This week’s assignment in Introduction to Fabrication was to make five identical objects using the techniques we’ve covered so far. I made five Bowtie Things with Holes:
I used the miter saw to cut a long board into five equal-sized pieces. Then I used the miter saw to cut a right angle into a stop block, at a 15° angle with the fence. This way I could run the blocks through the band saw at a 15° angle to cut out the centers of the edges. By the fifth block, I felt like I was starting to get the hang of it.
Finally, I used the drill press with a hole saw to punch out a hole into the center of each of the bowties, which is a crucial step for making bowtie things with holes. I did it wrong – I was pushing the hole saw into the vice. Phil showed me a few ways to create space between the vice and the drill press attachment to avoid this problem.