The goal of this assignment was to design and construct a box using the tools in the OEDK.

I first went to the wood shop and grabbed a long plank of 3/4 in wood. I used the buzz saw to cut out the sides of my box. Because the wood was very warped, I used the wood planer to try and flatten the pieces out. However, this method did not work very well, and ended up just chipping my wood.

After cutting my sides, I began to construct the actual box. I grabbed several screws, a drill, a drill bit, and a screwdriver bit to be used in my assembly of the box.

I used the corner clamp to clamp down two sides of the box and another C clamp for added support. I first used the drill bit to make a pilot hole, and then switched to the screwdriver bit to drill the actual screw in.

Here I ran into my first problem; because I used too fast of a setting on the drill, I ended up stripping the screw and it was not able to be drilled in all the way. After some trial and error, I was able to get the screws solidly into the wood. The stripped screws were fairly easy to deal with, as I was able to drill them back out, get new screws, and drill them back in carefully.

Another issue I ran into was splintering the wood. Some of the sides became cracked because the pilot holes were too close to the edge of the box and the torque of the drill caused the wood to splinter. After finishing drilling the sides together, I used the belt sander and 220 grit sandpaper to smooth the sides out.

Although I was able to make my box at the end, I was not very happy with it. Some of the sides were splintered, the sides didn’t line up well, and it was overall not as aesthetically pleasing as I wanted it to be. I definitely underestimated the difficulty and the amount of effort it takes to craft something even as simple as a box. I learned that there are many things you have to consider, such as the length of the screw, the dimensions of the box, how far in you want the screw to go, and order of operations when putting the sides together. The final dimensions of my box was 7.25in x 9in x 6.75in.

Cost Analysis:

3/4″ wood: $15

Screws: $1 (Home Depot sells boxes of 100+ screws for around $6)

Usage of drill, belt sander, buzz saw, and planer = $5

Labor: 4.5 hr ($12/hr) = $54

Total: $75