Our first Engi 210 project was to create a box out of wood. I started mine by grabbing a piece of plywood (0.5 in. thick) and measuring out the dimensions for all four walls and the base. I decided my base would be 9 by 7 inches. Two sides would be 9 by 6, and the other two sides would be 6 by 5.75 inches (0.25 less to compensate for the other sides sandwiching them).

I cut each piece using the table saw in the woodshop, which was nice to learn to use. To be careful, I cut slightly outside of the desired length so I could sand it inwards. Unfortunately, the belt sander didn’t have a usable band of sandpaper, so I had to sand it by hand which took a long time.

I then used the Kreg jig on each side and screwed them one by one into the base of the box. I also used one screw on each corner to fasten the top of each side to another and sunk it in. Part of the base wasn’t long enough, leaving an awkward gap. It would have taken too long to sand the plywood down evenly, so I decided to leave it.
Before using the router on the top of the box, I had a lab tech help me change the bit to the rounded edge. I used the router to round each end of the box. It took about 2 passes through to evenly cut it. After that, I sanded all sides of the box to smooth out the edges. The plywood lines made the box look somewhat unfinished, but overall I liked the look of the box.

Looking at plywood prices, I estimate the piece of plywood I used to be about $8. The 12 screws I used would be about $1. If I paid myself $11 an hour, the total would go up $33 because I spent about three hours on the box. Lastly, I’ll add $1 for machine time. This makes the box a total of $43!