Woodworking classes always include a surprise. Although you can predict that the experience will be enjoyable, you cannot know what you will take away or what your favorite part will be. This is true whether youre taking a class or teaching one. A week ago Saturday, 13 students and I got together at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking to build reproductions of a Gustav Stickley No. 74 Bookrack. It’s a difficult project that can be completed in one weekend. While all students tried their best, one student stood out.
Drew Ricks, his father Steven, traveled from Wisconsin for the class. Drew is 11 years old and will be entering sixth grade. He shows a lot of promise as a woodworker, and he has a great sense of humor. This project is all about through mortise-and-tenon joints, and every hour or two we gathered as a class to review our progress and go over the next step. Drew was always the first to finish, and he often had a comment about the order of. It would have been even faster if my dad hadn’t made mistakes.
Steven deserves a lot of credit for raising a good kid. He also deserves credit for his willingness to let his son do the hard work. One of the big challenges of fatherhood is knowing when to step back and let go. Its tempting to jump in and do things for your kid, but in the long run its better just to be there.
Two or three of eight joints were fitted on most benches. At the last bench one side was assembled, and I stopped to show the Ricks boys how to place the assembled side over a corner of the bench to place the second side.
I stood back and observed as the father and son worked together. The father held the parts in place while the son used the mallet. All the joints were fitted within a few taps. The class was complete without anyone else.
Drew had a spot in his room picked out for his bookrack. He did a nice job and hell have it for a long time. He hopes to one day pass this knowledge on to his son. One other thing he will always have is a great memory of a weekend spent working with his dad.
