Measure Twice, Cut Once
PHOTOS & TEXT • JENY BUECHEL
T
hey say that if something scares you, there’s a good
chance that you should give it a try. I’m not exactly
sure who “they” are, but I’m curious what they would
have to say about a table saw.
Walking in to the woodshop at Kadena Arts & Crafts,
I was initially overwhelmed by all of the different
machines. In my mind, wood working was a hand saw
or whittling kind of thing. However, after my woodshop
orientation, I learned that there
were more types of saws than you
can shake a stick at. Band saws,
table saws, push saws, pull saws,
see saws… the list is a long one.
One thing they all have in common
though is that when used incorrectly,
they can hurt you. And that, my
friends, is why I am frightened by the
table saw.
However, once I took the orientation
course, I learned the safe practices
to use all of the saws and routers
in the shop. I also saw some of
the gorgeous work that patrons of
the shop are working on, and their
completed projects waiting on a fi nal
coat of varnish. I knew immediately that I wanted
to create something special, too.
When the jewelry box class came up, I took the
leap and signed up for it. Armed only with my safety
orientation, I decided to give it a shot. On the fi rst day
of class, myself and the ot her fi ve members of the
class joined our instructor, Tom, in the shop after open
shop hours. Tom reiterated the safety procedures for
the equipment, and then we got to work. We measured
a completed jewelry box for dimensions and did some
math to calculate the amount of wood we each needed
to create our own box.
We started off slow, making the initial cuts to form the
shell of the box. When cutting the dados (the diagonally
cut pieces to form corners) Tom repeatedly said to
measure twice, and cut once. Cut the biggest pieces
fi rst, so if you mess up, you can cut the smaller pieces
from the larger pieces. I didn’t know how valuable this
advice was going to be until I managed to invert my
dado angles three times in a row. Rookie mistake!
After fi ve sessions of measuring,
cutting, gluing, hoping and praying,
my jewelry box came together. We
picked glass for the top of the box,
making each one unique. We also
picked felt to line the bases and
even added splines! Splines are the
accents in the corners of the box
that strengthen and decorate the
joined pieces, in case you didn’t
know.
At the conclusion of the class,
each one of us had a beautiful
handcrafted jewelry box. All of us
had doubt at some point during
the process, but everyone was
successful. My jewelry box made a fabulous gift for
Mother’s Day that put my brother’s gift of a bouquet of
fl owers to shame. Sorry, brother. I win.
The entire experience was empowering. I got over my
fear of the table saw, though I am still intimidated. I
created something beautiful and learned many skills
that I never knew I needed. The classes don’t stop at
jewelry boxes either! You can make a step stool, corn
hole boards or even a whole living room set. Once you
have your shop certifi cation card, the world is your
oyster.
WANT MORE DETAILS? CONTACT KADENA ARTS & CRAFTS!
VENTURE
9