TUESDAY 25 FEBRUARY 2014 


Yesterday night, I drew some cool joints and the partition (the grove joint) on a wood piece, so that today I can cut them out and be finally done with the box. But i had completely forgotten that the class consists of around 26 people, everyone will be using the equipment and careless people break the equipment! I entered the class as soon as possible and realized that the scroll saw already had a long queue. It had around 5 people before me. But fortunately, I got hold of a coping saw and started doing my work. I made another grip which will help hold the top/lid of the box. To my surprise, this took a long time! But after that I just cut the queue for the scroll saw because each person was taking fifteen minutes to cut their piece. I cut the cool joints and when I had just begun cutting the groove joints, it was time to leave. Today I learnt something new. When I was using the scroll saw, I saw smoke coming out of my wood piece. I just ignored it, thinking that it was just friction and nothing serious. But when my classmate came and saw it she looked peculiar. But it was not anything very serious. But  she said that my wood pieces were burning due to the friction. Then she said that the high speed of the blade is causing all this trouble. I realized that it was faster than normal! I had not idea about increasing or decreasing the speed so she showed me! This is what I learnt today and I am very happy. For tomorrow, I am going to cut the grove joint and try my best to use the drill and make the hole for the joint. I know I am not being clear about the cool joints that I keep talking about because it is a surprise! 

                                               THURSDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2014 

Today was a lot of fun! I was the only one in the room for 2 hours. I was working very fast and independently. I never knew I could finish making one box in just two hours! I was shocked! I did not take anyone's help! For today, I had decided to just cut the wood pieces as I thought it might take up the whole time. But to my surprise, it only took around half an hour! Then for the rest of the time, I was cutting the fingers for the finger joints. This was quite  big procedure. Firstly, I have to cut the wood piece using the scroll saw and then use a chisel and a hammer to neatly hammer the fingers out. This was a long and a tiring process. But the joints turned out to be neat and quite accurate even though it was the first time. I knew the way to do it as I had observes others do it during class time! The box came out very nicely and neatly and I am very proud of myself! After making the box, I started working on the base and the top/lid of the box. This also was very neat! While cutting the lid of the box, the scroll saw blade broke and I did not know where to get the spare from! So I started using the copping saw to cut the rest. Even though I did not use the scroll saw, the lid was still quite accurate! After that, I started making the grip which helps open the box. This grip was heart shaped, which made it difficult and a very long procedure! When I was cutting the last part, the blade of the copping saw broke too! I used another copping saw to finish the work and then went home. Tomorrow, I will sand the pieces using a sand paper and also fill the empty areas with saw dust! This is how my box looks like and I am very proud of it: 

                                                 WEDNESDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2014 

Today was the third time I am getting hurt because one of the scroll saws, the circular saw and the disk sander is not working. I got a deep cut on my right ring finger and was bleeding quite heavily. But I am learning a lot and having a lot of fun working and learning from different people! But today was a very confusing day because I only have around a week left to finish and I am not even done with one of my boxes! I am very tensed and confused as to what I should do! I am not moving very slow but nor am I moving very fast! During today's hour, I was still busy making my pieces smooth and straight! When I came home and discussed my worried with my family, they gave me a good suggestion. They told me to concentrate on making one box first so that at least I have a product to submit! Their suggestion actually made a lot of sense. My brother told me that modifications were allowed and it was okay if I did not exactly follow my plan and mt design! This encourage me to continue working hard and finish at least one box. I decided to make the box without the drawers as it will be suitable to make in a week. The drawers box is very challenging and might take even more than a week to finish! If I have time, I will try and make the other box. Tomorrow, I will be making the box without the drawers. I will be mainly concentrating on cutting the pieces. 
These are how my current wood pieces look. 

                                                   TUESDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2014 


I went to school at 9 O clock sharp and found the room locked. I went to the commons and asked an askari if she has seen Mr. Wafula. She said he has gone for breakfast. Then I went back and waited outside the room. For one hour, I was drawing the dimensions on the wood as this was a free time for me to prepare. At 10 a boy came with the keys for the room, I was relieved. Then I started cutting the wood using the scroll saw. The blade came out around 3 times. Mariam helped me fix it and I learnt that it was pretty easy. But the fourth the time, the blade broke. I was feeling helpless until mariam came to me with a new blade. I had not idea where she got it from. But thank god I would continue with my work! Today I just cut most of the wood pieces by taking mainly Abror's help! He helped me a lot and also gave many suggestions. I also made my wood pieces smooth! I had a lot of fun and hope to work at the same pace for the rest of the week. I had also drawn the joint but mariam told me that I was not supposed to draw it at first but cut it! I did not understand what she said so I left that for tomorrow! I will confirm everything with sir before taking any action. 

                                              MONDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2014 

I am now back to normal and am very enthusiastic about continuing my work! Since holidays have started, I am going to go tot the DT lab everyday and work on it so that it finishes on time and turns out successful! I have decided that I am going to work very hard over the holidays! Unfortunately, I could not work today! I went to the DT lab at exactly at the given time. I waited for half an hour but nobody came so I went back home very annoyed. I really wanted to work today for at least 45 minutes, but could not! A few hours after I came home, I got a mail from sir saying that he waited for me but I DID NOT ARRIVE! Whhattt???!!! I replied saying that I was there on time but he was the one who did not arrive on time! I also told him that I am coming tomorrow! I hope I can work tomorrow as much as I can! I hope I utilize my time well tomorrow! For tomorrow, I am planning to work on the drawers and cut them as accurate as possible. One of the scroll saws, the circular saw and the disk sander has not yet been repaired and I am sure it will not be repaired until the beginning of year 9! I have stopped expecting anything from anyone... that's it! Another thing I like is that I have an opportunity to help people! On Thursday I had helped Paul, Alykhan, Mariam and a few others and it feels great when one helps someone in need! :D

                                              WEDNESDAY 12 JANUARY 2014 

I feel much better today! Yesterday, for some reason, I was very depressed and did not feel like working. Today, I did the same, but later on, I drew some of the new dimensions on a new board. This was a little fun because I was doing something new after a very long period of time. Here are a few pictures of me drawing on the cardboard! This was a little fun. 

                                                    TUESDAY 11 JANUARY 2014

To be very honest, I have lost hopes! Seriously! I cannot find a good tool to sand my wood pieces and make them even! I got another cut on my finger when I was filing my wood piece with a file! It is a very slow and a very annoying process! I do not feel like continuing because I want to finish doing this first! Today, I continued working on my wood pieces with a sad face! Here is a picture of my wound and the tool called file: 

the tool (file)

 ouuchhh! my wound.... :(

                                                  THURSDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2014

Why do I have a strong feeling that I may not be able to finish making my product before the deadline? Why do I feel that I made a mistake by choosing to make such a complicated design? Why am I not optimistic about making my product? These are the questions that ask myself every time I see the uneven and the weird looking wood pieces! I always have this feeling at the corner of my mind 24/7! But I am hoping to finish most of it during the holidays and I am quite sure I will! Today, I came around 10 minutes late to the DT lesson because I had to finish some important business with Mr. Ochieng. As soon I came into the room, I grabbed a coat and went inside the dusty and the spooky store room to get a huge piece of plywood! For this lesson, I had planned to get some wood and cut it into small sizes so that it can be easier for me to carry it around. The wood was very big and had more 20 nails! So after choosing the wood, I removed all the nails using a hammer! My friend, Nikita also volunteered to help me which was very helpful and nice of her! Together, we worked and finished removed them very quickly. The wood piece had another small but long wood stuck to it. It was strongly stuck and had many nails which was very difficult to remove. So I just decided to cut that piece off as it would not make such a big difference. This was done by Mr. Wafula as it is quite a complicated process.  It looked very difficult too! After that I realized that such a humongous piece of wood will be very difficult to carry home. So I decided to cut into half, but not too small because the dimensions of my box are not very small and should be able to fit! Again, I did not do the cutting of the wood. My classmate (I think Jeff ) did it.  
they look something like this...

                                                  WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014

Another machine not functioning! Initially, it was the disk sander, and now it is the circular saw! woow!! I worked so hard today, that my sand paper is torn from the middle! I did a lot today. Since my wood pieces were extremely crooked, I decided to use the scroll saw to trim it a little. It was much faster, neater and looked better! Once I had used the scroll saw, I went back to sanding! It was very difficult! Suddenly, a small pieces of wood piecerd inside my pointing finger! It was hurting a lot! I was immediately sent to the nurse and was removed! I came back as soon as possible so that I could finish my work, but the lesson had already finished! I am very unlucky! But I will work for extra hours tomorrow! I will try my best!
Have a look at the small piece which went inside my finger: 

                                                             Tuesday 4 February 2014

I am very disappointed with the school. I had been assured that the disk sander will be fixed during the weekend. But it is not functioning! I was very cross and explained to Mr- Wafula, how I feel. I did not know what to do because I did no want to move on before I finish one thing! When I was roaming around the room looking confused, I saw saumya was using a sand paper! I went and asked her where she got it from. Even though she had gotten them from home, fortunately she had an extra one which I could use! I sanded one wood piece and half of another. I realized that manually sanding the wood is not as easy as it looks! It took me a very long time and a lot of energy to sand one single piece of wood. It was also partly my fault because I cut the wood very crookedly and depended on the disk sander a lot. But it is also the schools responsibility to make sure all the equipment are working before our we start with our create! Hopefully, tomorrow I will be working on it more and finish at least one more wood piece. If i get time, I might try and do it at home too! But I am very cross and annoyed! 

                                                    THURSDAY 30 JANUARY.

The first moth of year is almost about to end! Today I am quite satisfied with the amount of work that I did. Yesterday, when I came come from school. I had carried with wood plank with me and realized that my drawings were not accurate and quite crooked. So today, I fixed that and made it clear and neat. This is what I did during the lesson. But I also worked after school from 4:00- 50:00. At that time, I cut all the designs that I had drawn on the wood plank. I also cut the halved joint for box number 2. I am really happy today. But I wish I could also work tomorrow. But unfortunately, the honors ceremony is taking place tomorrow after school! :(((( Anyway I will work on Monday again and hopefully almost finish box number 1 because time is clicking!!