doorstep. But if you want a real fire or a real meal, you’ve got to learn to use the tools yourself. No risk, no learning.

Take something as basic as flipping a fried egg in a skillet. It’s a simple thing, but it takes practice with tools that, if used inappropriately, can hurt you. Because the egg will not simply conform to your will just because you want it to flip. It seems to me that we are raising a generation of kids who think that tasks are supposed to be easy, that the egg is somehow going to flip by itself–or that Mom will always be there to flip the egg for them–or that flipping an egg is as easy in real life as it was on that cute restaurant game they played on the iPad as kids. But in real life, if they want a nicely cooked egg, they’re going to have to spend some time right next to a hot stove burner.

What’s the worst that is likely to happen if we let them try cooking over a hot stove? Maybe a burn or a cut.

But what’s the worst that is likely to happen if we don’t let them try to cook or use a sharp tool or light a fire? A lifetime of dependence, an irrational fear of minor injuries, and a complete lack of real-life skills. I don’t want to run the risk of my kids not learning how to cook meals or do simple household repairs, even if that means we go through a box of Band-Aids every so often.

You and I are going to disagree about exactly how much safety to impose on our kids, and that’s okay. Families are different, and kids are different from each other. I’ve known 8-year-olds that I would trust with a chef’s knife and 16-year-olds that I wouldn’t trust with a Q-Tip. You have to use reasonable judgment in these things.

What I’m asking for here is that we apply the virtue of moderation to our sense of safety. Of course we should take reasonable safety precautions, but that doesn’t mean that all precautions are reasonable. Some are unreasonable. Reasonable safety precautions are those that are focused on preventing the most common and the most catastrophic accidents, and that allow the work to be done in a reasonably effective and efficient way. There is such a thing as being too safety-conscious. You know you’re trying to be too safe if (1) you are trying to protect yourself or others from threats that don’t actually exist, or if (2) your safety precautions are more likely to cause harm than to prevent it.

A classic example is the guy who insists on wearing work gloves while using the band-saw. Wearing gloves sounds safer than sending a board through a moving blade bare-handed, right? Wrong. Because the moment that blade hits the glove, it will pull the glove down into the machine and probably pull your finger down with it. Better to use the band-saw bare handed and risk a few splinters or even a nick with the blade itself.

In the same way, if you’re going to teach your kids to cook at the stove (and you should), why not have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen, too? And make sure everyone knows that it’s okay to use it!

When we are learning a new skill, we all need a generally safe environment in which to take small, limited risks in which the worst-case scenario isn’t catastrophic, and in which other people aren’t constantly on the verge of panic because they are imagining everything that could possibly go wrong. No risk, no learning.

But if we allow our children to take smaller, reasonable risks in the process of learning valuable skills, they stand a good chance of growing up to be capable, independent people who can be trusted to get the job done, instead of becoming young Worried Walruses who are paralyzed with fear about all the horrible things that might go wrong if they pick up a drill or turn on the stove.