Weather sucks.

Did a full week of O-Week Advisor interviews, minus Thursday because I got too sick and passed out. Rather than spending 13 hours doing anything productive, I was more or less stuck asking the same questions over and over again.

Got a low fever on Wednesday night that turned into a high fever on Thursday, but I did end up finishing and cutting out the box right after my Wednesday lunch. The Box, as unimpressive as it is, is…. unimpressive.

I can’t lie this did not take too long to make, but it sure took longer than it should have. I mistakenly put down 20% power and 20% speed the first time around for the engrave. And that was truly disgusting.

 

However, I got to press the red button because I had no idea how to stop the thing from committing this mistake. I could have dug around the menu more to see how to properly terminate the job, but there was quite some dark smoke forming on the bed and I didn’t want to wait around.

Second time around, with correct settings. 20% power, 80% speed.

The final product looks okay, some laser burns here and there, and smells funny. Nonetheless that was the last free working time before due I can dedicate to cut and put together so it is what it is. The mallet was there to convince the top piece to fit better, because I didn’t want to crush the whole box trying to get every edge to be perfectly fitted.

 

You might wonder what happened to the Kerf box. Well. I was reading through the instruction, and there was a section where it said “Most online box making programs allow you to set the kerf manually (typically between 0.012” to 0.015”) to achieve snug (also called “press-fit”) fit.” Well then it seems like the Kerf will probably be between 0.012-0.015”. So…. 0.013

Breaking down the cost, considering the machine was borrowed because that will blow the cost out of proportion:

Adobe software: Free if you can write a simple .XML script

Wood: $15 2’x4′ planks, can make many 12 4″x4″ boxes. So about $1.5 per box

Labor time: honestly trivial since you are only designing it and it doesn’t take long.

This is the only photo of the workplace I got aside from the one with the mallet in the back which I put away.