Sub Project: Planning

After screwing up the plywood, I'm determined not to make any more major mistakes with this project. To do that, I'm taking some time to more thoroughly plan out each step, starting with the new cabinet design. I've changed the plan so that the double baffle is now entirely inside the opening from the sides and top and bottom. Overall, however, the enclosure is about the same as it would have been. I drew a quick sketch with the dimensions to help myself out when I made the cut list.

Next I plugged in the sizes of the pieces that I have, and the pieces that I want cut into a program called Cutlist (aptly named), which goes through the possible solutions to find the one that reduces waste.

Next on the agenda is to find a way to make straight cuts without a straight edge on the pieces that I have.

Sub Project: How not to cut plywood

I got started cutting my plywood today, and all was going well (or so I thought). I was using a small board with what I had assumed was a straight edge as a guide for the circular saw. This seemed to work out alright, and I thought I was getting some pretty good cuts until I decided to measure the width from the middle of the freshly cut board as opposed to the ends. It turns out that the guide board was flexing in the middle, and the center of the cut boards was considerably shorter than at the ends (up to 1/4"... ugh). Thankfully I noticed before I cut all the wood, but now I've got several sheets that are going to be tough to get back into a usable condition, and I'll probably have to modify my design a bit to work with what I've got.

I'm going to take a few days off and start again on the weekend when I don't have to worry about time constraints. That should also give me some time to more thoroughly work through the design of the cabinets, and what I'll need to do. In my excitement, I got a little impatient, and that's probably what led to the oversight with the cutting. C'est la vie...

And for those of you would-be carpenters out there-- remember: "Measure twice, cut once" is only part of the story.