Homework: build a box. Seems simple enough, right? I thought so too. Simple enough that I didn’t need more instructions. I thought I knew what to do right from the start, and set right on it.

But I didn’t, of course. I was working completely oblivious of the project constraints.

I designed three different boxes. THREE. BOXES. All because I couldn’t be bothered to open the Canvas assignment.

The first was a paper tray, kinda like this one:

This would have not worked because of the dimensional requirement: six inches to a foot in each direction. The original design called for a four inch tall unit. But, this isn’t what got me to change my box. After just one day with Adobe Illustrator, I thought it would be a great idea to laser cut the box! At least making the file was a great introduction on using Illustrator. I spent way too long trying to place precision lines and figuring out angles and anchors and pathing. I even had the great idea of trying to figure out how to join the wood without fasteners and have it lock together in place. Here’s the schematic:

Then, as I’m in the middle of trying to get the wood for the tray, Tori breaks the news. No laser cutters. Oh. Okay then. I wasn’t so much disappointed that I had spent my time designing the paper tray so much as that I knew I’d have to spend time making another box.

I go back to my dorm and look for other kinds of boxes I could use around the place. In my pen cup, I found sixty-two cents and had a great idea for the next box: a change cup. Guess what the problem with a change cup is? Yeah, it’s pretty small. In fact, it’s four inches to a side. Of course, I still hadn’t read the assignment because I was prioritizing things I could use in my room so heavily. The next day:

Yep. I went and cut it all out. It just needed a coin slot and to be fastened together. I headed back to Martel for dinner, satisfied with my work and confident that I could easily put it together the next day. Fortunately, something in me decided to finally check the canvas assignment, probably to check documentation instructions or something. My heart sank at what I saw: “each side of the box should be between 6″ and 1′ in length.”

…

Again.

Another wasted day at the OEDK.

Because I couldn’t be bothered to read instructions.

That was a real facepalm moment there. I buried my head in my sheets for a couple minutes, knowing that I still had to build a completely new box.

That was Saturday. This box was due Monday. I still had some Multi and Orgo to get to, not to mention the Spanish quiz coming up.

Sunday was a long day.

I began with nothing. Upon waking up, I decided that I’d make a box for all the cups and bottles on top of my wardrobe. Sure. It’s an idea. I can do that. Off to the OEDK.

Michael became my buddy for the rest of the day. He took me into the wood shop and taught me how to cut out the lengths I needed with the table saw. He showed me the router and how to adjust and change bits on it. He helped me find the correct bit for countersinking the screws. Thanks Michael!

I finally had a box of the correct size. Now all that was left was cleaning it up. I took the scraper and sandpaper to smooth off the extra wood on the edges. Once all sides of the box were fairly level, I took the edges off on the router. Almost there! Some more sanding and a coat of linseed oil later:

Voila! Finally done! Three iterations, four days later. Though I did get to learn how to use the router and table saw, I think there’s a much bigger takeaway: read the instructions!