At first sight, it looks normal, simple, inconspicuous. I like to regard it as humble. Not that it is unrefined; on the contrary, my teammate Shifan and I put our hearts and souls into making every aspect of this box incite pride in ourselves. We also made one key decision, though: to maintain the natural look of the wood. As such, it took on a humble aura with its austere colors and round edges. That aura of humility incited pride in me the most, and I find that juxtaposition beautiful.

The venture commenced when we were told that we can form teams to build a box together. I had no one in mind, and to be honest, I was quite timid and anxious. I wanted to work with someone, but I didn’t know who to approach or how to approach them. I went downstairs to learn how to use a drill with Dr. Wettergreen when I encountered another guy, Shifan, who seemed to lack a teammate as well. I took a deep breath and asked him “Do you want to work on this box together?” To my fortune, he said yes, and that was the beginning of our wholesome journey. I consider myself lucky to have had Shifan as a teammate because we were in agreement about how to approach the task at hand: we both desired to enhance our skills and produce a box with the highest quality that can be possibly achieved with our beginner-level proficiency.

Our first decision (which we agreed on instantaneously) was to cut the wood ourselves. It was a stellar opportunity to actually use all the equipment in the woodshop and improve our woodworking skills. We were early birds and started working on the 2nd day; as such, there were a lot of clean, wooden planks that we could call dibs on to cut in the woodshop (we weren’t actually the first people, as another team had ALREADY FINISHED PAINTING THEIR BOX ON THE SECOND DAY. HOW WAS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? I digress). We used a pencil to segment the wood into 9 x 14.5″ pieces of 1 x 4 lumber, 6 x 12″ pieces of 1 x 4 lumber, and 4 x 11″ pieces of 2 x 2 lumber. We then used a miter saw to quickly and efficiently cut all the pieces. We were facing one problem: the cuts were not clean to our liking, and we realized that it was due to a very quick lowering of the miter saw during cutting. We aptly reduced the speed of the lowering of the saw, which produced superior results. In an hour, we had a batch of cut wood that we placed on the ENGI 210 table with the other batches of pre-cut wood. We believe that our batch was more finely cut than the others, which sparked a cozy feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment inside for taking the extra step to cut our own wood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My description has been embellishing the cutting process when it actually had a couple hiccups. For one, the cut pieces of wood had a very minute difference in length which remained invisible to our eyes until we started assembly. I did not know that we could tape the planks together and use the miter saw all at once until I saw someone do that, but it was too late by then. Moreover, we did not consider using the planar, which proved to be our biggest mistake. We only realized that the pieces of wood were not completely flat or perpendicular to each other when assembly was nearly complete. We tried to mask our negligence by sanding the surfaces, but there was a gap between two of the support pieces and the side of the box because the support pieces were not perpendicular to the base. Alas, this was irreparable, so we had to move on with heavy hearts.

After cutting, an impulse of creative power kindled within us. We decided to cut handles into the sides of the box to make it more practical to carry around and to add an elegant touch to the box without making it flashy. We drew a trapezoid of base lengths 4″ and 4.5″ and of height 1″, based off what we deemed would be the most ergonomic for our hands. We then proceeded to use the jigsaw to cut the trapezoid out. Making the surface convex was challenging, but we developed a technique in which we cut out a notch and removed subsequent layers of wood until the trapezoid was fully detached. The interior of the handle was rough, but it was nothing that couldn’t be ameliorated with sanding.

Before starting assembly, we lightly sanded the surfaces with 40-grit and 100-grit sandpaper. The orbital sander was our best friend for a week; I call him Bob (inspiration from the Minions movie), and he’s a delightful guy. He sometimes gets cranky, though. He once launched the Velcro-attached piece of sandpaper at my stomach while it was spinning (true story), but I was fine. I forgive Bob and understand that he had a hectic week of work.

It was time for assembly. We used a corner clamp to hold the adjacent pieces of wood in place, and we went to drilling. We measured and marked where the holes would be so that the screws would lay in vertical and horizontal lines, thus lending the box a polished aesthetic. The act of drilling a pilot hole was quite simple, but countersinking… That was a beast. The holes were always too shallow or too wide, and the screws were inconsistently flush with the wooden surface. One hole was too wide that it caused a crack that was so immense that the screw was exposed. I had to go cut a replacement piece of wood while Shifan worked on fastening the rest (it’s a good thing I practiced using the miter saw!). We were facing this countersinking dilemma persistently until Shifan discovered a bizarre technique: by undulating the countersink screw, he could create a perfect hole, and the screw would be perfectly flush. I have no idea how he came up with that, but it worked.

After the three “layers” of the box were assembled individually, I took it upon myself to route them. We made the conscious decision to route the layers after they have been assembled so that their inner edges would have straight lines. I also noticed another team refraining from routing the bottom edge of the bottom layer, and I “borrowed” their idea. Before I begun routing, I practiced on a piece of scrap wood, tweaking the routing bit with help from a lab assistant until I was satisfied with the result. All the pieces were routed successfully, and no problems arose whatsoever.

Before assembling all the layers together, we met with Bob again to sand all the surfaces that would be hard to access after assemble. We used sandpaper with increasing grit levels and ended with the 400-grit sandpaper. The wood was once again assembled such that the base and the support pieces were fastened, but this time, we opted to ditch the drill to insert the screws. Instead, we simply used a screwdriver, as it was fast, efficient, and safe. before we knew it, we had a physical box actually laying in front of us. It actually had a mass and a volume. We made that box. It felt surreal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It pains me whenever I reminisce this moment. It was my last time spent with Bob. I only have one word to describe our final rendezvous: bittersweet. We sanded the box for the last time, looking for any grooves or crevices to smooth out. The support pieces were also sticking out from the top, so we sanded them until they vanished. I think Bob was so sad that he sanded the surfaces to the extent that the effects of the routing were less pronounced. He couldn’t focus anymore, and neither could I. My heart is palpitating as I type this. I am going to miss Bob deeply, and I hope I will get to see him again in the future.

It was the home stretch: we were more than 9 hours into making that box, and we were almost done. All we had to do was apply a liquid finish. We picked Danish Oil as that preserved the natural color of the wood. We had to apply it twice, waiting for 15 minute intervals between each application and wiping. Shifan did the first application, while I did the second. We also decided against spray painting, not because it was extra work (we were already committed), but because it would look too artificial, which would go against our goal. In 30 minutes, the box was on the drying rack, and all we had to do was wait… for 10 hours… and it was the night before the project was due… wait… WAIT… WHEN ARE WE GOING TO MOVE THE BOX TO THE ENGI 210 TABLE?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, the plan is I will go after my last class ends at 11:50 AM to the OEDK. I will run like greased lightning to move the box from the drying rack to the table. I will only have 10 minutes, so I hope my last lecture does not go over. I know I said we were early birds and started this project early, but it took us an extensive period of time to complete. Now, it all comes down to this. Virtual reader, wish me luck. (Post-deadline update: I made it in time!)

I initially did not expect to enjoy this project as much as I did. I never regarded wood working as “cool” or “fun”, but this box has changed my perspective. I have been showing pictures of it to all my friends, and I am personally proud of this accomplishment. It may not be pristine, but it possesses a special place in my heart. I also made two wonderful friends along the way: Shifan and Bob, and I hope to work with them again in the future.

Sentimental talk out of the way, it’s time for materialistic talk!

• 1″ x 4″ x 8′ lumber: $3.58. Two pieces were used, hence the cost is $7.16.
• 2″ x 2″ x 8′ lumber: $3.98. One piece was used, hence the cost is $3.98.
• Pack of 100 1.5″ screws: $7.96. 48 screws were used, hence the cost is $3.82.
• WATCO Danish Oil: $13.98. A small fraction was actually used, so an estimation of the cost is $1.00.
• Labor: $15/hour/person. Two people worked for a collective total of 10 hours, so the cost is $300

Total Cost: $316.52. This is very expensive, but the value of this box to me undoubtedly surpasses its price. I lied, sentimental talk was never out of the way.       

 

brianbishara