My wife asked me to make a splashguard around her induction stove which she uses on the tabletop. She did not want to have oil and food splatters on her kitchen table because it causes a lot of hard work to clean not only the table but anything else sitting on the table that also becomes a target of cooking splatter.

She also asked me to make the splashguard around the induction stove large enough to accommodate the cast iron griddle. The griddle has to be centered over the exact spot of the induction stove used for transferring energy to the iron griddle. This means the handles overhang on one side requiring that the splashguard be made to larger specifications.

Again, this will help boys to consider all of the factors before they make a “build” of any kind. If my wife did not mention the griddle to me, I would probably have made the splashguard too small and it would not have worked for the griddle. The boys should learn to consult all people involved with their projects just so they do not forget any necessary aspect during their planning stages.

This is just a simple project with a sheet of PVC sheet bent in 90-degree angles to form a splashguard. This is a simple project that even a young boy could design for their mother. But doing this project will help them learn to get input from others before they begin their build so they will not have to waste expensive materials and start over again from scratch (after they discover they forgot to calculate some necessary aspect before they began their build).

Again, this is a simple boy’s project that also teaches them to plan ahead and work with others and consider all other input in their plan before they begin building. The boys must also learn to measure and make sketches before they begin otherwise, they will also run into problems and make a mess because they have not thought things through properly before they started.

I cut some plywood slats making sure they were long enough to handle the next project I am planning. These longer slats also worked for this project with sheets cut to only 20 cm in width. This exercise also helps boys to consider things and think ahead so they can use the same slats for the next project to bend sheets that are 43 cm wide. So, I cut the slats to 45 cm long to be able to do both projects without wasting slats by having to make two sets for two different projects.

Again, this is just a simple thing but if boys can learn to think ahead and consider future projects then they can utilize their scrap materials and they can reuse some materials again for the next project without wasting materials for a lack of preplanning.

One of the things that distinguish men is “masculine-thinking” which is always considering the “big picture” and thinking ahead. Boys have to be conditioned while still young because they will use their “masculine logic” and “thinking ahead” on a daily basis as an adult – when they serve as a leader and provider and protector of their own future families. They have to consider what is in the best interests of their whole family (even if it may not be popular at the time). They must do what is right and be willing to make immediate sacrifices in the present in order to obtain the long-term good for their family. This requires “masculine logic” and “thinking ahead” and seeing the overall “big picture” and the “long-term” goal they have for their family members. This is what masculine leadership is all about to perceive what must be done in the present time in order to obtain long-term goals that are beneficial to the whole family.

This simple boy’s project may seem “trivial” or even “silly” at first glance but in fact these are the first “baby-steps” in conditioning the minds of young boys to think ahead and do problem solving and to listen to the input of others and then make the best decisions considering the present situation. This is a means of developing the masculine leadership in boys so they will be ready and fully prepared to serve as men to be leaders and providers and protectors of their own future families. This is a learned skill and boys need to be mentored by other men (particularly fathers) in order for them to develop normally to become future men.

I used a heat gun in order to heat up and then bend the acrylic sheet at 90-degree corners. Boys will also learn the value of having tools and that tools are an investment that can last a lifetime (if they learn to take care of these tools well). Tools are a means for them to make a living for themselves and their future families as tradesmen. Tools also can save thousands of dollars if a man can repair or build his own things rather than having to hire someone to do his work for him. Doing repairs or construction work or making their own custom gadgets are good ways for boys to learn and provides an opportunity for fathers to work on projects together with their sons and teach them tool use and how to make scale drawings and do planning and innovating and creating and problem solving.

I measured out the locations for each of the 90-degree bends that would fit around the induction stove. I marked these using black marker to make the bends. (The black-marker lines are easily removed when the project is finished using only some cloth soaked in alcohol). I then ran the heat gun on highest setting across the edge I wanted to bend. I had to be careful not to heat any one spot too long and melt a hole in the sheet. I kept the heat gun moving all of the time and I watched the reflection of the light along the line that I wanted to bend. When the reflection started to distort, then I knew it was starting to melt then immediately pressed it down flat on the table to bend the acrylic sheet.

Some things can only be taught by experience so it is good if a father will save all scraps and let his son practice on the scrap material first before he begins to do the final project. This will save some expensive materials when he melts a hole through them. So, the father can take his son’s hand at first and show him how to keep the heat gun moving. Then let the boy try it himself and eventually he can be trusted to do the same task on his own. This is how boys are to learn by “hands-on” male mentoring starting with these simple boys projects (such as PVC sheet projects) that only need a few bends to make something useful like a splashguard. These skills gained in these projects are “learned skills” that will help the boy comprehend more advanced skills found in more complicated future projects as he matures. This is how masculine logic is developed in boys step by step from baby-steps and moving toward advanced learning.

This shows how the “clamping-boards” are quickly pressed down upon a hard straight surface and held for a moment until the PVC sheet hardens into the prescribed 90-degree angle.

The bends must be measured carefully so that the final product will fit the intended use. Also the boy must be taught how to think ahead. For example, if he rolls the pressboards in the opposite direction, he will discover that the length is too long because he just added the width of the clamping boards to his measurement. He will then have to heat the bend again and try to flatten it out and start over. Fixing his mistakes like this teaches him to think in advance and think about the end-goal. This is the best way to develop masculine logic because his mistakes will help him to think ahead and he will learn from those mistakes and repeat them again.

A father should be careful not to yell at a boy for making mistakes but instead focus on what he can do to help the boy learn from his mistakes. In this manner, the boy will not do that mistake again and as an adult (with fully developed masculine logic) he will become really good at problem-solving. He will even be considered a “genius” by his peers because he can always see ahead and warn others what is about to happen (if they do such and such a method). He will be able to see and perceive the “cause and effect” of his decisions and this will be helpful to him as a future leader.

In the image above, I have a roll of clear tape that was essential to use as a “temporary solution” to fix the problem. After I had cut the PVC sheet that was 20 cm wide and 155 cm long (then I had to bend four 90-degree corners in this long strip to create the four-sided enclosure around the induction stove). But the problem was that the walls of this enclosure were not staying in a straight position. They were touching the pan and the stove and this was not acceptable because it could melt during cooking. So, what I did was to cut a rectangle of PVC sheet that was 35 cm wide and 49 cm long. I placed this on the bottom under the induction stove and the sides of this “base-plate” served to hold the “sidewalls” in their proper position. However, I did not have anything to keep the sides attached to the bottom “base-plate” so I just used clear packing tape to attach the sides to the bottom all the way around.

This is a temporary fix and I ordered a “hot-melt” glue gun today so when that arrives, I should be able to place some strong adhesive all the way around the bottom. This is to hold the sides to the “base-plate” using a more durable and long-lasting adhesive (that is better than packing tape). In this manner, my wife can wipe the cooking-splatters on the inside and the “side-walls” will not fall apart from having the tape become wet during cleaning.

Hot Glue Gun Arrived

I received the hot glue gun with 12mm glue sticks and it works well to secure the sides of the splashguard to the bottom panel.

I placed the tape on the outside to hold the sidewalls to the bottom panel, so therefore I ran a bead of hot glue along the inside where the sides and the bottom meet. The hot glue works well for this purpose and I was also able to fill a large gap in one corner simply by holding the two surfaces together for a minute until the glue hardened. This both filled in the gap and also held the sides secured to the bottom.

Lessons Learned

There are two more things that boys can learn from this project in that they may have to buy more tools to get the job done (like a hot-melt glue gun for fastening the parts together) in addition to a heat-gun (used for melting the plastic PVC sheeting into corners). Boys will have to make do with whatever tools they have available at home. They might have to improvise and so they use something (like clear packing tape) to hold things together until they can get a hot-melt glue gun. The tape is only temporary but it can serve the purpose of securing the parts in place until the pieces can be glued together with the hot-melt glue gun.

Again, this activity develops the “masculine logic” of boys by causing them to come up with immediate solutions using whatever materials are available to them. At the same time, they also can consider if they can find a more durable solution (like buying a hot-melt glue gun) to secure the parts in a “longer-lasting” manner than what packing tape provides.

This simple project looked pretty bad “at first” until the rectangular base was installed and then the sides were held in their proper position. A boy should never give up when things do not look good in the beginning because if he will continue to work with the project and come up with solutions then his “end-product” may end-up looking pretty good. He will be proud when his mother praises him for his nice job and when she uses his creation everyday to make her life easier in the kitchen. The boy will learn that he can make useful custom items for his mother and for himself and his future family (often utilizing scrap materials to make something that is useful).

If we can teach boys as many skills as possible, then these skills will serve to give him a foundation of knowledge that he can use as an adult to solve problems and create solutions and make just about anything that he and his family might need.

My wife was really pleased with the end result and I received many praises from her and much appreciation that made me feel good as a man and feel good as a creator. She is using this item every day and it was made upon her request and she was the one who provided the dimensions and she explained to me just what she wanted.

Having praise from a wife is a great encouragement but this same praise will be a great motivation for a boy when he makes projects that are useful to his own mother and this experience will help prepare him to be a creator and inventor and to make things for his future wife as well. Praise is a great motivating factor for boys when they create something that was exactly what their mother asked for and solved a real problem at home.

Again, this is a simple boy project that boys (even as young as 8-years old) could make simply by making some bends in a sheet of PVC plastic. But the “masculine logic” and “problem solving” skills they gain in doing these projects will be something that will make them “trainable” and it will be easy for them to understand projects of greater complexity in the future. This is the purpose of these simple boy projects to develop their masculine logic and prepare them for their future roles as men to become leaders and providers and protectors of their own future family units.