Several months ago, my wife bought an old activity table for our toddler. She likes it because it reminds her of the tables that were used in her nursery school. It’s a well-built thing, actually. It’s light but strongly constructed, a nice height and size for a two-year-old.

Yesterday, while out shopping, we came across a chair that looked like it would be perfect for the table. The table has a natural finish and so did this chair, which looked exactly like a miniature old teacher’s desk chair. I was about to buy it but noticed some problems with it.

First, the dowels that spanned between the legs under the seat were loose. I thought I could quickly reglue those but then saw that one of them was broken. Closer examination showed the dowels had sections of cross-grain in them and some knots.

Knots in dowels?

I looked at the chair to see if I should copy it. There’s no way I’m buying furniture made from such obvious shoddy material. It’s bad enough to buy a sofa, covered in upholstery, that is made from garbage. (For those of you who don’t know, upholstered furniture seems to be the worst made stuff on earth.)

I could copy the chair, but I would not do a straight reproduction of its style. The legs hit the floor at ninety degrees, the back is straight up, also. That there’s no curve for the backrest is not a big deal for a preschooler, but I don’t like that there’s no backward angle for the back legs. I’m sure it was the cheapest design possible to have the back and legs a straight line down to the floor, but kids that size are top-heavy, so when they sit back the chair will easily over-balance and tip backward. A three degree difference off ninety where the legs hit the floor will help keep you from hearing a screaming kid and, depending on the floor, keep you from a trip to the emergency room.

Oh, she’s only two, so she’ll knock over the chair all the time. No one will notice that the chair is easy to knock over.

So, perhaps I will make a chair.

Something else to add to the list.

In the meantime, I got my son a clock-making kit for Christmas. So, I will take him to the basement workshop soon and we’ll make something nice for it. He’s been expressing a real interest in making things down there, lately, and I can see that he has the right temperament for working in such an environment.

A few weeks ago, he wanted to make a case for a flute. My wife owns the flute but has no case for it. My son plays saxophone in the school band and does not play the flute. However, he thought the flute should have a case. You know what it means when you see something that has nothing to do with you, but decide to make something for it, anyway? It means you’re a woodworker.

Because the pieces of the case he was making were very narrow, I didn’t let him use the table saw, but I did let him use the miter saw. He was very careful using it.

He did not, however, volunteer to clean the workshop.

Just another indication he’ll be a woodworker.