Welcome back everyone. Well, building shit was a failure. I knew I had it coming when I decided to work on a project that I had no experience in. Let that be a lesson to you. From now on my blog will be about my various ceramics projects I make throughout the year, and this time I will update more frequently. Jason Dunn, a ceramics teacher at COM, is excellent at teaching everything you need to know about clay. I'm excited to show you guys a vase I made last week. I'll update you live from the office tomorrow! In the mean time, what projects are you proud of making?

Lumber Yard Etiquette

Welcome back viewers, apologies for the delay. 

By now, you should be aware that there is a code of etiquette in the world. Lumber yard etiquette is a very real thing that I learned during my time at Macbeath Hardwood Company. I've summarized it into simple bulletpoints:

• Educate yourself on wood dimensions and difference cuts. Utilize books and the resources the internet offers.
• Keep the lumber stacked neatly. If planks aren't laid flat, they will have bumpy surfaces making it hard to keep a smooth surface. 
• When you have the wood you want to purchase pull the planks out for an employee to measure for you. Then they will discuss the type of cuts you want. When I got my lumber done, I needed 2 10 1/4 foot planks cut into 3 3 ft pieces. In order to do that I cross cut (a horizontal cut) my boards.
• Always thank them for helping you out.

After the trip to Macbeath, I headed to my nearest Home Depot to purchase some tools. 

I purchased a Ryobi Circular saw

You can never have enough clamps!! An extension cord underneath them.

A hammer, Titebond III Wood Glue, respiration protection mask, nails, and don't forget your eye safety wear.

This is a T-Square to help me make accurate measurements.

This is the wood I purchased. The small blocks to the left will be used for dovetails practice.

Next, I plan on picking up a work bench. I thought about making one, but I would rather have something I know won't break... I'll be back in a few days.

Happy working!

Brainstorming

For my first project I am in the process of designing a custom shelf to hold my cassettes and CDs. I thought about building extra space for my vinyls, but the weight of them could bring the shelf crashing down. My first step is to draft a diagram with precise measurements of the cassettes (most cassettes are the same size, but occasionally I'll come across a special edition duo) and CD's. The picture below is a rough sketch of how I would like this to look. The cassette shelves are smaller, and the CD shelves have more room.

To put the pieces of wood together at the corners I'm going to try a technique called Dovetail Joints.

Because I have decided to hang this shelf on my wall I have to keep that location in mind. Ideally I'd like to replace this painting with the shelf.

Now I need to figure out what kind of wood I would like to use and where I can get it. I came across this extremely helpful website that allows you to type in your zip code (USA users only) and pulls up various locations where you can buy your materials.

Using Wood Finder I am able to look up the closest supply store that has my wood (always call before you make the trip, the employees may even be able to hold the materials for you!)

This week I will be visiting the MacBeath Hardwood Company located in Berkeley California. I'll release my next post October 10th.