Mentor meeting 3/25

This is a couple days old but on Monday I met with my mentor and we discussed briefly my frame sketch, then we went through the plans for the frame and bench to figure out how much wood I will need for each project.  Here are my notes/calculations.

In class prompt 3/25

Projects three biggest successes/ steps taken-

Overall research

My Blog

Staying on task with class work and with my current schedule

Jersey Frame Plan

Here's a plan I sketched for my Jersey Frame.  Tomorrow I meet again with my mentor, I'll post notes and I have a schedule for the next few weeks in progress (its getting busy).

2 Projects in 1

I have decided that I'm going to break my project down into two separate projects or components. Since I've figured out that I learn more from experience than I do from research I'm going to try and get as much experience as I can. I'm going to work at home with my dad building a frame for my hockey jersey. My dad has experience doing frames and all the equipment needed is at our house.  Then at school with my mentor, Mr Breigle, I will build a high back bench for the entry way of my house.  By breaking down my project I will be able to experience much more.  I will have the opportunity to learn from two different skilled woodworkers and gather different techniques that they each use.  I will also get to experience the difference of a small home wood shop and a larger scale wood shop like at school.  Hopefully through these experiences I will be able to not only pickup a few tricks and habits of my own, but I will really be able to see firsthand the different sides of modern day woodworking.  I also believe that the two projects I chose will help me see different goals in the broad scheme of woodworking.  For example the number one thing to keep in mind while building the frame will be aesthetics and looks, its meant to be displayed and shown off.  As for the bench however, quality and functionality will be just as important as looks because it needs to stand sturdy and be able to be used.  The big picture in woodworking is all about quality, there is something valuable to people when they know that time and effort is put into building something from raw material.  This standard of quality is what I am holding myself to and hopefully I will be able to put this value into my finished project.

"Out of the Rut"

This is a journal entry we were assigned in class yesterday. It requires us to make a list of things to do for our projects.
Here's a list of 7 things I want to accomplish this week.

Break down my project into two parts

Create a project timeline through the end of the year

Break down wood plans for my two building projects

Calculate how much wood I will need for each project

Call local wood stores and get estimated prices for different types of wood

Calculate how much my total project will cost

Purchase wood for my first project

Mentor meeting recap

Today I met with my mentor and we discussed everything on my list from yesterday.  After talking about that stuff for a few minutes, it seems that I have a good idea of everything that needs to happen.  However, now I need to put in a little more time and start going because there's a lot less time than it feels like.  So I will continue to post entries as I accomplish some different tasks this week.

In class prompt

What about your WISE project has surprised you?

A lot has surprised me about research. I have found it very difficult to actually learn and engage myself through reading. I can pick up a few points and facts but the most I've learned so far has actually been from talking with my mentor or through some of the experience with my dad. When I meet with my mentor he is able to explain the things from the books in terms that I understand. This really surprised me because before I started I just assumed that if I read a bunch of articles and books about woodworking and I would then learn from it. However, now I see that I will probably get the most out of the hands on portion of my project. This being the case, I'm now thinking about shifting my project into more hands on stuff while using research as more of a reference instead of trying to actually learn through it because from where I stand I will learn more from doing.

Plan for mentor meeting tomorrow

Tomorrow I will meet with Mr Breigle and here's what we will discuss-

• Trip to Hardwood store and finishing up research on purchasing wood
• Picking a final project to build and purchasing that wood
• Creating a rough schedule for my project (once I decide on what to build)
• What to research next

After our meeting I will post an entry in which I summarize what he says about the things above

Past WISE Review

The past few days Ive been reading through a WISE journal from 2004 by Elizabeth Juers.  Her project was similar to mine in the aspect that she was also trying to learn about the big picture of woodworking.  However, she was focusing more on the finishing process while I'm looking more into the entire building process.  Her journal is pretty good and I think that its a decent example that I can learn from a little bit.  She does a good job of explaining everything that shes doing and is very personal, which is one thing that I believe I need to work on.  Overall, her journal has been helpful and I will try to use it a little more as an example as I continue with my project.

This weeks plan update

Couldn't make it to the wood store today so I'm planning to go next week, with that I'm pushing all the purchasing wood research back as well. So tomorrow I will begin to review the past WISE project.

This weeks plan...

Heres the schedule for the rest of the week-

Wednesday- Go to Southern Tier Hardwoods with my Dad
Thursday- Read about drying woods and finish up research on purchasing wood
Friday-Begin reviewing past WISE project and journal
Saturday + Sunday- Fill out worksheet and blog a summary for the past WISE project and journal

Other Blog Review

This post does not pertain to woodworking 

As part of my WISE class I am required to review one of my classmates blogs.  Although, this blog is not related to woodworking, its still pretty cool so you should check it out anyways.

Fun With Knives by Dakota Baylor
sickknives.blogspot.com

Dakota is working on building knives.  So far he has done many of the basic project requirements (similar to what I have done) as well as some preliminary research on his topic.  He talks about meeting with his mentor and it sounds like it has been going pretty well with that.  He posted a video from YouTube  which I found pretty interesting, which shows that hes taken some time to conduct thorough research and get the big picture before diving into anything physical.  He also talked about looking up how much the materials he may need are going to cost, this shows that he is concerned about his budget and trying to get an idea of how much his project will cost (which is something I should consider as well).

3/10 Update

Last week I had got set back with some personal things, that prevented me from working on my project, however this weekend I was able to back on top of things.  I Looked through a disk of plans from Woodsmith magazine, that my mentor gave me, I saved a few ideas on my computer and I will talk to my mentor about them in our meeting tomorrow.  At our meeting we will also discuss purchasing wood for my project and how wood is prepared after being cut down.  Tommorrow I will also talk to my WISE teacher, Mr Reiff, about some of the other project requirements.  This week I will have a few more entries about my mentor meeting, my WISE class, and some other notes about research, ideas, and purchasing wood. 

I Need Ideas...

If you look on both the Project Goals page and read the post titled Ideas from February 11 I talk about some things that I might be interested in building.  I definitely want to build a desktop shelf and a jersey frame.  However, I would also like to build something else.  Since I have access to a lot of larger scale equipment here at school, I wouldn't mind building something a little bigger.  So please if you have suggestions (remember I'm a beginner but I'm open to a challenge) leave a comment with a suggestion or multiple suggestions.  Also feel free to ask questions, give advice, or critique my work.  Thank you.

To do list:

Other things discussed during my mentor meeting yesterday were what needs to be done before our next mentor meeting (which will probably be at the end of next week or the beginning of the following week).  Here's my to do list:

• Measure and write down dimensions of the jersey I'm building a frame for
• Search for wood plans on the things I plan to make (not exact plans but some similar ones)
• Decide what kind of wood I might like to use for my project
• Research and take notes on purchasing wood
• Call local hardware stores and gather prices for wood that I might like to use
• Read the section of The Complete Manual of Woodworking on drying wood and defective wood
• Briefly review things that I've already learned