Final Blog/Reflection

 

My inspiration to create this project honestly came from looking at everything I had done previously and doing the opposite. Given that I want to enter the medical field, I’ve spent summers shadowing and researching, so while I could have continued this trend over the past three weeks, I knew I wanted to do something different. Specifically in the case of choosing a carpentry-related project, I wanted to make something tactile that would be practical. While my group originally thought about building a tree house and then a shed, we decided on a picnic table, knowing that it would be less expensive and more feasible to build than the other two options.

The initial two weeks of our project, which involved going to the Ohio Carpenters facility in Richmond and building a picnic table at my house, went very well. The instructors at the facility, which included not only our mentor Mr. Dan Sustin but also Mr. Dave Knight and Larry (last name unknown) were extremely patient, helpful, and generous in allowing us to use power tools and wood. Honestly, we were originally planning to spend all three weeks building the picnic table. The fact that it only took us two weeks is a product of how educational the instructors at the facility were and how that enabled us to work efficiently as a team. We took these skills to the next level when we decided to build a bench swing by ourselves. This part of the project also went quite well all things considered. The new project was definitely difficult; we had to decipher an online plan, constantly make new purchases, and learn new/creative applications of our power tools. Ultimately, despite the mistakes in the construction that we made, we were able to put together a bench swing at another group member’s house, and although it held up when only one person sat on it, it broke when two people did (pictures attached).

Possibly the only major aspect we lacked during our three weeks was proper planning for our second construction, the bench swing. We needed to make four trips to Home Depot in total due to some seemingly small mistakes and oversights and spend around $250, well above our original budget of around $200 dollars. However, through this experience, we learned about the importance of planning before home projects.

Speaking of learning, I learned how to use several power tools during my project time. Before May 19^th, I had no idea what a miter saw or belt sander was, and I had only heard about jigsaws and table saws. By June 9^th, I understood the basic uses of all of these tools and even some specific tricks with them. For example, when cutting a curve with a jigsaw, I learned that it helps to make “auxiliary” cuts from the outside into the curve to make rounding the blade easier.

Hawken can continue to partner with the Ohio Carpenters through service days. The facility we learned from makes several picnic tables for organizations and parks all across Northeast Ohio. During some service days, students can help assemble picnic tables in various parks. No major power tools except for drills would be necessary, and an advisory of a dozen kids could easily reassemble a picnic table in a day given that the cuts were premade.

For rising juniors and seniors planning a project, I highly recommend choosing something that is highly different from anything you’ve ever done before, but might still be useful. If you’re interested in being a lawyer, maybe try building a remote-controlled car. You never know what unique skills you might pick up and how much you’ll enjoy three weeks away from what you’ve likely spent a lot of time doing.

My most important takeaway overall is that making anything by yourself is much more difficult but well worth the effort. My classmates and I likely could have bought a prebuilt wooden picnic table for a similar price but with much less time spent. However, the satisfaction of completing a project and being able to customize it (we inscribed “HAWKEN CLASS OF 2021” on the middle board) was incomparable. Additionally, I gained a lot of appreciation for the effort and skill that goes into creating furniture, and will be a more conscious consumer in the future.

This project clearly would not have been possible without the generosity of Mr. Dan Sustin and the Ohio Carpenters, and I along with my group am truly grateful. At the facility, we were taught skills that we will keep with us for a lifetime and an appreciation for carpentry and the hard work that goes into it.