This week the focus was on enclosures aka: boxes.

Surprisingly, I was stumped by this assignment. Boxes sound so simple, but when trying to figure out what to do, or for what purpose… nothing was coming into mind. Finally, I decided to just make a box (with–maybe–no purpose), and go with the cool 2×4 box examples shown in class.

I got the material, and then got to work. I figured a 7-inch  box would be a pretty good size, so I measured out the 2×4 and did a nice clean cut on the chop saw.

After that, I measured the drill holes for the screws making sure to leave enough space from the top and sides so that the wood wouldn’t split. I drilled the holes down with the drill press, and then used the countersink to open up the hole so that the screws would be flush with the wood.

After that I cut the wood (which took forever!) on the band saw, to separate my wood into the “lid” and “container” part. From there, I traced out the space were the opening would be, so that there would be enough space for the drill holes.

I then took the wood again to the drill press and used forstner bits to gauge out the excess wood from the middle. I used a bigger one to take out the main chunks, and then a smaller one to try and even out whatever was missing. From there, I used the chisel to take out excess parts of wood, and dremel the sand out the inside edges as well as part of the bottom, and then used sand paper to finish out the bottom.

It’s not the most beautifully done box in the world, but I’m actually pretty happy with it! I decided not to finish it in case I do find a cool pcomp use for it, and then I can open up holes for buttons, light, etc. Who knew making boxes would be this complicated, but it’s a very gratifying experience once you see your stuff finished.

PS: I got sawdust on my eye while using the dremel. Ouch! I was wearing protective eye wear but I think I’ll be moving to the big chunky googles now just to be extra safe.