This was a last
minute project I decided to build for a New Year’s Eve Party I was hosting. I
did some quick research and decided it was something I could knock out fairly
quickly so I left work an hour early on the Friday before New Year’s and went
to Home Depot.
I selected 4 of the
straightest least knotty Whitewood 2x4’s that were 16’ long that I could find
and figuring I could save myself some time and had the poor guy who happened to
walk by and ask me if I needed any help cut them for me… So I had him cut them
into 72 pieces 10.5” long. (10.5” long because 2x4’s aren’t actually
2” x 4”… they are 1.5” x 3.5” and 3.5” x 3 = 10.5”) He did a really nice job of
cutting them to size and with smooth even cuts, which is great because I haven’t
found a table saw I like yet and it would have taken me forever with a circular
saw! Normally the first 2 cuts are free and each cut after that is .25 cents
but even after telling the cashier several times I had 66 cuts she didn’t
charge me the $16.50 she should have.
After I got home I
decided to sand the pieces so they would fit together nicely and we could avoid
splinters while drinking playing. I used a jitterbug style hand sander
and 220 grit sandpaper… and a six pack of Newcastle… and several hours (about
4.5) to get all 72 pieces sanded. A much larger undertaking than I had counted
on.
After everything
was sanded down I hunted around on the internet and with the help of my wife we
came up with enough commands to label all 72 pieces for the game. A couple of Sharpie markers and an hour later the game was finished.
We decided that the
punishment for knocking the tower over was that you (a) had to set the tower
back up (b) finish your drink and (c) you started out the next game as the Beer Wench.
The final result
was fabulous and the hit of the party. We all drank played several times
and were so noisy I was sure this would be the day the cops finally came knocking
on my door… but alas it was not so. Maybe next time.
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