Funny story......at least to me it was...

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sgtpontiac

Older, Wiser and Still Buildin'
Joined
Dec 28, 2010
Messages
7,016
Location
S.E. Michigan
My grandson lives about 45 miles away from me.....so we don't get to spend as much time as I'd like together....The grandson and I were working on his S-10 a few weeks ago and since Gpa's knee was acting up I had him get into the eng bay and take the cut off wheel on the 4 1/2 angle grinder to cut out the old cobbled up motor mounts....he looked at me like i handed him a snake.....Now the kid takes auto shop in High school..{S[S..says "I don't think I've ever used one of these"..:eek:..I said what?...the grinder or the cut off wheel?? he says the Grinder....(what the heck are they doing in the "auto shop class") I quickly took it out of his hands, got the ladder and swapped places....I "demonstrated" how to turn it on....and how to use it by cutting off the left side mount...so he gets back in the eng bay, puts on the eye protection and asks for some gloves....I get him some Mechanics gloves and he can't get the grinder to stay on....I show him again how the switch works to stay on....(Now I'm getting worried)....he starts to hit the old welds with the cut off wheel and you'd think he was electrocuted the way he jumped back when the sparks hit his gloves.....I tenderly took the grinder out of his hands, had him exit the engine bay and took him over to a pile of scrap metal.... he spend the next hour practicing cutting metal in a vise...then I got him another angle grinder with the flap disc and showed him how smooth out some welds....he spent another hour doing that....while doing that, he accidently hit the flap disc against the gloves and burned a hole thru it scuffing his finger taking off the first layer of skin....you'd thought he cut his finger off....he's 17 years old and was whinning and asking for bandaids..:eek: ..I have some peroxide in the cabinet and we poured some over the scrap....he screamed like a girl...[S..after that he wanted to go in the house to eat and we never went back to the barn.....lol....He's coming down again next week to work on it .....says he's practiced at the skill center at school and thinks he has the "technique" down.... We'll see.....Lord....I gotta spend more time with him....;)
 
I like the fact that you took to time to show him the way its done. [;)
Great story - hope we hear more on his progress as time goes on.
 
Heck, in a couple months, he'll be walking around the shop with a blood stained rag electrical taped to his hand and not even thinking about it. :D At least he's motivated enough to do something.
 
Thats great showing him some valuable skills that will help him later on. I got to get my boys back in the shop and do some training on tools. My oldest boy just moved back home tonight. Im glad my dad never let me set in the house and that he took me to work with him. I grew up at a used car lot and my dad painted cars (Still does today). He put me on the trunk of my Grandmas 66 Chevelle SS with a sheet of sand paper and bucket of water. Man the good times.

Im sure your grandson will catch on very quickly , all it takes is a little desire and a willing teacher.
 
Wha...? You might as well take my snap-on tool box away before I'd give up my grinders. I must have 5-6 of them at the ready, one each with grinder (well, actually keep 2 with grinder wheel) One with cut off wheel, one with flap wheel and one with 3M scotch-brite prep discs. I also have one with a little belt sander attachment and one with a wire wheel but I hate that thing, only use it when nothing else works.
I hope he gets comfortable using them (safely), they are a great and necessary tool. Don't forget to keep him aware of where the sparks are going, easy to start a fire, burn a hole on your shirt or ruin windshields. (ask me how I know on all accounts).
 
good on you Gramps. toughen the boy up, he prolly just needs to spend some time with real men and away from the computers and cell phones!!

and way to teach him safety too!![cl
 
It take a little getting used to when ya first start :D
When we've been doing it as long as all of us have you don't think about the sparks, just how straight the cuts are :eek:
Good job Sarge [cl
 
Sounds like you are toughening him up, just what he needs.
Definitely good to show him the ropes of the things he has never done.

I'm more irritated with the sparks because I can't see my cut line more than worried about catching myself on fire! heh heh
 
You'll make a man of that boy if he sticks with the program. [cl

Next week on Sarge's Garage.

- The wonders of iodine.
- Lacquer thinner in the eye.
- Branding human flesh with scrap iron.
- Slip-joint pliers.
- Pyrotechnic hair removal.
 
When I was 14 I saved all the money I could to buy a drill and a grinder.... :-/.

Glad he didn't get scared and never come back.
 
At least he's out there helping..and that's a good thing. Hang in there Sarge, he'll get the hang of it.....
 
Great story Sgt.

I've always used brake cleaner for cuts and scrapes. The kids always watched when I'd get a cut or metal sliver, spray it then tape it up.

The first time the oldest got his finger gashed open on the lip of his fender, well he calmly walked over to the bench ( I didn't know he cut it or how bad it was). He sprayed it on and you woulda thunk he was MC Hammer dancing around the garage with some wierd rap song flowing out of his mouth.
 
Great story Sgt.

I've always used brake cleaner for cuts and scrapes. The kids always watched when I'd get a cut or metal sliver, spray it then tape it up.

The first time the oldest got his finger gashed open on the lip of his fender, well he calmly walked over to the bench ( I didn't know he cut it or how bad it was). He sprayed it on and you woulda thunk he was MC Hammer dancing around the garage with some wierd rap song flowing out of his mouth.
That's funny and mean all at the same time [cl
 

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