I think one of mankind's greatest assets is the ability to create. We design, plan, and execute hence shape our environment so we can make use of it.Our latest project to prove human's superiority over machine and material was to make a desk! Challenged to transform a 4-foot by 8-foot plywood board into a table, Glenn, the design genius, drew up the master plan.
Just as we were ready to show the plywood who is boss we learned there is more than just design principles to consider...
Our plan almost faltered at the very first step: buying appropriate plywood and have it cut according to our measurements.
Immediately we faced two problems: First, to find a Home Depot staff who can measure properly. Second, to machine cut the board.
We solved the first problem by “coaching” the Home Depot staff on how to measure, and to draw a straight line. The second problem was “solved” by buying a hand saw to hand over to the staff who then went on to hand-cut our plywood. Skillfully propped on paint pots, our table-to-be was chopped into three pieces in the middle of isle number 12. At peak time, the staff to customer ratio was 11 to 2... One guy working while 10 stood around volunteering good advice.
After almost an hour, we had overcome the first hurdle of 'semi-processing' our plywood. The next step was to buy wood stain (which turned out to be paint rather than stain and doesn't look anything like light maple), coating, brackets, screws, a wood-file and sandpaper.
3,000 Pesos (50 Euro) later we were back at the house, transforming our garage into a wood working area.
Despite the lack of proper tools to measure right angles, (even the walls or tiles in the house are not suited for any reference to straightness...), after 5 hours of sanding, coating, and semi-assembling, we had produced a square desk!
Three after-work shifts of sanding and coating later, we now have a huge workstation in our office! The product of love, patience, and perseverance!
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