Construction starts

Today I was able to use a bigger car to bring home my MDF. I picked up a 49x97" 3/4" sheet...but I had them cut it in three 2'x4' sheets and one 2'1"x4' sheet. I figured the store has a better rig for cutting this stuff than I do...and they'll do it much straighter than I could...and it was free. That's always nice.

I first had to make some saw horses...as you can see, I did a pretty good job...it is nearly perfectly level. This little process took a little longer than I had hoped for...but it is done, and shouldn't need to be touched again!

Next I started to mark out my side panels on a sheet of MDF. However, I made my first mistake...I was in such a rush to get it marked that I f'd up on the depth measurement. Luckily I caught it when I stepped back to admire it...and thought "that doesn't look right!" Then a quick comparison to my graph paper sketch and I realized my mistake. So I flipped over the MDF and started over.

Here it is...correct!

I had been trying to do something to help document this whole process in pictures...but it didn't work. So I don't have any pics of me cutting it...but here is what the sides look like after they were cut out. You can clearly see my bad outline on the back side.

I will attempt to get my documentation gimmick up and running later when I start cutting out some more pieces. I called it a day after cutting the sides...it took a lot longer than I had hoped for...and I had a big mess to clean up. MDF puts out a LOT of dust! And yes, I was wearing goggles and a mask....no sense in taking a chance of getting hurt while trying to have some fun!