I began working on the tote a little late into the class period due to a number of setbacks. First and foremost, I had to get my final print on the laser cutter done. I've learned now that alike car work, any time you plan on spending on a shop project, you should at least double!
Additionally, I managed to accidentally delete my designs for the original tote. After learning how to revert to an older version, I was good to go.
After making my first few cuts, I quickly learned that I really needed to take Jamie's words to heart of "measure twice, cut once". Once I finally got the basic cuts done, I spent frankly too much time brainstorming changes I could make to my design. I added an additional organizational component, as I knew I'd be using this more for smaller things like sockets.
Additionally, I managed to accidentally delete my designs for the original tote. After learning how to revert to an older version, I was good to go.
After making my first few cuts, I quickly learned that I really needed to take Jamie's words to heart of "measure twice, cut once". Once I finally got the basic cuts done, I spent frankly too much time brainstorming changes I could make to my design. I added an additional organizational component, as I knew I'd be using this more for smaller things like sockets.
After spending quite some time measuring out how to cut the sides of my tote, I began to lean towards removing these elements altogether. I already have a tool bag that I use, and didn't want to have two to carry around. The one I have, however, is more of this dark abyss of sorts, with no organization whatsoever. The sloppiness of my initial handle cut with the drill press (A result of insufficient measuring) pushed me over the edge, and I decided to turn my tote into an organizer by cutting the tall pieces in the photo above down. To add a creative flair of sorts, I made the short sides of the organizer taller than the long sides, adding curves to the top side. I rounded the edges by measuring the height difference between the tall and short sides with a compass, then using that distance as the basis for creating the quarter circle for the cuts. I had a little trouble with the electric band saw at first, and made a few sloppy cuts, but ultimately I was able to smooth it all down and make it look nice.
I assembled the box with wood screws after drilling pilot holes. On two occasions, this caused the wood to partially split, so I added some wood glue to help with the structural integrity.
I finished by using the sanding tools to smooth the hard edges. This would've been a lot easier on the interior edges if I had done it before assembly!
Below is the final product I went with. It will fit well into my toolbag, and allow me to get some organization in there so I'm not always fishing around in the dark for that 12mm socket.
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