Brandon Howard chose carpentry as the topic for his senior project. He built an oak desk with a dark walnut stain. The process was long and required careful measuring, cutting, sanding, and assembling. Brandon learned carpentry skills from his project facilitator, Randy Whaley. Some challenges included making mistaken measurements and not having consistent access to the workshop. Overall, Brandon found carpentry to be an enjoyable process that provided a sense of satisfaction, though he views it more as a hobby than a career due to the low pay.

1. Brandon Howard
British Literature
Mrs. Tillery
March 23, 2012
Carpentry
Have you ever been infatuated with the way that certain structures were built or by their
designs on them? Something that takes you back a little and makes you admires the work. The
structures could be anything including buildings, desks, table, armoires, or cabinets. Just something that
makes you think about how much work went into that structure and how nice it looks. Hello my name is
Brandon Howard and my topic for senior project is carpentry. I chose to do carpentry for a couple of
reasons. I have always loved building things with my hands ever since I was a little kid just building
houses out of Lincoln logs. The satisfaction I get from building something on my own and with my hands
is like nothing else. It makes me feel very accomplished and productive with my time.
My research paper covered three topics in carpentry but mainly the career overview of
carpenters. The most important aspect I learned is that the job does not pay very well for the hard work
you put into it. Also, it is completely dependent upon how the economy is. My research ended up not
being as useful as I would have like it to be but I still learned about the topic but it is more of a hand on
learning experience and cannot be taught through any reading material.
For my senior project I built an oak desk with a dark walnut stain. I chose to pursue this because
I wanted to work with my hands on something I could keep for a long time and have an actual use for it.
I plan on keeping this desk with me for a long time. Also, I wanted to try something that I have never
really pursued as much as I would have liked to.

2. The process of building anything is very long and arduous. The first step I had to take was to
meet with my project facilitator and decide on how I wanted to build it, what type of wood I wanted to
use, and what would be the cost effective way of building the desk. I decided on using oak because it
was durable and wasn’t going to make the desk too heavy. Also, just a side note, it is much easier to
stain than other woods. You can be rough with the oak. The next step was to find a place to build the
desk which was fairly easy since my project facilitator knew a man that owed him a favor and let us use
his workshop anytime we wanted to complete my project. That was the easy part. The next step was to
decide the dimensions of the desk and to create a cut list. I had to create multiple cut lists to get what I
wanted. A cut list is just showing all the dimensions of the project you are working on. I didn’t want to
make the desk too big so I couldn’t move it or fit it in my room but it had to be big enough for me and
for all of my things I will put inside it. After the cut list was made I had to start measuring out and
marking all the places on my wood that I would need to cut. I had to be careful to get all of the
measurements right so I wouldn’t have to go buy more wood and waste all of my money. I wasn’t
allowed to use all of the machines for insurance reasons but my facilitator still taught me how to use
each machine and what each one is used for. After all the cuts were made it was on to the other
machines that I could use. I used a drill press to make the holes for the screws that need to be used.
Then I used another machine to make to holes for the keys to fit into to make the drawers. I sent all the
wood that would be used as the legs through a planner and the sander to make it very smooth. I sanded
the other pieces of wood I cut out for the rest of the desk.
The next step to do was make a toe kick which is a lift up from the floor so you’re not dragging
the drawer on the ground and is only an inch or two high. We used a premade trim to go over the toe
kick and glued it on. Then we put it all together using wood glue and a nail gun. After it was all together
as one piece I had to practice using a router on a couple pieces of wood before I put the designs I
wanted onto my desk. I then made all the designs I wanted to. After making all the design on it I had to

3. stain all of it before I put the shelves in so it would be easier. I let it dry for a day and then came back
and used wood filler to get all the small holes plugged up so they weren’t noticeable and became
smooth. After completing the bulk of the desk I started the work on the shelves. Making the drawers is
fairly simple. You draw up another cut list and get your wood how you want it. One side is smaller than
the other so it can be put onto the tracks that I installed after finishing the drawers. Next I did the fronts
of the drawers using a miter box. Then used keys to help put it together and routed the inner part of it
to put a design on them. After finishing the drawers and installing them the desk was finally done and
ready to be put completely together.
All of this being done was thanks to my project facilitator. His name is Randy Whaley. He is a
contractor and does a lot of work on houses. He got me the time I needed in the workshop to do this
project. He also explained how to use tons of equipment and had little tips to keep yourself safe while
doing all of the hard work. He was very helpful to me and provided a lot of information to me.
Even though it seems like everything went smoothly it didn’t. I measured a couple things wrong
and had to buy extra wood which cost a little bit of extra money. Not only that but I forget my camera
for an important day of working which was obviously an issue. Lastly my facilitator was wrapped up in
work for a while so we couldn’t always go to work since he was working.
From all of this I learned that patience is a virtue and you need to take your time on anything
that you are doing and not try to rush your work. I also learned that I myself am not as patient a person
as I thought and that I rushed my work a little which led to the problems that I had. This is a topic that I
really liked and enjoyed. I would like to pursue this further but as a hobby not as a career. It simply
doesn’t pay enough for a career aspect but it is very enjoyable.
This was a very fun process and if you are looking for something enjoyable to do I would
recommend building something. It is both time consuming and leaves you with a strong sense of

4. satisfaction. I would like to thank all of the judges for coming out here and giving me their time and I
hope you enjoyed my presentation.