new box design...

This is a new box design, based on the small boxes I make with kids. It can be made exclusively with hand tools if you like. The two part pivot lid opens the box wide. I use axles intended to mount wheels on toy cars, as they have small heads that keep the lids from coming loose once the doweled ends have been glued in place.

When I was presenting a class at the Missouri TEAM conference for technology education teachers this summer, teachers asked if I have my box designs for kids published in any of my books.

This simple design will be in the new book, along with variations done with hand tools and machine tools in a variety of woods and designs. One thing I like about this design is the way one part of the lid locks the other in place. The design of this box was initially inspired by the difficulty children have installing hinges. I have tried a number of hinge techniques, ranging from leather to nails, and this simple pivot hinge seems to be the easiest for children to make with the least amount of teacher intervention.

I hope my grown up students like it.

This article is from the New York Times: Chinese Educators look to American Classrooms. In China they know their students need hands-on learning that they just can't get from books. And American educators are just dumb enough to have gotten rid of wood shop.

And in Praise of Hands, 1974...

In Praise of Hands by Donald Winkler, National Film Board of Canada

Make, fix and create...