Hi dim,

The only way I know of protecting 5 year olds from themselves is
to educate them. It will serve them well for the rest of their
lives.

In the mean time, you need to discipline yourself to turn off
anything HV when you leave the shop, and it would also be a good
idea to unplug the cords. Don't worry about soldering irons, a
few self inflicted burns are very educational, and not usually
all that harmful. Drill presses and grinders should be disabled,
or unplugged when not in use... mistakes with power tools are
too awful to contemplate.

5 yr olds aren't usually all that interested in going to a lot of
effort to make things "work", but they will flip the switches, and
crank the knobs.... and move your tools into the strangest places.

Your biggest danger is finding your screwdriver stuck into the
holes in an HV cage, or finding all your solder cut into short
lengths and stuck in every thing that will hold a piece.

Don't expect them to tell the truth about what they have done
in your shop. Instead, calmly explain what the result of the
misdeed was, and show them what you have to do to correct it.
They will come to respect your work and efforts more that way,
than they will if you wail into them. You didn't say whether
these kids are yours, or not, but if they are not yours, your
life with your SO will be much happier if you pick a nonviolent
educational way of correcting their behavior.

Also, teach the kids to always wear shoes in your shop, that food
of any kind is NOT allowed, and to always wash their hands on
leaving. They will do this if you tell them to, and if they see
you do so yourself RELIGIOUSLY. Kids can smell a hypocrite from
a mile away.

Good luck, it will work.

-Chuck

Shiva wrote:
Well, I finally decided to move in with my GF, and everything's rosy &
bright, but... A5 yr old boy, who gets into everything, and his older sis.
There's some basement space, so all things sharp & nasty could be there, but
anyone (with kids) have any advice on settin' up a fairly child-friendly
shop?
Thanks in advance,
-dim

"Chuck Harris" wrote in message
...
Hi dim,

The only way I know of protecting 5 year olds from themselves is
to educate them. It will serve them well for the rest of their
lives.

In the mean time, you need to discipline yourself to turn off
anything HV when you leave the shop, and it would also be a good
idea to unplug the cords. Don't worry about soldering irons, a
few self inflicted burns are very educational, and not usually
all that harmful. Drill presses and grinders should be disabled,
or unplugged when not in use... mistakes with power tools are
too awful to contemplate.

5 yr olds aren't usually all that interested in going to a lot of
effort to make things "work", but they will flip the switches, and
crank the knobs.... and move your tools into the strangest places.

Your biggest danger is finding your screwdriver stuck into the
holes in an HV cage, or finding all your solder cut into short
lengths and stuck in every thing that will hold a piece.

Don't expect them to tell the truth about what they have done
in your shop. Instead, calmly explain what the result of the
misdeed was, and show them what you have to do to correct it.
They will come to respect your work and efforts more that way,
than they will if you wail into them. You didn't say whether
these kids are yours, or not, but if they are not yours, your
life with your SO will be much happier if you pick a nonviolent
educational way of correcting their behavior.

Also, teach the kids to always wear shoes in your shop, that food
of any kind is NOT allowed, and to always wash their hands on
leaving. They will do this if you tell them to, and if they see
you do so yourself RELIGIOUSLY. Kids can smell a hypocrite from
a mile away.

Good luck, it will work.


Thanks for a serious reply. I already use main breaker to kill shop power,
so that's going to be an easy one. And, no, the kids aren't mine (well, i
guess they kind'o are *now*) - the only responsible thing I've done in this
life was avoid spawning.... It should be fun - the solder bit already
happened - only a pound was turned into "monsters"...
-dim

-Chuck

Shiva wrote:
Well, I finally decided to move in with my GF, and everything's rosy &
bright, but... A5 yr old boy, who gets into everything, and his older
sis.
There's some basement space, so all things sharp & nasty could be there,
but
anyone (with kids) have any advice on settin' up a fairly child-friendly
shop?
Thanks in advance,
-dim