many things ...
My 8-yr old son helps with:
- clecos (pneumatic easier than pliars for little hands). Also, once the holes are final sized, the clecos go in and out much easier for him.
- works the lever on the DRDT-2 dimpler
- sqeezing rivits with me using the pneumatic sqeezah,
- measuring that the shop heads of every rivet are within spec with Clear Air's tool gage. (Sure, once the sqeezah is set I don't need to measure every one, but he likes it and it keeps him busy)
- counting out the number of rivits I need and putting them in the hole just before riveting
- cutting out the paper templates for the foam blocks in the -10 elevator/trim tab
- deburring holes with me with the Cogsdill tool
- match drilling holes with me
All in all, he comes and goes while I'm in the shop. I figure if I make him help me, it won't work out. Of course when he wants to help, I go out of my way to let him do something. In fact, just tonight he wanted to help with the priming. We got out the extra respirator, tightened it up, got a good seal, and he held the parts steady while I sprayed.
FWIW, I put the small Mickey Mouse TV he got from his grandma a couple years ago in the shop. I figure having him out there with me is half the battle. That way when he's tired of helping, he can watch a little TV until he's ready to help again.
Best,
Jim