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Amish Furniture for Kids Summer Projects

Summer is coming, and the kids will soon be out of school. Mom's and dad's everywhere will soon here "I am board; I don't have anything to do." Give them a lesson and a project that will teach them a skill, and provide them a physical memory of time spent with mom and dad or one another.

My friend and his wife have four children from four to twelve. While they were visiting, my web site (www.stoveramishfurniture.com), they saw a few small piece of unfinished Amish Furniture. Now it would have been just as easy to pay a little extra and have the pieces finished, but they thought "Why not let the kids do it?" So as a summer project for the kids, they bought four different pieces of Amish Furniture. They then set aside a space in the garage for the projects. Each child was given a role in the finishing. The youngest two where thought to sand a clean each piece. The oldest two went to the library and the hardware store to find books on finishing the projects. They were all given a schedule and a planned completion time.

The kids were surprisingly really industrious. When I visited they reminded me of Amish Craftsmen, by the care they took in each of their operations. Those four pieces took roughly three weeks and about thirty-five hours to finish.

What really surprised my friends was that the kids turned there work into a business. They went out into the neighborhood and started collecting piece from their neighbors to finish. They did several chairs and a few tables, and made enough money for each to enjoy activities on vacation.

Amish Furniture is born of Amish Tradition. A tradition is something passed on from parent to child, a lesson that will be remembered for a life time. Amish families instill great values in their children, through hard work and lots of love. By purchasing a piece of Amish furniture, like my friends did, your family will become a part of that tradition. Your family will have a lasting piece of furniture that will provide a memory of when parent and child worked together and lessons where learned. Visit www.stoveramishfurniture.com for unfinished furniture projects.

John Stover

Woodworking: Basic Safety Tips Woodworking can be a dangerous undertaking if you are not careful and choose to disregard safety guidelines. A circular saw, router, or other piece of power equipment can disfigure and even kill if not used properly. Even hand tools, which must be extremely sharp to provide best results, can cause serious injuries. In addition, the sawdust and fumes from wood can be harmful to the lungs if inhaled on a regular basis, especially if the wood was harvested from an orchard or tree farm where pesticides were used to control insects.

Imagine your are five years old. As your family arrives at the train station, your hand slips free of your Mom's and you dash over to the tracks. Looking left, then right, your eager eyes scan the horizon, searching for your train.

Woodworking: Tools Of The Trade, Part 6 - Finishing Equipment A civilization's maturity and intelligence is judged, in part, by the diversity and sophistication of its tools. When it comes to woodworking, the human race is quite advanced. There are general tools that work well in many situations, and there are specialty tools made for one specific purpose. There are tools that require only manpower and a rudimentary knowledge, and others that utilize computer programs, a wide range of knowledge, and a powerful motor. We have even learned how to harness power for our tools and package it in a small battery component, giving us the freedom to take our tools wherever we need them.