Today was the beginning of Eric’s Eagle Project. Time is flying towards his 18th birthday, so the work must go on. He had his project approved a couple of months ago. He wanted to do two picnic tables for his school lunch area. After meeting with the approval committee, he was doing four.
Today was the day to get it going. Eric had an offer from one of the Crew 6 parents that had a wood shop in his garage that he could not refuse. The offer of, I am available Monday with my shop. We started the day at Home Depot picking up lumber. Eric began by determining what needed to be cut first. The 90 degree cuts were made first. With that done the legs could be cut. While all that was happening I was quietly putting together a jig for drilling the holes through the legs into the cross members.
The making of a jig
Once the legs were cut it was time to fit one into the jig with the cross members so that the placement of the holes in the legs could be determined. It was time for Eric to make another decision and give some direction.
Where of where sould the holes be drilled?
Once the location of the holes in the legs was determined, another jig was created to mark the hole placement on all the legs. The legs were then drilled on a drill press so that they were good and straight. Upon completion of drilling the legs, they were placed in the jig and the leg holes were used to drill the cross members.
Loaded jig with holes drilled in cross members
As the holes were drilled, more lumber was cut for the seats and tops. Even with the store purchased lumber, everything was measured and cut to size so that everything fits and looks good. Words for the day, measure twice and cut once. Also, do not forget the word jig. Just some using of a router on the edges, some paint and assembly is left. We will have to see how that goes.
i like that sexy truck in the back