Working With Mistakes

On Sunday, I made my first significant mistake. I was cutting a mortise into a piece of wood and I did not properly center the cut. Dr. Huminski realized the mistake after it had been made. I had two choices. I could either increase the size of the mortise by one inch or I could scrap the piece of wood and start over. This piece of wood had already been fitted in an exact spot and held a second mortise for a different joint. For this reason, I decided that it would be too time consuming and impractical to start over with this piece of wood. Instead, I made the mortise and inch longer to center it. This will mean that the foot rest of the desk must be an inch wider. The only effect this has is not allowing a chair to be pushed under the desk quite so far. I am glad that I was able to work with my mistake and that it did not cause too much harm.

Pictures At Last

Finally, I have successfully loaded a picture. This is inside Dr. Huminski's workshop. The picture was taken in November I believe. Here, you can see part of the carcass of the desk. It is laying on the back two legs. On top are the two front legs with the bottom draw rail between them. The side draw rails can also be seen connecting the back and front legs. A few pieces have been added since this picture was taken and other pieces have also been prepared to attach soon. When I left the workshop on Sunday, Dr. Huminski told me we would begin gluing either next week or the week after. Right now, none of the pieces have been glued together. 

Ready to Get Back to Work

It has been a long time since I worked on my desk and I am ready to get back to work. I finished creating a timeline yesterday and I am now ready to work towards fulfilling it. By the end of January, I hope to finished with the carcass and begin putting in drawers and side and backboards in February and March. The end of March will be spent completing finishing touches as well as sanding and varnishing. I really think that it will be possible and very likely to finish the carcass before January is over. This would give me a pleasant head start on filling in the carcass with draws and boards.

A Rough Timeline

A much needed Christmas break...but missing the feeling of wood in my hands. Dr. Huminski agrees that we are on or slightly ahead of schedule. I have looked at the weekends between now and the end of March. Right now, I am planning to work every weekend except for Martin Luther King weekend. The average work session will last 3 hours, but they could range from 2 to 5 hours. I plan to work for another 35 to 45 hours on the desk. There are also times when I can work with him on Wednesdays if needed. I will be sorry for the Christmas break to end, but can look forward to working more on the desk.

Learning As I Go

We now have the assignment to create a detailed timeline for completing our project. To do this, I looked back at the timeline that I included in  my proposal. I am pleased to say that I am ahead of this timeline. I did not put in as many hours as I thought I would have, but I have completed more of the desk than I predicted. This is partly because I started building my desk the second time I met with Dr. Huminski in his workshop. Instead of first learning basic carpentry skills and then building the desk, I have learned these skills as I work. At first, Dr. Huminski had to be more involved in the building process, watching me closely. Now that the I have learned and practiced the basic skills, he can tell me to do a process and I work on it alone and ask questions if i need to.

Wood-withdrawal

The week we thought would never come has arrived. We will be handing over our research papers tomorrow and giving them up to red pens and scrutinizing eyes. Honestly, it will just be a relief to have this paper out of my hands. It has been looming for a whole semester and I look forward to having it behind me.
I did not work with Dr. Huminski last weekend and we will not be meeting again until January. I guess I was suffering from wood-withdrawal because this past weekend I decided to work with wood. I simply went into our basement and cut, sanded, and carved pieces of scrap wood. Most of what I attempted ended in failure, but it was still nice to have saw dust on my clothes again.

Hibernation

Due to the busy time that we are entering and the Christmas holidays, Dr. Huminski and I will be taking a break from woodworking until January. This will give me a chance to devote more time this weekend to revising my research paper. We have made considerable progress this semester and have laid the foundations for next semester. The frame or carcass is almost complete and it is starting to actually look like a desk. I have spent over 20 hours so far working on the desk. There is still much to do, but as I became more familiar with the tools and procedures, I have been able to work faster. I am satisfied with where I am with my project right now.