The description in the title serves two purposes:
- Describe the end appearance of my box.
- Describe myself after having to wrestle with it and the consequences of my mistakes.
Overall, though I am proud of the end product and the majority of decisions I made along the way, this project was far more of a head (and arm) -ache than necessary due to some errors on my part and some that are a combination of stubbornness and legitimate equipment failure.
(NOTE: assembly process itself was remarkably by-the-assignment, experiences and highlights are presented instead of step-by-step processes to preserve what makes this exercise useful: detailing MY experience)
Due in part to previous experience, I was highly confident after initial cutting and assembly of the box’s frame.
Immediate improvement over the course of first assembly steps.
Standing on its own, rigid. Ready to move forward
Things quickly fell apart (not literally, yet) when returning to the wood shop after this step to route the wall and bottom pieces. In attempting the intermediate level assignment, I wanted two distinct routing patterns: one very simple pattern to be repeated for each of the wall pieces and another more ornate pattern to make the otherwise lowest-quality bottom piece stand out.
Corner Beading bit used to create a curved ridge on the bottom edges
Offending 45 degree router bit with warning note from Lab Assistant for future users
For the wall pieces, I chose a simple 45 degree pattern to create more of a rounded effect. However, what I thought was just a steep learning curve to the router was actually a faulty router bit that left the majority of effected edges unfinished and/or damaged.
“Skipping” of the router bit left patterns uneven and marred/scratched
“Jamming” of the router bit once the position was re-adjusted caused even worse issues
From here, while still pursuing the general assembly process with little alterations, new methods were needed to replace the router as the 45 degree pattern was already half-cut into most wall parts and changing to a radically different pattern risked leaving too little room for allowing all screws to fit comfortably on the original wall pieces. It is at this point I likely should have taken the time to just go back and pattern new pieces. The alternative I chose was…
Hours of rasping, filing and sanding.
This not only wasted time but left the pattern muddled due to the unavoidable slight curvature of my motions. Ultimately, this likely wasted hours of time for minimal returns in terms of aesthetic. This did at least somewhat contribute to my decision to not stain the box as I felt darker colors of stain or the close adhesion of spray paint would only exacerbate the artifacts of manual labor. There were also plenty of large knots and a spray-painted label that I felt would be partly lost if a stain was used.
Other tidbits from assembly:
“Four tooth” layout for screws helped with organization
Spots 2 and 4 connected wall pieces to each other, spots 1 and 3 were used in the perpendicular direction to attach wall pieces to the vertical parts of the frame.
Screw patterning made for stronger aesthetic, rings of wall pieces fit snugly which was a good sign.
….That’s not to say that juggling so many screws went perfectly. Slot system is still at play but bottom walls had an additional set of screws (inside frame) to worry about/run into.
Potential sequencing mistake, requiring extensive clamping to drill into frame uprights.
Bottom piece stuck out slightly on all sides…
Which means even more rasping!
In summary, though there were more than a few errors, each was adapted to in ways that added at least some slight flair to the box, if at the cost of time and general aesthetic appeal/fidelity. Given this experience, coming back I would use the time I could hopefully save to place far more emphasis on aesthetic features such as properly routing and, if nothing else, performing more, higher grit rounds of sanding so the intention behind the bare wood ‘finish’ could be felt even more.
Cost Analysis:
Working time = 13.5 Hours
Labor Costs = 12.5 Hours * $20/hr = $250
Materials Cost:
1×4 Boards
~$4 a board * 3 boards (one effectively destroyed by lab assistant while turning 1×4’s into 1×3’s) = $12
Lowes: 1-in x 4-in x 8-ft Furring Strip
2×2
~$4 a board * 1 board = $4
Lowes: 2-in x 2-in x 8-ft Furring Strip
1′ Plywood
~9 a board * 1 board = $9
Lowes 1/2 in x 2ft x 2ft Read Oak Plywood Project Board
~66 Used < 100 per $8 box = $8
Lowes #6×2-in Bugle Coarse Thread Drywall Screws (1-lb)
Wood Glue (used with clamping to fix some splitting)
Counting cost of 1 entire pint bottle = $10
Titebond Extend Wood Glue 1 pt
Sandpaper
~$3 per pack on average * 2 unique grits = $6
Tooling (close analogues to OEDK tooling chosen):
Miter Saw = $579 (Home Depot: Dewalt DWS779 12″ Sliding Compound Miter Saw, closely resembles saw in OEDK)
Planer = $459 (Home Depot: Ridgid 13 in. Thickness Corded Planer
Router = $239 (Home Depot: Bosch 1617EVSPK – 2.25 HP Combination plunge-…)
Cordless Hand drill + Bit Set = $139 (Home Depot: DeWalt DCD701F2 12 MAX Brushless…)
Ultimately, can account for sharing resources by looking at cost of other equipped spaces that charge by the hour.
= $10 (some spaces charge to join for a longer period than necessary, chose minimum)
Overall cost: $309 including wage and expected tooling rate
