Posts tagged issue

Here’s the continuation of the little project. The newspaper sticking on the wood is really a pain in the arse. What an unnecessary mistake I’ve done. Now I know….waste of time and energy.

Luckily, Dad came back with me but unluckily for him to be part of the labour. Cause’ he had to do this

Dad and I painstakingly scraped off the newspaper. Rubbing off with thinner doesn’t seemed to work. Water does make the removal easier though. After that, we applied two layers of wood protection just like previously. When it’s dry, assembly is commenced!

We used two types of ‘L’ Bracket – plastic and steel. We wanted to use all steel but out of stock so we bought plastic ones and they are cheaper anyway. We used plastic ones for the simple tables.

Applied carpentry glue between two pieces so that they hold more strongly..

After many many screwing (no pun intended), we’re done! 2 simple tables, 1 weirder looking table and 1 shelf.

and

Piles of newspapers to throw and clean up.

The total cost of the project is RM 156.50, and approximately 65 man-hours. Worth it? Yea to some extend it was satisfying but the process wasn’t exactly that enjoyable. We had bruised palm and backache due to much bending. urgh! But it was certainly a rich learning experience. Below are some of the things I would improve on / reduce the next time around (if any):

• Reduce wood protection coating. Perhaps only use them for the sides. That would dive the cost down by 40%, using only one tin and lower the man-hours by 50%. Using less chemical is also more environmental friendly.
• Would love to try paint instead. Black or white would be my top choice.
• Install then only paint the side to avoid newspaper sticking on the wood. This would reduce the man-hours by another 20%.
• An electric driller would certainly speed up things and reduce physical pain.
• Minimize throwing of newspaper and recycle them instead. Almost all are torn while separating them from wood.

Without a good assistant like Dad, this project will not be completed so wonderfully. Thanks!

In support of green architecture, I have decided to make my own furniture by re-using pieces of wood that I managed to salvage. Apparently some people left it lying by the stairs and seeing that no one came to claim them, I loaded as many pieces as I can into my poor little car in the middle of the night when no one was watching and transported back to my apartment. The pieces, weigh more than 5kg a piece, are still in very good condition. There are still more  pieces of variety sizes and shapes by the stairs but that’s all I could carry though I have the desire to go back for more. Perhaps some other day. Each of the wood measure 1 inch thick but of different length and width. So this is what I did to them thus far:

1. Wiped them clean and stacked according to size
2. Took measurement with IKEA measuring tape
3. The GOAL: use up all the pieces and make as many furniture as possible. The designing work is actually the hardest process. It had me thinking for quite a while. Below are my engineering-ish drawing sketches:-
4. The preview of the end result. There will be three tables and one shelf. Each shape is tagged with alphabet corresponding to size. This is for easy identification and to avoid using the wrong piece during assembly.
5. Recently my wooden computer table was covered with mold – same type of wood, only thinner. So I’ve decided to apply wood protection to avoid having the same problem. Went to Ace Hardware to look around and here’s what I came back with:- 
6. Painting. This is when the actual labour begins. Each surface was coated twice. I had twenty two pieces and the recommended drying time before re-applying is 12 hours. But I waited only about 7 hours because I was impatient. I worked from morning till midnight.
7. The second coating made the wood even darker. The surfaces are now not so smooth as I thought they would be.

One litre of wood protection wasn’t enough so I went and bought another two more tins. If I had another chance to do another woodwork I would want to try coloured paint. Now I left the reverse side to coat but I face a problem. The newspapers are now glued to the wood. Anyway I’ll figure out how to solve it after the Chinese New Year break. I can’t wait to get them done. It’s my woodwork since ‘kemahiran hidup’ back in the secondary school days. As for now HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!!!