Fortune favored us today with nice and warm weather allowing for work to be done outside, and the twins were at their best behaviour thus providing ample oportunity and time for me to begin this project. For the time being I'm having to do this kind of work outside because my workshop is not yet finished (that's yet another project begging to be begun and completed), and though I will be doing the electronics indoors, woodwork is inherently messy which necessitates doing it outside.
Anyway, I began by collecting a previously purchased plate of wood intented to be used as shelving, and started marking out the various pieces. The wood I'm using is 16mm solid pine, though initially I planned on making it out of oak. However, as I was planning to stain the wood anyway, I opted for something less flamboyant.
I love tools. Hence I use any and all chances and oportunities to acquire new ones. So, as I'm also a big fan of machines, I first opted for cutting the various pieces using my jigsaw. This didn't turn out too well. For some reason the blade kept bending, and as a result every cut I made got slanted. Therefore I've made the mental note of getting a circular saw as soon as oportunity allows for it. In the end I went for a more analogue approach and cut the parts manually using a regular hand-operated saw. This worked wonders. All edges needed planing afterwards, but that would be necessary regardless of how I got them cut.
Unfortunately I didn't remember to collect my camera for the process of cutting the pieces, but at this stage of the build I am drilling holes for the screws and the wood nut inserts.
During this process a couple of other bits went onto my mental shopping list as well. I currently own no countersinking drill bits, so I had to make countersunk screw holes using a slightly large drillbit to countersink the screw heads, and then a narrower drill bit for the actual screw. It worked out beautifully, but it was an arduous process in which I had to drill at very small increments constantly checking the depth of the countersink hole, before changing bits to do the screw holes. I also broke one of my vice grips, so new ones are needed.
After having drilled the holes through the walls of the box and into the bottom plate, I screwed in some wood nut inserts for M4 machine screws. I have selected some very attractive M4 hex-head stainless steel screws. My design would work even better with brass screws, but I have so far been unable to find M4 hex-head brass screws, so stainless will have to do.
And here is the finished wall screwed to the bottom plate. The screw heads are nicely flush with the wood, and they are very solidly locked together. I think the screws, even though they are not brass, will stand out quite nicely against the wood after it has been stained.
A couple of hours of doing this to all the sides, and the result is a wodden box, though still missing the all-important lid. Unfortunately I did not have time to finish the lid as well today, so I hope to be able to do it tomorrow. The lid is the most important part, and will have to fit precisely - It will also need to be split along the middle.
The box was still a little rough though, so I rummaged around in my would-be workshop to dig out my electric planer and some 180 grit sandpaper. Here is the final result after planing. All sides are now nicely flush, and their surfaces are very smooth. Maybe I will make another couple of passes with the planer using a finer grit paper, or maybe I will simply polish it after staining and the mandatory couple of coats of lacquer. We'll see.
This is as far as I got today, but quite soon the box will be finished and ready for staining. Soon I am ready to start work on the electronics, but as I am still awaiting delivery of the all-important NE555P timer chip, I am, until it arrives, focusing my attention on the box. Tomorrow I plan, and hope, to do the lid and hopefully the staining.
Until next time I hope I have piqued your interest. See you in part 2.
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