Final Blog

 

After three weeks of working on our picnic table project I feel as though it was a success and that I learned essentially what I wanted to learn from the beginning. I chose this project because I wanted the opportunity to get out of a classroom environment and learn a skill with real life applicability all while having some fun with my closest friends throughout high school. Before I started, I had barely ever even used power tools let alone made entire tables but now I have a basic understanding of how to use tools, math, ingenuity, and teamwork to accomplish practically any woodworking project with whomever I may need to make it with. Looking back, there is little I would change other than building our swing bench with stronger arm rests because it seemed like every day I was able to either learn something new or apply something I just learned. One week we were experimenting with using a jig saw to make curved pieces for a tool box, the next we were using it on our own to add a nice curved finish to the end of our bench. Additionally, we spent the perfect amount of time working with our woodworking apprenticeship program and without them. The staff there were incredibly friendly and made all of us feel at home while simultaneously teaching us the skills we needed. However, it was necessary to get away from them to experience building something on our own. While the precision of people like Mr. Knight helped with the final product, in order to translate our skills to practicality we needed the ability to fail and learn from our mistakes. I am most proud of the creative solutions to mistakes like the batons on our picnic table not matching and our bench breaking because it demonstrates persistence and a thorough knowledge of the trade. Most people can figure out how to make something in accordance with a set of plans but fewer can salvage a project that has already gone awry or even improve upon a set of already existing plans. In the future, I would recommend to all rising seniors that it is a great idea to learn a practical skill be it woodworking, welding, or anything else that gets one out of the classroom and this organization in particular, especially our mentor, Dan Sustin, is a great place to start for future carpenters.