DAY ONE
The Donkeys task was to build another picknick-table, but not like the one the Lions had made with a metal frame. Instead we wanted to make the whole construction from wood.
First we had to cut the long planks from the hardware store to the right size.
For that we used the circular saw.
The measurement we took from the drawing and we checked the length of the boards with the ruler.
After cutting the boards we had to make them smooth by using a planer. The children had lots of fun.
Two of them were pushing the plank into the machine…
… and the other two got dusty while pulling it out on the other side.
The result were ten beautiful boards, six for the table top and four for the seats…
…and the children were amazed how smooth the wood got.
Then we took the planks to the other workshop and made them even smoother by sandpapering them.
The children put on funny coats to protect their clothes from the oil…
… that we used for painting the boards after sanding them.
Now the boards for our table top and the seats were nice and shiny.
DAY TWO
The second day we started with cutting the rails that connect the long boards for the table top and the seats.
This time we had to make difficult rip cuts with the circular saw to cut the planks in half.
The smart Donkeys were already able to measure the plank and mark the spot for cutting by themselves.
After the rip cut we had two thin boards out of one wide board.
We cut the ends of the thin boards with an angular cut.
A clamp was helping us to hold the wood.
Then we planed the boards.
After that we had some nice rails.
We managed to paint them with oil before the lunch break. The short pieces were for the seats and the long ones for the table.
After the break we started connecting the table top with the rails.
For this we used nails and a hammer.
Board by board we assembled the table top.
The Donkeys helped each other very well…
… until we connected the last of the six boards.
Some of the children were real experts at hammering.
At the end of the day we turned the construction around in the upright position and we had a beautiful table top from solid and shiny wood.
To be continued in part 2…