Thread: Pencil Case?

Well six months down the track and my project is just a pipe dream after all. As much as I would have liked to have pursued it I just could not dig up enough information on where to even begin, but I can still live in hope.
Re the interest in drawing and art classes etc, my 10yr old daughter who this box will ultimately go to, its all she lives and breathes. She is drawing all the time, we wish she was as excited about doing homework as she is about drawing something.

Art for her has been her saviour and escape to a certain extent. She has quite bad dyslexia and therefore has struggled big time with anything to do with reading and writing and absolutely no idea about numbers and how to tell the time etc. To compensate for that I suppose her drawing has taken over and helps numb the pain a bit.

For financial reasons we have just had to take her out of private school and send her public. Not the end of the world or anything like that, but for us as her parents it just about broke our hearts. To be forced to send her to another school where she knows nobody, and as it was she has always struggled to make friends cause the other kids always used to pick on her for being to their way of thinking dumb. She has only ever had one friend at school, and now we have forced her away.

The upside for us with this new school is that she has made a couple of new friends already and they are clambering for her to draw something for them all the time, so this is a good thing for us and takes away some of the worry and concern we had for her. She still hates school work no matter what!

We would love to send her to proper art classes at some stage when finances permit, because I think realistically that will be her chosen profession in some form or another, but we are also very aware of the fact that we must give her every opportunity to improve with her dyslexia, and if that means extra tutoring or whatever, its a tough decision between need and want.

Gee where did all that come from, sorry about that, think I had to purge my soul or something cause it has nothing to do with box making at all does it?

Cheers
John

am just appalled in the way people have become so stupified with this "If I can't get the parts out of a packet - then I can't do it" perception of life.

Even for making REALLY simple stuff.............


Have none of you EVER heard of a BIG piece of paper, a pencil and a compass?

And your all sitting there on the worlds most technologically advanced "thing" - being a computer.

My personal preference for drawing exact 2D drawings on is Open Office Draw......

Because you CAN draw things on (computer paper) on sheets up to A0 or the limits of 300 x 300 units, and you can also SCALE the drawings.... like 1:2 or 1:10.

And the thing about levers - are that they are just point to point dimensions, being swung through an arc.....

And weak excuses like, "Oh I don't know how to use it (so I won't)" to which I say, "Well why don't you learn by DOING IT" - read the instructions....etc. (How to draw a circle?)

You mean you can't just design it, and then make the levers from some 3mm thick low carbon steel flat bar? (or cut the sides out of some angle iron)


Final thought - Art Classes:

Go to the library - and hire some books on ART and TEACH HER YOURSELF............ by learning it yourself by doing it with her. Go to the second hand book shop and buy some.......

On the internet - you ARE swimming in an ocean of "lessons"

Google:

art lessons:

There are about 120,000,000 results....

That is 120 MILLION results.... you mean that you can't get find anything in amongst ALL OF THEM on how to draw anything?

Focus on ALL the things that you CAN do - with what you DO have.

Form a Dyslexic kids group, and band together with the other parents and GO and plan and DO a heap of new experiences every month.....

Like the pencil case....

Include said child person in the designing - on paper and then on computer, of the building of said pencil case.....

Dyslexia is ONLY an impediment to a young person - if that is all they are told - by people who are so stupid that they believe their own lies - which are nothing more than excuses for being weak minded themselves.

Have you drawn up a list of all the great achievers who are dyslexic? Have you compiled a list of what they did to make the most of their lives and abilites and skills that they do have - and how they did it? And do you follow suit?

And have you written that into a book - or an audio book for her to listen too?

Maybe it's time to either throw the TV out and actually spend time together as a family doing things together.

My viewing time is mostly restricted to the odd sci-fi movie and things like "Global Village" the odd cooking show (Uhhh food ) and things like the ABC's Sunday Arts and some documentaries.

Every month or two have a different project to do together.....

Month one. Go see a violin maker... see what they do, how they do it, and then go download a few webpages on how other people make them, and then go make a violin - one each., and then learn to play them.

Next month or two, just GO to a life drawing / painting class, together....

Next month or two, go do pottery and maybe even make your own wheel and kiln.....

Next month or two, go to some natural museums., and take your drawing and painting kit along..... and study and draw things....

Next month or two go to the zoo..... do the drawing....

Buy some bicycles and go riding and racing and touring....

Next month or two - go make some electric guitars..... and build some amps to go with them....

Toss in some things like bush walking and cycling and using public transport and "just turning up" some places... like how far can you travel on $30 on a train with a cut lunch? and then get off at the furtherst point.

Do it together as a family and also invite her friends along and other parents as well (from time to time).

All this crap about "family time" of eating in separate rooms, watching different TV's and different programs.... then to go off and do another mental working week......

The best education is the example YOU set yourself - instead of being sucked into that "we pay others to raise the kids we never see"

Get rid of the "crap" from "House and garden"."House and Garden" is written by people who tell you "how it is" in order to get you to buy what they put in their pictures of STERILE and UNPRODUCTIVE homes...

Learn by DOING.

One of the jobs I did, was work in the crash repairs of locomotives... and the guys with nothing more than an LPG/oxygen torch to heat and shrink a few bits., and a few BIG sledge hammers, would take a BIG sheet of 30mm thick steel plate, they would lock the steel to a table with dog spikes and then hammer out the entire NEW set of front plates of a locomotive...... You know cut the old front end off, hammer out a new front end and then weld it back on....

Take her to do a basic welding certificate.

Get a bunch of parents together and pay some instructor who makes aircraft parts out of aluminium sheet - with nothing more than sand bags and a few hammers...

You know I am sooooooooooo totally amazed at the aluminium panels they make to fit at the point where the front of the wing joins the aircraft body....

Go spend weekend on a farm and learn some black smithing............. how to make horse shoes.

You know I had a friend who was totally blind..... and yet this guy's hobby was electronics and MAKING radios for transmitting and receiving.... he's pull all the bits out of the packets and solder them into place... etc., etc., etc.....

It's no miracle - he saw with his hands and he was habitually very organised.


And think about this: In living in the middle of an absolute sea of golden opportunities there are only two sorts of people:
The "I can's" and the "I won't's".

The "I can's" look for opportunities and the "I won't's" look for excuses.

And you are responsible for the kinds of people you have decided to become, and what you have chosen to become, determines what kind of life you can lead.

And you people are the ones who primarily define the benchmarks for your kids to follow by role modeling on how to be a success - or how to be a failure.

Attitude is an inside job.

Hey HammaHead!, you been reading up on "How to win friends and influence people" ?

Geez,

Did I say something wrong or something?

Cheers
John

You mean "In six months - I have not done anything because I don't know where to start" is the answer?

Would you like me to post you a steel rule, a pencil and a pad of paper - and an instruction manual on how to use them?

I'd gladly donate to the cause - because I'd love to hear the response in another 6 months time that went like, "OH I could not start the drawing, because I didn't know which end of the pencil it was that wrote".

Originally Posted by HammaHed

And you people are the ones who primarily define the benchmarks for your kids to follow by role modeling on how to be a success - or how to be a failure.

I have seen many successful businessmen who have kids that are by your definition, failures. These parents are terrific role models for their kids and in a perfect world these children should excel in every way but in reality, it doesn't always happen.

I agree with most of what you say, there are many things we can learn if we apply ourselves. I knew nothing about computers a few years ago and I did a 2 year course where I passed to become a qualified computer repairer. This was a difficult task for me because my maths knowledge was very basic so I had to teach myself by reading books, how to understand and apply the maths I needed to succeed in the course.

I worked for a lawyer when I had my own business in Sydney and although a brilliant lawyer, he couldn't screw a screw into a piece of wood. Is he a success or a failure?

John was asking for advice here and I think we at least owe him, as a member of this forum, courtesy and respect and not make judgement on his success or failure as a human being. For all we know, he may be a bigger success than you or I will ever be.

Hola John. I think what you posted about your daughter was all about woodworking. The story behind what we create can sometimes be the only reason we create in the first place. Your daughter will appreciate whatever you build for her because she will know you're trying to help her do what she loves.

Speaking about making a box for pencils, you posted pictures of advanced level projects. Box making is hard enough because of the small scale but, when you introduce really thin wood and miniature hardware you've made it even more difficult. I suggest you take the first six pieces of wood you come across and put them together and call it a box. Don't worry about what it looks like or anything. Just do it. Your daughter's loving eyes will filter out all the imperfections.

As for hammahed, you should take a huge filter and pour his words through them so you can get the flavor without all the bite. You can create whatever reality you choose for your daughter while she is young. What you create will have an affect on her later. You can't control anything completely least of all another human being but, you have an input and yours will be lasting because you're her father.

Godspeed,
Jim

Life is like dealing with customer service.

If they know their topic and are delivering the goods to specification on time - great.

If they are clueless and deliver nothing; and do nothing to take responsibility for their actions and lift their standards to learning about what they are supposed to learn about and then deliver the goods; and they make many promises and produce no results - I change companies.

There are a lot of people who don't work for me anymore - but the ones who do, are brilliant.

None of them, not a single man ever comes to me with half hearted speculation or excuses for not delivering.

It has much to do with self respect, pride, and the willingness to make oneself perform to a standard, instead of making excuses for failing to even start.

And that is why they are working for me - because those who don't commit into having high quality personal standards, work against me and everyone else in the organisation;

The two polar opposites are kind of like climbing stairs or wading into quicksand.

I'll take the stairs upward thanks.

Originally Posted by HammaHed

The two polar opposites are kind of like climbing stairs or wading into quicksand.
I'll take the stairs upward thanks.

Thats great but just remember "Be nice to people on your way up those stairs because you may been their help on your way down"

I really envy you, it must be so nice to be perfect in your own mind.

Dear Hammahed,

Please be a bit more considerate in your judgments of others. Just because someone does not have your abilities in one or more area does not mean you have the right to make such vehement judgments. If your life is absolutely perfect then please by all means provide feedback about your thoughts but do so in a perfect way that adjusts the "bite" of your comments to the person involved.

Another thing you may not have considered is the actual people involved. Anyone can see reading between the lines that there are more pressures than just "not being able to figure out where to start".

Have some compassion, have some sense of common decency and also have some insight into other people and their particular circumstances.

I am going to make some basic comments on what could possibly be happening in this other person’s life just from the posts I have read above.

Obviously these may or may not be true but since I do not know the person JOHNMW I am going to be very generic.

1. They have young children so are possibly young themselves and do not have much disposable time outside of looking after children
2. They have obvious financial issues so may not have money for bits and bobs to make a box - e.g. saw, nails, screws paint wood etc.
3. The child has some scholastic issues so therefore there are stresses in the family regarding that.
4. They have feelings of guilt about moving the child from one school to another and want to "give her something special" and giving her a crappy box may not fulfil the guilt issues
5. We do not know the history of the person’s actual ability - maybe he is so paralysed with the fear of failure in the eyes of his child that he cannot proceed past point one.
6. Do we know what the health status of the parents are???? Are there mental health issues such as depression; are there physical issues or intellectual issues? Are there grandparents around to help or needing help themselves?

........... Need I go on Hammahed? You have placed your judgement without know diddlysquat about the individual involved.

Whilst you have made some very valid points about pe3ople being scared to start something you have NO RIGHT to publicly ridicule a person who has asked for help not only about woodworking but also possibly about MATESHIP!

Has this father actually got any blokes he can speak to about his worries and fears as a parent and worker and provider and husband and son? Has this person got anyone he can speak to in a sense of brotherhood of male support be it woodwork oriented or personal help oriented?

Hammahed I feel strongly that you not only owe this person a personal apology but you also owe us an apology for feeling so affronted by your base vulgarity in your judgments which are based on nothing but opinion.

Hammahed I see that you are but a relative newcomer to this forum. I suggest very strongly again that you read a lot of other posts BEFORE commenting again to see the “flavour” that this forum espouses. We are here for help and support in many many ways and it is not up to YOU to decided if someone is a worthy person or not.

I say all this because I am a parent who regularly feels ashamed at my inability to provide all the things I want to give my children and partner, I am a man who has slowly, and I mean SLOWLY risen from the depths of despair to realise that good enough does not have to mean perfect. This has taken me nearly 20 years to get around. I am a person who has been through trials and tribulations of the sort that I do not think you could even imagine.

You speak from what I judge to be a wealthy, privileged upbringing where you were supported and cared for and most likely encouraged in the right way. If my judgment of you here is wrong I apologise BUT do not make such judgements again on this forum if you are wanting the respect and help of other people.

John,

If you need help just ask. People will be willing to help you but build upon the basic foundations first and then each couple of months surprise her with a newer and better box each time if you can do that. I am also sure that if you were to let people know where you lived and if someone lived nearby they would more than likely be willing to come and give you a hand. Unfortunately I am still looking at the wagon plans I had bought two years ago and for a number of the reasons mentioned above I still have not had a chance to even start it so do not feel too bad.


Spanner69

Originally Posted by johnmw1

Hi,

Hope this is the correct place to post my questions.

I have just bought an entire set of 120 coloured pencils and would like to house them in some sort of pencil case. For an extra $70 I could have had the case with them but it was just a cheap tin one and I thought these pencils were far more deserving than that.

I have had a quick google but could not come up with much info or ideas on how to do it etc.

One suggestion I did have was to just have a block of wood with 120 holes drilled in it, but for me that would not be too elegant.

I really have no idea as to how would be the best way of making such a box. Assuming that probably there would be at least two if not three different layers otherwise the box would be just too long. This then begs the question of whether the layers would be just lift out in separate trays or slide out etc?

I'm not a box maker but would be willing to have a go if I can get some help in regard to ideas and layout size etc. I'm open to any suggestion or if I could be pointed in the right direction ..............

Cheers
John

Hi John,

can't help with the fancy layer box at short notice but I do have some really wonderful 8 sided box kits which are easy to put together, I'll even rebate the top and bottom for you, a full set of instructions come with it so 'easy peasy', Let me know (if you want, what colour timber you like and I'll send you down one. PM your address if you wish or give me a call tomorrow. 0404 000 738.


Cheers


Steve

... and I'll chip in one of my leather-covered sketch books for the budding artist as well.

Cheers
Wendy

Hi everyone,

Just like to thank everybody for their ongoing support and understanding. I'm a bit gun shy at the moment, and I'm very overwhelmed by peoples generosity.

Cheers
John

I think Hamma needs his blood sugar checked.....

Hang in there John, there is a lot of patience wisdom and compassion on this forum. Its all there for the asking.