Week 1

The first week of my senior project has now come to an end. Like I had mentioned in a previous post, I have gotten myself into a good rhythm that I find effective. Breakfast, Work, Lunch, Blog, Baseball,  Blog. For this first week I think that I have accomplished a lot in order to complete my chairs, and that I have made good progress thus far. 

Looking back I have made lots of progress, and the hardest, most daunting jobs are behind me. 

Moving the chairs

After scraping the chairs of flaking paint

After brushing the chairs of remaining paint and rust 

Trip to the lumber yard 

Before first coat of primer

After first coat of primer

These pictures above are of the progress that I have made throughout week 1. During this week I have learned many things. The first being patience, you can't rush anything if you want it to be done correctly. Second, I can not control the weather, I must plan ahead and must have a back up plan just incase the weather does not cooperate. Thirdly, Enjoy it, I need to have fun with this and enjoy the next two and a half weeks of the project because it is going to fly by.

Here is what I have completed to this point:

1. Relocated the chairs

2. Dismantled the chairs

3. Removed flaking paint on both chairs

4. Research on the selling process

5. Cleaning of all spacers 

6. Polished the chairs before primer and paint.

7. Found square footage of wood I will need.
8. Contacted lumber yards.
9. Made a trip to Belletetes.

10. Created a sample, test board for the wooden slats.
11. 1st coat of primer to the first chair.
12. Spent time practicing how to bevel the edges of the wood slats.

As I head into week 2 I hope to continue the progress I have had so far. With the rainy weather forecasted for next week, I will need to carefully plan out my week. If the weather forces me to prime and paint the chairs inside, I will need to allow for more drying time. Because this timing is tricky, I was hoping to sit down with Gordon Bassett who is my mentor early next week to construct a rough plan for the next 2 weeks of my project.

For the next two weeks I will need to:

1. Weld a crack that has formed in one chair.

2. Finish priming both chairs.

3. Paint both chairs.

4. Purchase the rest of the Mahogany wood.

5. Cut wood to size.

6. Bevel each edge of the slats.

7. Construct the chairs.

8. Seal the wood.

9. Sell the chairs.

At the end of week one, I have logged 15 hours of work.