Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Spring Break Approaching

Dr. Huminski and I did not meet last weekend and we are not able to meet this weekend either. This will give us two weekends to work until my presentation on the 14th of April. The plan is to be finished with the building of the desk. Everything will hopefully be completed except for the staining. Dr. Huminski says the staining is something that does not need to be rushed. We have the desk lid and the cubby inside of the desk left to complete.

Closing

The Portfolio is due in two days. Presentations are approaching. It seems that Senior Project is coming to a close. Not in the world of wood. Over spring break, I designed a cubby that we will build to be placed inside the desk. Dr. Huminski and I worked again on Sunday. In order to have enough wood to build the cubby, we had to plane more. We did not begin building the cubby though. Instead, I spent about two and a half hours sanding the entire desk. I did this to prepare the desk to be coated in Polyurethane. After sanding, we moved the desk into the paint room. Tomorrow morning, I am going to the workshop to put on the first coat. It is important for the desk and its surroundings to be inactive at this time. This inactivity prevents dust from rising and mixing with the coat of Polyurethane. We will continue working on the desk this weekend as well. My Senior Project Presentation is on April 14 which is next week. By that time, the desk will not be completely finished. Everything will be finished except for the inside cubby and the final Polyurethane coats. These final stages will be completed after my presentation.
Senior Project began as a very stressful and agonizing course. It was a hard struggle to find a carpenter willing to work with me. Unexpected obstacles like liability insurance turned into roadblocks. Initially, I did not want to work with Dr. Huminski becuase a senior had worked with him last year. Now, I am very grateful that my senior project has turned out the way it did. Dr. Huminski is extremely knowledgeable about this trade and he has an immense amount of resources. More importantly, he is passionate about woodworking and is a wonderful teacher. He has been a great mentor and guide throughout this year. I have enjoyed my Senior Project immensly and I plan to continue woodworking throughout my life.