Making the Pieces

Jackson, Taschen, Abe, and Haruki take some plywood to the bandsaw!

Monday we learned each other's names and the materials and tools available to us.  We designed and laid the ground work for our projects: a Tractor, Barn, and Chicken Coop. Tuesday is the first full day of building, when we can really settle in and get things done. These kids banded together, buckled down and created all the important parts each project would need to exist.

Daria and Galicia layout their design.

The first thing to do is figure out how big your piece needs to be, some tinkerers consult the design plans and others take a measuring tape directly to the project to figure it out.

Abe and Jackson use a giant compass they made to mark the cut line.

Next, one marks where they need to make the cut on the material so that it is clear for them to do or even another team member who is ready to help out!

Felix aligns and clamps the skilsaw jig, which will help him cut a straight line safely.

After you know where you want to make the cut, you setup your tool and the material, so that everything is safe, secure, and as accurate as possible.

Pearl and Melia use the chopsaw stop to make several pieces all exactly the same length.

Then it's time to cut!

Tagg catches the weight of the slice of ply ;) while Beatrix guides it through the bandsaw.

Orin and Ava take turns drilling pilot holes and driving screws to make a Barn wall.

When you have enough pieces it's time for assembly! The kids got a lot of practice clamping all sorts of things together today.

Snack Time!!!!

Oliver sets a window frame into a wall frame.

Once we have a few parts made we can combine them into more complex things!

At the end of the day we reset the shop and building areas, so that we can come back with fresh minds and a fresh shop and get right to work!

Ari, Jackson and Melia sort screws, while Tagg helps get the drill batteries on chargers.