Jeekinz

Quick history:

My shop is in my basement, only accessable from either the cellar door from inside the house or a bilko door outside.

Without getting into personal details, my wife and I are having her 10 year old son move in with us (who I never met). I can't decide whether to put a lock on the shop or not.

When I was growing up as a kid, I always had respect for my Fathers tools, which are now mine, and never felt the need to flip switches or mess with chisels.

Besides the utilities for the house, there is nothing in the basement he or my wife would need.

What say you?

RLHERRON

My opinion, LOCK IT. Better safe than sorry. In time as you get to know him you may welcome him into your shop. Only time will tell.
Kids today are a lot differnet than they were when I was a Kid. I'm 56 now.

Better to error on the side of caution.

Just my thoughts,
RLH

kjhart0133

Just make sure there is a way to get out in an emergency or if someone inadvertantly gets locked in.

Also, you'll want your wife to be able to get in to the shop in case you need emergency assistance, e.g. you get hung up in one of the machines.

Think about anything that can go wrong, because it probably will.

BHOFM

Have you talked to your wife about this? It could be
a sore point if not handled right.

It should not be a big deal to change the door set
on the walk door and a simple hasp on the other.

I would try to not make a big deal of it, you can get
in trouble fast when you come between a Momma bear
and her cub!!!

You may be getting a good helper for your shop?
It can be a positive time if you make it so.

I'm a retired teacher, I try to think the best of kids
until they show other wise.

It might be the time to teach him about tools, buy
some cheapies just for him and give him some projects
to build.

I built my first real sailboat when I was twelve with a
little help from my Dad. A twelve footer, flat bottom
sloop. I gave it to the Boy Scouts when I went in the
service. They used it for almost twenty years.

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firehawkmph

Jeekinz,
Leave your shop open and just lock the kid up. Just kidding.
Maybe you could lock up your sharp tools in a cabinet or roll around, and shut off the breakers for the machinery and put a lock on the electrical panel when you aren't around.
Mike Hawkins

Handyman

RLHERRON hit the nail on the head. I agree with him 100%

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steve mackay

ROFL ! ! ! LOCK THAT SUCKER ! Wife's girl was 12 at the time of aquisition (sp?) but by 14 I noticed tools missing and turning up in the pawn shop down the street. NOT infering anything as to the boy's honesty. But we all know what a lock does . . . just keeps an honest person honest. As an aside . . . and on a personal note . . . from experiance . . . when he moves in . . . tread LIGHTLY ! Its a mine field my freind !

Kupcake

I would put a pad lock on the door. You can always invite him in when your there, but when an adult isnt there he has no reason to enter. When your present the door wont be locked, but accidents happen. Even if he is a good boy he could get curious and cut a finger off!

Just my 2c

dbhost

You are on touchy ground. I had no children coming out of my last marraige, and LOML didn't come in to this one pre loaded with kiddos, so I lucked out there. But I have plenty of friends that are step dads, and had I not met LOML, who knows what would have happened?

I do know one thing, locks only serve to keep an honest person honest, but I wouldn't be AS worried about theft as much as unsupervised use of equipment that can be dangerous to the kid. AND the kid can be dangerous to the equipment by means of using chisels to pry stuff, using screwdrivers as chisels etc... Not to mention using that $100.00 WW2 blade as a wheel on a concrete floor, or simply losing things...

Another reason I want a dedicated outbuilding is the future potential for kids (LOML and I want to be parents. Must be insane but that is a different story...), and a dedicated outbuilding is FAR easier to secure than an attached garage that shares storage space with bicycles and swim fins...

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tator234

LOCK IT UP

Jeekinz

Thanks for all the replies.

I decided to install a keyed doorknob. The DW doesn't feel the boy will have an interest in the shop, but still....a few friends at the house and boredom is a recipe for trouble.

Believe me, I know. lol

Thanks again.

steve mackay

Best of luck brother !

AZ Termite

Good luck, hope everything goes good for you.

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BobbyfromHouston

I hope you lock it for now and teach him how to use the tools and and help him maybe develop an interest in woodworking and tools. At ten years old I was making wooden toys for myself like: guns and airplanes.

dollis

Not sure, by the time I was 10 I had made three doghouses a worktable repaired a bunch of small things built a 20 pen fly house for our chickens (3’wide 8’ high 10’ long each) which took 2 weeks I could run a chain saw I had cut and split more wood than a small lumberyard. That being said, we lived in the country it was necessary to learn how to use tools and do it properlyI was taught by my father how to use tools and what I could not do und any circumstances and what I needed his help with. Now there are switch locks on just about, everything you buy child locks on the Tupperware drawers and no accountability on the part of the parents who only keep saying to their kids don’t touch than the fork is sharp. When they should be teaching their kids how to properly use things. The future is very scary as I see it, the trade skills are disappearing at an alarming rate I have seen people trying to get a job (electrician in my case) because they see a good wage on it without the ability to use a screwdriver let alone a power tool. I believe that a trade job is as important as any other if not more. Most people want to send their kids to a college to learn a business skill (accounting, office management, business management ect.) what they do not realize is that there are jobs that people need to do that still requiring sweating! The road in this country need fixed the power lines need replacing, trees need to be trimmed wire needs to be installed and pipes need to be buried. All of this being said yes I would lock it and then I would teach him.

oldgoat49

All things considered I would put a lock on the shop. If for no other reason than for safety which should help if there are any feelings frm the wife about the lock. You are responsible for him be safe and until you have chances to work with him and teach him the right way or find out otherwise. Kids get into things and will turn on equipment without realizing that it is what they are doing. Hopefully he will be a good helper and you can have fun teaching him and you can also find that it is sometimes easier to talk about things when you are working together. Hope that it all works out.

odleo

I am not blessed with any children yet, but I do have a nephew and niece who are always trying to get in my shop to see what I have that they could use. There father is not one to teach his children anything useful and to respect tools. I have installed locks on all the doors and told them they are welcome in my shop when I am there to help them. I keep all my machines unplugged till I am ready to use them and the chisels an other sharps locked in a roll around.
All this wife the blessing from my wife, sister and grandmother

WRDinAZ

Lock it for sure but invite the kid down when you are there. Could develop another generation of woodworker instead of a mindless video gamer.

The woodsman

LOCK IT I can tell you from experiance ,its best to have a ticked off wife than a child maimed for life or even worse.You never know,but he might just be a super kid and you hit it off right away,I sure hope so,but when I was with my X I couldn't lock the shop,so when her gran kids were comin over I had a deadman switch for all my tools an NOBODY but me new where it was You just can't take chances

johnnie52

LOCK IT AND BOOBY TRAP IT! Rig up a switch so that when you are there, its turned off, but if you're not there the electricity is sent directly to every tool in the shop. The minute he touches anything, he'll be stuck to it until you come and turn off the switch. .....

Naw... just lock it up.

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