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| Thursday, November 09, 2006 |
| Maybe Scott Cam was right! |
Perhaps furniture-building IS easy!
Or then again, maybe not.
Yesterday, while returning the car we had borrowed to tow the free loan trailer to Mr Ata's parents, we discovered that Ata's FIL has a power circular saw. Never used, it was gifted by his father in law.
Today, therefore, Ata returned our $90 circular saw. We also needed a few longer screws, and a latch to stop Bosco getting through the sliding door, and some latches for the planned under-platform storage doors. After doing this (and running a few other errands), we hauled the giant MDF sheets inside and discovered that their sides were not square. Buggrit. This meant, in turn, doing more cuts than we had intended. You know the saying, "measure twice, cut once"? In our house, the procedure goes like this:
Measure twice.
Measure again.
Argue about where to measure from.
Measure again.
Go to Bunnings (closer than Mitre 10), and buy a larger set square, and a great big metre and a bit long metal ruler.
Measure again.
Debate where we measured from the first time.
Agree on measurements.
Measure for real.
Check angles.
Align guide rail for circular saw.
Attempt a practice cut.
Discover that saw does not work. Go to Bunnings and ask if we are using it correctly. Buy new circular saw.
Fiddle with guide rails some more.
Decide to cut both MDF sheets at once.
Debate going to Bunnings for more clamps, but decide (at Ata's insistence that it will be fine and can we PLEASE just cut SOMETHING now) not to.
Clamp sheets together (have you ever tried to manouevre a 2400x1200 sheet of 18mm MDF in a small dining room?).
Make practice cut. Both have to make a practice cut, so we know what we're doing.
Decide we know what we're doing.
Align guide rail to make the real cut. This involves more measuring, and frequent use of the set square.
FINALLY - cut. Then repeat procedure from after "Buy new circular saw" for two more cuts.
Ata is very glad she talked Mr Ata into cutting the two sheets at once. Otherwise we'd still be doing just those.
After the MDF sheets, we vacuumed and put away the circular saw. Then it was out with the compound mitre saw. This required minor assembly - nothing dangerous, just attaching support arms and dust bag and the like. It does involve a certain amount of interpretation and head-scratching over the instruction manual. When the thing is finally set up and clamped to the table (Ata: "And Craig was sure about clamping it?" Mr Ata: "....I think so..." Ata: "Well, did he say we could just clamp it? He would know. Did he say we could clamp it?" Mr Ata: "I think so..." Ata: "What do you mean you think so? Was clamping it your idea?" Mr Ata: "No, he suggested using clamps." Ata: "So, he did say we could clamp it." Mr Ata: "Yeah, I think so..."), there is more measuring. Then there is the discovery that our pine boards aren't as straight as we thought they were. Ata insists it will be fine - after all, Mike the Timber Guy looked at our plan and said it would be okay if the boards weren't perfectly straight, as the multiple screw points would pull them into line. We cut. We measure some more. We cut again at the other end to get straight ends.
Then we haul the boards into the cinema room, where the platform edges are marked out with tape.
And they are too big.
This is when we realise that Ata has confused 2050mm with 2m 50cm. Back to the cutting.
Then the next set of boards. Mr Ata measures these ones, and the cutting goes a little more smoothly. We measure before removing them from the cutting room. This is when we realise that Mr Ata has confused 2015mm with 2m 15cm. More cutting.
Now we have four boards cut to the right lengths. This is when we discover that the saw blade is not on a perfectly 90 degree angle. Our cut boards off square by 2mm. We call a halt to the cutting - it is now 7pm - and spend some time fiddling with the saw to make it perfectly square. Ata thinks the cut boards will be all right - the small unsquareness will be okay because those particular boards do not need to sit perfectly flush with anything. Mr Ata wants to use the wonky ones to make some of the smaller internal supports instead, and re-cut the long boards. We have just enough 3m lengths left to do this, and we bought a little more than we needed so it will probably work out okay even with the unexpected wastage.
Sigh. Ata had hoped to have all the cutting done today. On the upside, operating the saws has not turned out to be as terrifying as she feared. She feels better operating the saws herself than watching Mr Ata do it - particularly after that one horrifying moment when, using the compound saw, he crossed one hand under the other to steady the board. Ata had a minor panic attack and slapped his arm until he removed it. It would probably have been okay - he'd put his arm behind the blade where the retracting blade guard protects careless fingers from accidental dismemberment - but Ata has great respect for the idea of keeping limbs well outside the no-fingers zone. Operating the saw herself, Ata knows exactly where all limbs, blades, and cables are. This means she is not panicking about accidentally cutting through a cable or slipping with the blade or failing to move a hand. All of which she worries about when Mr Ata is using it - even, bizarrely, she fears somehow getting her own limbs in the way of the spinning blade (logically, she can't honestly think of a way this would happen - but no-one said fear was logical). So we take it in turns to operate the machinery.
Ata is now waiting for Mr Ata to return with pizza. Cutting will resume tomorrow. Hopefully we will be assembling tomorrow evening.
Oh, and Ata is enrolled in the "Jill of All Trades" evening at Mitre 10, where she will learn to install a vanity and use a mouse sander & router and lay ceramic tiles. There are drinks and nibbles and door prizes. And, after today's trip to Mitre 10 - where she was served by the same girl who served her twice yesterday - she has been promised a discount card. |
posted by Ata @ 7:51 pm  |
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| 3 Comments: |
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I would be bashing my head against the nearest brick wall by now... argh. You have far greater patience than I.
I hope it all goes exceedingly well from here. And that everyone in the Ata household gets through the experience with fingers, limbs, and tails fully intact.
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Oh, I truly applaude your measuring techniques. Very thorough.
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I'd applaud too ... i'll do it just as soon as i stop laughing.
"have you ever tried to manouevre a 2400x1200 sheet of 18mm MDF in a small dining room?)."
No. No i haven't.
Not even in a large dining room.
Nor any other room.
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I would be bashing my head against the nearest brick wall by now... argh. You have far greater patience than I.
I hope it all goes exceedingly well from here. And that everyone in the Ata household gets through the experience with fingers, limbs, and tails fully intact.