Keychains and Power Tools!

Our class spent making keychains (Friday the 11th) was made quite exciting because it was our first time using power tools!
First, Larry and Amy each talked us through the safety and best practices for using the drill press and the band saw, and also shared some horror stories that I will spare this audience from reading. (Bottom line, never work alone, always know where your hands are, and you can never be too cautious.) Then we were given a block piece of aluminum and were asked to make sketches of our designs for the keychains. My sketch is below, but the summary is that I wanted to keep it simple in the sense that I wouldn't have any rounded edges, but also I wanted to challenge myself and have to make a lot of cuts (and make a lot of measurements to try and get it symmetrical). SO, I settled on making a star!

The challenge of the band saw was that it's a bit hard to maneuver and you can only cut straight lines, so it's a little time intensive if you have a fancy design. I was trying to make a star and I wouldn't say it turned out perfectly, but with Larry's help I did complete it! Using the drill press to make the hole for the ring was pretty straightforward; the only challenge was moving it quickly enough but not too deep so that the aluminum didn't whir and fly around. It's a tricky maneuver, but with Larry's help (and his assistant whose name I can't remember!) this part was completed quickly.

Afterward I sanded the sides of my star and then it was done! Picture is below. This was a pretty painless and fun first assignment with these power tools, and I feel much less anxious about using them now than I felt at the beginning of class!