My main project for this class was an antique jewelry box I made for a mothers day gift.

Design Phase:

The design phase for this project was well planned out and though through before any materials were bought. Multiple different CAD drawings were created on SolidWorks to ensure I knew what kind of box I was going to build and the process for manufacturing would be clear. Once I knew had a general understanding of how I was going to build my box I went into building a prototype; a cardboard box. This box allowed me to understand not only how large I wanted to make the box, but also allowed me to study the aesthetics I wanted to put into my finished product.

Materials:

Wood: $40 (dndhardwoodsonline.com)

Hinge: $3 (Home Depot)

Gold Corners: $4 (Home Depot)

Total: $47

Manufacturing:

The manufacturing for this project was much harder than originally anticipated. Although I had not worked much with wood before, I still thought it would be simpler than it was. Even just getting a straight cut in the wood, which ended up being much more important than I thought, took a good amount of effort. All in all I was not that satisfied with my final product; the crooked lines and curved surfaces made for a project I was not proud of.

Another large set back I had during the manufacturing phase was the thin wood and all the problems it caused. The wood would splinter and leave large cracks in the wood whenever I tried to drill through it. Also, it was hard to drill anything into it without sacrificing the aesthetic of the inside. If you look closely, you can see more wood needed to be added in order to prevent the screws from sticking out the back of the box.