Safety of taking apart old Mac products?

So long as he does not try and eat anything. The batteries are the potentially the biggest problem if they have burst.

I take mine apart all the time to install HDDs, RAM, batteries and even logic boards. I am still vertical.

Ciao.

My son wants to take apart a couple of old mac laptops

As a kid, I took apart stuff all the time. (Washing machines, televisions, lawnmowers, and radios.) Was able to retire very early so it must've done me some good. The only time I got hurt was when I tried to "take apart" a can of hairspray, (minor cut).

I agree with the other poster, I see two issues. Don't eat anything, and the battery. Some of those earlier Macs had removable batteries, (I wish they still did). If you can get the battery out of the way it should be lots of fun. You'll need some small Torx screwdrivers and other tools.

All the laptops you mention have removable batteries so you're good there. As the others have said the batteries are the main problem in terms of shorting and leaking dangerous chemicals. I would also add the PRAM batteries which are mercury coin types.

As far as tools I've been using these kits from Harbor Freight:

They hold up surprisingly well and are very cheap. The orange one in the background is my favorite but haven't seen them there in a while. I check every time I'm there.

Old wind up alarm clocks are also great things to take apart. The only danger there is the drive spring and the sharp axles on some of the smaller gears. Especially the pointed ones in the escapement train.

Depending on how old your son is old hard drives are also fun to take apart. I did this w/ my science class at a charter school. I could run it w/ an power dongle so they could see how the read head works and they loved retrieving the magnets. Those can be dangerous so exercise caution.