All About Pocket Knives

My 4 year old daughter has been begging for a pocket knife. I got her 2 jjs life kit the original and trapper versions. They are all wood even the blade which means no stitches!!!! But here is my issue. I have them assembled and the 3 metal pins that hold the knifes together slip out very easily. Can I center punch them to make them stay better? Or is there a better idea. Glue is not an option because the pins are the pivot points. Also these knives are raw wood. What would be the best way to finish these knives. Thanks for your help.

For your wooden knife, I would suggest a dab of two part epoxy on the end of each pin. You can, of course, center punch the end of each pin as you suggested. Either solution will achieve your goal.

Take a look at this thread for relevant information ---> http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... =4&t=50408

Thanks for the advice and link. Do you think the 2 part epoxy would effect the movable parts? Would I just coat the whole handel in the epoxy and that be the finish as well? Sorry I am a clueless newbie mom.

Thanks for the advice and link. Do you think the 2 part epoxy would effect the movable parts? Would I just coat the whole handel in the epoxy and that be the finish as well? Sorry I am a clueless newbie mom.

I recommend educating with the use of a real knife....
I respect your fear of stitches. ...I do, but a wood knife tricks her into thinking that is how knives work.

I should add I have been educating kids on proper pocket knife use for 4 years now since my first grandson was 4 and his brother is 7.

Glad you found us! You might want to checkout a recent thread here: http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... =2&t=50304

There is a lot of good commentary on options that are available for youth knives. I also agree with Scott (TripleF) that an actual sharpened knife is a better option even if some blood gets shed during the learning process. Many of us here that have packed a knife for 40-50-60 years sill occasionally cut ourselves. One of the knife mechanics I use here even sends his knives back with a band-aid as a reminder that it was sharpened.

Good luck and congratulations on taking this leap of faith.

There is a metal frame "Alox" single blade Swiss Army Knife ("SAK") with the blade end rounded, no point at all, but edge is sharp so it will cut and works very well for spreading jam, pb, etc., which kids like to try.
Children tend to wave their hand around when holding a knife and have no idea where the tip is in space. Hence they inadvertently poke themselves or someone near by. This is as common an injury as cutting themselves with the blade edge. The fully rounded tip of this SAK knife prevents poking type injuries.
kj

Ad a father of young boys, I agree with the others. Roland's idea about the SAK kids knife is a good one. Only to be used under strict parent supervision. I would let mine hold the knife with my hand over theirs helping to guide it. Haga what I did at least.

I can remember having a pocket knifes at an early age of 5 or 6. Barlows were real popular with my friends back then.

But I digress... If I was to give my kid that young a knife, I'd make sure it was at least a lock blade. And teach them about safety. It's no different than teaching firearm safety. It's a #1 priority.

Some knife makers have rubber trainers. They may be an option for pre-owning the real thing. But I think those are mostly for tactical/combat training.

I've carried a pocket knife since the age of five. I learned knife safety the hard way. Cut yourself, you bleed. Don't misinterpret that statement. I'm not recommending that method, I'm just saying that sooner or later the kid is going to cut himself or herself and he/she will survive. A knife is a tool. I've poked myself with screwdrivers and it hurts more and bleeds just as much. I don't really know where I'm going with this so it's time to shut up.

Problem with a lockback is that most children need to be at least 10 before their hands are strong enough to release the lock bar. I think there is more satisfaction for the child if they can close the knife themselves.
Regardless of LB or slip joint, a child of 4-8 needs to be closely supervised when handling their knife as has already been stated but is also worth repeating.
When learning any new skill the child always learns best when the beginning experiences are happy ones. Anger, injury, over bearing parent put a kid off and they might not return to that activity until well into their teens. True for skiing, soccer, and knife handling.
Knife type is important but so is emotional state of supervising parent so try to be positive rather than critical to help encourage an enjoyment of knives.
kj

jerryd6818 wrote:I've carried a pocket knife since the age of five. I learned knife safety the hard way. Cut yourself, you bleed. Don't misinterpret that statement. I'm not recommending that method, I'm just saying that sooner or later the kid is going to cut himself or herself and he/she will survive. A knife is a tool. I've poked myself with screwdrivers and it hurts more and bleeds just as much. I don't really know where I'm going with this so it's time to shut up.

Me tinks the only way to prevent getting cut, is to never hold a knife. I cut myself(not in an emo way) back in the 60s, and I am still cutting myself to this day. Especially when I am on a sharpening binge. Got a stab wound on the left hand and and a small piece of meat missing from my right index finger as of now.

Guess where I'm going with this... is it's not a matter of if, but when, you cut yourself. Teach your kids this, so they have a respectful and healthy fear of the tool they are using.

I'm going to head off in a different direction with this............I've got a granddaughter who will soon be five years old. She has a knife collection of about 50 knives thanks to her loving and overly generous granddaddy. She keeps her collection stored here at my house to avoid lost knives, personal injury, and other mayhem that might take place if she were to take them home. At this point in time I do not believe she has the hand-eye coordination to safely open and close a slip join pocket knife. I also do not think she has a sufficient level of maturity or the physical ability to safely utilize a knife for its intended purpose, cutting. I currently allow her to hold and admire her knives with blade open only after I have opened them and only while she is stationary and not walking around. She loves her knife collection and is greatly pleased whenever I give her a new knife, but she's just too young to actually use a real knife in my opinion. If you want to get your daughter a knife she can utilize (at her young age) I'd suggest a rubber play knife not a real one. If on the other hand your goal is to interest her in knife collecting and fostering an appreciation of cutlery, the perhaps you'd consider the parameters I'm employing with my little one.

May I add, to AAPK

Phil that's exactly how Valerie and I started out boys out.

Welcome to AAPK, Meredith, and you do pose an interesting question... I do agree that having a sharpened/sharpen-able metal edge is probably crucial to learning and respecting knife safety at a young age. Only you can determine when that age is proper, and a wooden knife kit seems like a great project (I'm 40 and I'm planning on getting one to play with ), but if the pointy bits are a concern, French maker Opinel does offer something custom-designed for this:
http://www.opinel-usa.com/products/no7- ... rst-opinel

Unlike most "proper" Opinels, it has a stainless steel blade and not carbon, so it will resist rust a lot better and generally be lower-maintenance for a child. The handle is wood, so it's light, and the blade itself is rather dull, though it should take an edge if you put it to a stone. The #7 is a good-sized knife for a child's hands, and the ring bolster is actually a locking mechanism (and a rather good one) so the blade can't fold back in during use.

Good luck with your search!

I would like to thank everyone for your ideas, input, and support. I have learned a lot. I went with an all wood knife because of the timing of when she will be using the knife. And the fact it was the only knife I found that I felt was geared to kids. I did not know the others existed. I am a butcher at a mom and pop grocery store and she goes to work with me and likes to help the owners and other staff break down boxes while I am cutting meat They all use their personal pocket knives to cut tape. The plastic orange peeler worked but did not satisfy her desire to use a pocket knife like the others have. So I figured an all wood knife was sharp enough to break threw tape, but not fingers sence I can't be right there while she is using it. She does have customers who request her to cut their meat so she gets to help me cut meat and get to use some of my smaller butcher knives and she does get to use knives at home for cooking and crafting. She understands knives can and will cut you and has cut her self and has helped bandage me up after an incident with Razer knife and sheet rock. I hope this sheds some light on the thought process behind her having a knife that did not have an edge on it. Once again thanks for shedding some light on this subject for me. I will see how she does with the wood one and consider getting her a better one with a metal blade in a few months. Thanks.

My daughter, now 11 has been collecting knives for the past 10 years. From age 1 she began taking a few of my knives and keeping them with her other 'stuff'. By age 3 she would show her little pile of knives to visitors who nearly always turned to me and with slight outrage in their voice say "Don't you think she is too young for knives". I would reply in my most offhand way "Oh, she's o.k. after all she's got 2 years of knife experience". As a single old man raising his daughter this particularly pissed off any mothers who might have come by. Males would smile and say "right on, eh".
I think a 4 year old will see the difference between her wooden knife and the steel blades of those working around her and will still want a 'real' knife before too long.
kj

I think we knife knuts need to be a little careful as we pass on our love of knives to little people.

I have been teaching whittling to kids for a lot of years now, and I think that I have learned some stuff in the process.

I do not knowingly accept students under the age of 9. People lie about this of course, because their child is special. I almost always can spot them, when they have been snuck in, because little boys literally do not have their brains and hands totally connected until they are 9, and that fact is obvious as they try to do the work. Many girls don't either, though they develop faster than the boys. I say "Sherman, how old are you? (casually, as we are working on his project), and he always tells the truth. I don't kick them out of my class, but I have to watch them more carefully and that means that the rest of the students don't get as much attention as they should. I do wish adults would stop lying in front of and for their kids. They are not really helping them, and they are teaching them very bad things.

Once their brains and hands get connected, we have a little window to work with them, because when they get to be 13 or 14 their brains get disconnected from pretty much everything, until they get to be 25 or so (if we are lucky - it is my observation that some never get re connected).

Anyway, I often have worked with younger (than 9) children one on one, and that works, and they enjoy it, but I won't work with kids in groups unless they are 9 and would not suggest that most be allowed knives unsupervised until that age.

I did, have and use knives at a younger age and have the scars to prove it!

Anyone using sharp objects will bleed at some point. With some proper training the injuries will be repairable with band aids.

This needs to be put into perspective. Skateboards and bicycles are infinitely more dangerous than pocket knives! No one has ever broken a bone in my class or been in any danger of concussion or drowning. Sometimes people are apprehensive about the fact that sharp knives are used in my courses, and then without a tremor enroll their kids in Hockey!

That said, we need to remember that children have to develop before they are ready for some things, and it does not hurt for them to wait to be ready.