Woodworking Progress: Two Days of Tools

I've had two days of using the tools in the woodworking class that I'm taking this term.

Last night I used two tools again:

1)  The radial arm saw I even used by myself without the instructor!  This one is used to make cross cuts.  You put the board up against the fence and hold it with your right hand while you use the left hand to put the blade forward to cut.  

If you have several pieces to be cut the same length then a piece of wood is measured and secured to the fence - then the pieces of board are set to hit that board. Sort of template for length.

This tool is very powerful.  When I pulled the blade I was looking at the board where I was holding it (they said not to look at the blade).  I couldn't tell when the blade was cutting or was done, there was no change in the speed. 

2)  Using the table saw was more complicated and the instructors stayed with me both times I used it.

First I used it to cut the width of the boards, then we had to remove the blades and put in spacers to cut the channels in the boards.

Future Bathroom Shelves

Here is what my project looked like at the end of the class.

Next time I'll cut the metal pieces to the correct length, install them in the side pieces, and then glue the top and sides in place. I'm not sure when the backing is cut and installed. I'll need to cut three or four shelves too.

Then I'll have a wooden shelf for the bathroom! (It's going to go in the hole where the metal medicine cabinets were installed in the wall.)

There were two other tools that were used. The instructor just did what needed to be done as he wanted to be sure I made progress on the piece, so I'll use them another time. I sure appreciate his help and encouragement.