Decided to start to make my paint box, here is the plan:
Happily this all fits onto one sheet of 610x1220mm M.D.F., so I marked it out and cut it. First 7 strips of 80x354mm, then 7 of 80x174mm (one cut down to 102mm), then 7 of 258mm (3 cut down to 246mm). These had to be done in sections as the measurement needed to be exact and the width of the saw blade is/was an awkward size (about 1.6mm). So it was a case of drawing 7x 80mm strips, then measuring and cutting the 354, 174, 258, then cutting each of the strips so that they were the same height.
I measured and drew upstairs, and cut downstairs, so it was a lot of running up and down and cutting. At the end of this, I had my pieces: 23 strips (two extra thinner ones for 'handles' on each short edge), and a base. The handles felt like they would be uncomfortable to use, so I looked around for some normal drawer handles, and found some, so I'll use those instead of the 'i' and 'j' sections in the plan.
These will slot together with neat joints, so the next step was the mark and cut the slots, which are ideally, exactly, 6mm wide. I'd not done this before, so I tried a test joint on a spare piece. I started by drilling a 6mm hole at the distant end. This worked, but the back of the M.D.F. was badly mashed by the drill, I'd forgotten about that effect, so used a second piece of wood behind it. This will be important for the actual drilling as I have a lot of holes to drill, and each needs a new, clean, bit of wood behind. Other than that, the test joint worked well, so I measured and marked out the 6mm slots for the criss-cross points. A lot: 80 in total.
I would have loved to drill and cut these today but I was just too tired. I think I'm still recovering from my vaccination, my arm still hurts. It would be difficult to complete this box in one day anyway, I've managed about half.
My next conundrum is which way to store the oil paints, lid side down or up? I suspect that the oil will float to the top and the pigment sink to the bottom; the oil separates like this with peanut butter, so I'll try lid down. I will use little bags as liners first to stop oil leaking messily.
I haven't done much else today, but have heard that Nightfood is all set for release at the end of May - five albums in five months. I won't have time for one in the next month, though I am filled with ideas and inspiration for music. I'm still concerned with structure. I like the structure of three or four movements or sections, as in a symphony or concerto. These 'sonatas' in Nightfood work well, but a large number, 10 or 12, as in many concept albums (including Sisyphus) seems too many somehow, although perhaps this is my idea of neatness... Mike Oldfield's Amarok had repeating themes despite having (technically) one big unit. The Spiral Staircase, however, felt very unified, perhaps because it had sections which repeated and built upon themselves. When you have lots of options, its a good idea to try them all.
