McIntosh and Co. Cabinetmakers

 On Tuesday May 5th, I came in and began painting shelves for Todd (the co. owner). These pieces were going into his home. That was a quick task, I then moved onto hand sanding many, many pieces that were primed. After wood is primed it tends to raise the grain in the wood so to get it smooth to the touch for a finish coat of paint these trim pieces needed to be "rubbed out" or hand sanded with a 120 or 220. 

This photo above and below is the mock-up of the ceiling trim package that consist of the assembled pieces I am sanding and stacking for shipment. 

Some cove mouldings

At the end of the day this is the amount of wood I sanded by hand. It was a dusty days. Definitely wore a respirator. 

Thursday, May 7th I sanded some units again for the owners home and then brushed on a poly oil finished once the pieces had the smoothness he wanted. There was less hand sanding this day then the day prior but more meticulous sanding for sure. 

Externship Summary:

My experience with McIntosh and Co. Cabinetmakers was incredibly valuable in that it allowed me a glimpse into the day to day of a cabinetmaker and the different rolls that each employee in this production shop played. Each employee operated differently in speed and the task they were working on was usually different. I was able to see briefly how someone manages time during the process of building an entire home's worth in cabinetry that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The whole experience was great, I was able to apply the squaring techniques that I learned at CMCC toward the assembly of boxes and face frames that I worked on during my time there. I also gained knowledge that strengthened my wood species identification skills. Every single day was a new challenge and if you have an open mind for new information their are endless tips and tricks you can learn in a cabinet shop such as this. 

    I fully recommend taking on an externship through Central Maine Community College! 

It was so beneficial to me because it made me rethink my idea for an end-career-goal. I never thought that I would enjoy it more than what I was practicing now which is residential building and construction. I enjoyed very much the localized aspect of this kind of shop work and the level of artistry in cabinetmaking. And it wasn't always cabinetmaking either, occasionally I got to work on ceiling casements packages, custom moldings and other furniture pieces as well. So if your hesitant on trying something like this or any other externship for that matter, it will only make your decision for an end-career-goal very clear. You may dislike it or you may end up enjoying it very much like I did in this case.

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Building Concepts Course CMCC- Week 28 Final Exams Week

For the last week, we did our competency testing consisting of in-shop exercises and computer tests. With our other time in class we spent it wrapping up the freeze boards on our sheds and doing all the punch list type things that come with competing small buildings, sinking nail heads and touch up paint, that kind of stuff.   

 Once the sheds were totally done we worked on cleaning the shop from top to bottom. As well as completing small tasks around that were just things to help the shop function more efficiently. In the two photos here you can see the aluminum angle iron I cut and installed onto two rolling carts we have in the shop. 

 Lastly we took a group photo. Myself on the right end and my three classmates /friends. We all worked on the timber frames together and spent quit a lot of time together these past two semesters. We took and photo to immortalize the moment as one of those students completely finished at CM and we wont be seeing him next year! 

Clean shop...

clean shop...

 and clean shop!

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Building Construction Concepts Course CMCC Week 27- Wrapping Up Our Sheds

 The final week was upon us, this is the deconstruction of our flooring system over the hill. We got the entire thing taken apart and stored for the next set of first year students at CMCC coming in this fall. 

 Here I am fitting the drip cap for the window trim. I had to wait to install this piece because we had to paint it so the white would not contrast so much with the green trim. 

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McIntosh and Co. Cabinetmakers Birds Eye Maple Box

On this day I felt was a test.. a test to see how many small mistakes I could make working by myself! I had minimal supervision and I was given a list of tasks with an ultimate goal of having a completed box at the end. To build this box according to the CAD plans I started by milling out the maple for it. The maple boards ended up having birdeye patterns in it, pretty cool. To save time on the plainer, I used a band-saw to reduce the rough thickness after I jointed a side and edge on the joiner. 

I then time saved the thickness from 10.34/16" to 9/16". Which was the target thickness for the drawer pieces. 

I then shaped the laps for the lap-joint that would bring the drawer sides together. Which can be seen below.

 Here I am milling up the drawer bottom from cabinet grade 1/2" birch using the shops sliding table saw. (a wonderful piece of equipment)

Here I am shaping the lap on the edge of the plywood that will sit inside of the dato on the walls of the drawer. 

Above is the photo of the box being clamped square. Diagonals were pulled and I needed to put a clamp corner to corner without crushing the box corners. So I fashioned pieces that had a 90 degree triangle cut out of it so the clamp can grab the exact corner. That method can kind of be seen in the photo above. Below is the stand unit that the box was constructed for. 

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