Yesterday i continued working on my tool box. Earlier in the morning i totally screwed up one of my end pieces, so i ahd to re-cut and re-rout the bottom and side edges of my end piece. Paul quickly biscuit cut, glued and clamped together two boards for my end piece and i ran it through the thicknesser to 16mm. Doing the german dovetail joints again allowed me to take more time and sue what i had learned from my previous german joints, i was able to make very nice fitting dovetail joints that were better than the original end piece i stuffed up. I also cut the bevelled edges on the top of the good end piece and chiselled out a dovetail hole to house the handle. Basically this whole day was fixing what i screwed up in the morning and little progress was made, although the new joints were far better than the older ones.
Today i continued on where i had left off by finishing the end piece and routing the handle. I routed the handle on all 4 sides of it to give a nice rounded effect. After this was complete i went on to assemble my tool box using PVA glue and around 5 pins along each length of the bottom and side joins. Daniel assisted me to clamp together my tool box and ensure that it fitted together nicely.
Next we headed into class as a whole group and by brainstorming, wrote our whole construction sequence together. We first started with manufacturing by listing the tools we used first and then writing what we used the tool for. We repeated this formula for Assembly and it worked out quite well. At first i was hesitant to work as a group because i thought it would take to long and wouldn't be thorough enough, but once we all got some momentum happening everyone was chipping in ideas and steps. It was done in about and hour and a half.
After lunch we came back and sorted out our portfolios and we wrote up a costing list, a Job Hazard Analysis and finally a draft page of a photo shop presentation on the Belt Sander. I found it very useful to have Paul print out the sheets we needed and just say "here these need to be filled out" as i knew once i had completed the work given to me, that my portfolio was in order and everything was tied up.
Over these past two weeks i have thoroughly enjoyed my time at tafe, the boys are all great blokes and i have learnt alot more on how to use hand tools such as the manual planer and chisel. I have learnt how to sharpen a chisel relatively effectively by myself and my lack of confidence with the manual planer has since disappeared and i now enjoy using it. The Japanese saw is another great tool i have been exposed to and will definitely use it again, just like the Granny's tooth planer, both ingenius and exceedingly useful hand tools.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
23rd and 22nd of October
Yesterday we worked on our tool boxes up until lunch time. During this time began cutting my sides to a length of 780mm using the drop saw to get an accruate square cut. I also cut the bottoms of my ends with the drop saw so that both adjoining pieces would fit square. I then started to cut out my german dovetail (square dovetail) joins in both the ends and the sides.
Once i had cut the dovetails out with the tenon saw i then started to chisel out the cuts. During this time i had great difficulty chisellingout the cuts to my satisfaction because i was trying to cut them closely with a coping saw and then chisel them out with just a pearing andpushing motion. I became frustrated and the whole day i could not work to the best of my ability so my dovetail joins were pretty lousy.
After lunch we started working on a presentation on a particular glue that we may use or come across in our industry. Greg and I were teamed up together and we decided to research two part epoxy glues because i found the two part mixing idea intriguing. During this time on the computers in te library i searched up what the key words used in describing an epoxy glue, such epoxy, polyepoxide, polymer, monomer and catalyzing agent actually mean. This way i could greater understand how theglue works, eventhough the companies would not openly tell you how they work. I have in my portfolio a page on the two part epoxy glues that informs you how the epoxy hardens due to a chemical reaction. I found it very interesting.
23rd
Today we started in the workshop again, and this time i found myself very calm, and this made it much easier to achieve the kind of workmanship i require to continually be enthused in producing the tool box. My cuts were much better and because i wasn't frustrated i found it easy to ask for help.
I started by cutting the bottom piece to length with the drop saw, again to achieve a square cut. I cut it to a length of 780mm, the same as the sides. Before cutting out the dovetails on the bottom of either end pieces, and on either end of the bottom piece (haha), i had to reduce the width of the bottom piece by 12mm so that it would fit snugly in the rebates cut on the side pieces. I also had to cut a rebate on each of the end pieces to house the bottom. Overall i achieved a nice fit into the rebates and began cutting the dovetails. At the end of the workshop session tis afternoon i had finished cutting the dovetails on one end of the bottom piece.
During the middle of the day we all had a test, which was a 23 question full sentence test. Some of the questions were and easy and others required thinking and remembering things we had already done and learnt. I did find the questions relevant to the things we had learnt during our time at TAFE.
Once i had cut the dovetails out with the tenon saw i then started to chisel out the cuts. During this time i had great difficulty chisellingout the cuts to my satisfaction because i was trying to cut them closely with a coping saw and then chisel them out with just a pearing andpushing motion. I became frustrated and the whole day i could not work to the best of my ability so my dovetail joins were pretty lousy.
After lunch we started working on a presentation on a particular glue that we may use or come across in our industry. Greg and I were teamed up together and we decided to research two part epoxy glues because i found the two part mixing idea intriguing. During this time on the computers in te library i searched up what the key words used in describing an epoxy glue, such epoxy, polyepoxide, polymer, monomer and catalyzing agent actually mean. This way i could greater understand how theglue works, eventhough the companies would not openly tell you how they work. I have in my portfolio a page on the two part epoxy glues that informs you how the epoxy hardens due to a chemical reaction. I found it very interesting.
23rd
Today we started in the workshop again, and this time i found myself very calm, and this made it much easier to achieve the kind of workmanship i require to continually be enthused in producing the tool box. My cuts were much better and because i wasn't frustrated i found it easy to ask for help.
I started by cutting the bottom piece to length with the drop saw, again to achieve a square cut. I cut it to a length of 780mm, the same as the sides. Before cutting out the dovetails on the bottom of either end pieces, and on either end of the bottom piece (haha), i had to reduce the width of the bottom piece by 12mm so that it would fit snugly in the rebates cut on the side pieces. I also had to cut a rebate on each of the end pieces to house the bottom. Overall i achieved a nice fit into the rebates and began cutting the dovetails. At the end of the workshop session tis afternoon i had finished cutting the dovetails on one end of the bottom piece.
During the middle of the day we all had a test, which was a 23 question full sentence test. Some of the questions were and easy and others required thinking and remembering things we had already done and learnt. I did find the questions relevant to the things we had learnt during our time at TAFE.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
18/10/07 Tool Box drawing commencement
This morning we gathered together as a class to run through all of the sheets we were missing so that Paul could get some photo copied, this way we had all of the nescessary work sheets to complete our portfolio on the saw horse project. I found this very helpful as i was missing a few sheets and was unclear what was needed to be done.
After this we moved back into the library to complete our Construction Sequence report based n the Saw horse. I had already completed roughyl half the previous day and i fully completed it before morning break. In this time i had produced a 8 page report with a diagram on the saw horse and was very pleased with my effort. Having time at TAFE to complete such assignments is absolutely essential and very helpful as i find it hard to concentrate doing assignments at home as i really dislike it.
I added a reasonably simple hand drawn diagram to my construction sequence as i thought it would be hard for somebody to simply read what i had done to cut all the angles and such on the saw horse legs. By showing the shape and angles of the legs i hoped it would make what i was saying easier to understand instead of relying on the readers imagination.
After completing this we moved on to commence drawing of our next task, which is the tool box. Before getting stuck into it and instead of having a booklet like the saw horse, we got together as a group with an already finished tool box to discuss what we liked and didn't like about it. Greg brought up that the tool box was too heavy so we decided to thin down the sides from 19mm to 12mm and also the bottom down from 19 mm to 12 mm. We also increased the width from 215 to 230mm and decided to have the handle of the tool box protrude through the sides of the tol box. Once we had decided on our dimensions Paul drew up a rough plan diagram on the white board.
From here we got large brown paper sheets, placed them on our drawing boards, cut them to size and then stuck them to the drawing boards with masking tape. I drew out a 15mm border around the paper and drew in a 100mm margin on the right hand side. I used a 1m ruler and a small combination square to draw out the lines required to start the drawings. We are drawing three different views, plan view, end elevation and side elevation views. At the moment i have almost completed all three views including the measurements written down.
After this we moved back into the library to complete our Construction Sequence report based n the Saw horse. I had already completed roughyl half the previous day and i fully completed it before morning break. In this time i had produced a 8 page report with a diagram on the saw horse and was very pleased with my effort. Having time at TAFE to complete such assignments is absolutely essential and very helpful as i find it hard to concentrate doing assignments at home as i really dislike it.
I added a reasonably simple hand drawn diagram to my construction sequence as i thought it would be hard for somebody to simply read what i had done to cut all the angles and such on the saw horse legs. By showing the shape and angles of the legs i hoped it would make what i was saying easier to understand instead of relying on the readers imagination.
After completing this we moved on to commence drawing of our next task, which is the tool box. Before getting stuck into it and instead of having a booklet like the saw horse, we got together as a group with an already finished tool box to discuss what we liked and didn't like about it. Greg brought up that the tool box was too heavy so we decided to thin down the sides from 19mm to 12mm and also the bottom down from 19 mm to 12 mm. We also increased the width from 215 to 230mm and decided to have the handle of the tool box protrude through the sides of the tol box. Once we had decided on our dimensions Paul drew up a rough plan diagram on the white board.
From here we got large brown paper sheets, placed them on our drawing boards, cut them to size and then stuck them to the drawing boards with masking tape. I drew out a 15mm border around the paper and drew in a 100mm margin on the right hand side. I used a 1m ruler and a small combination square to draw out the lines required to start the drawings. We are drawing three different views, plan view, end elevation and side elevation views. At the moment i have almost completed all three views including the measurements written down.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
17/10/07
Today i fully completed my saw horse. I first began the day by marking out where i was going to place the screws on the legs, after which i pre drilled out the holes. Once i had done tis i used PVA wood glue and put it in te rebate on the spreader. After this i then placed my leg into the rebate and pressed firmly to get it into the right positiont. I then screwed down my first screwt hold it in place, followed by the other three screws. I put my legs on one at a time to avoid using clamps, which were ineffective because of the angles of the legs to the spreader.
Once all four legs were put on i placed a piece of 140 x 19mm onto the back of the legs and marked out the cleat. I quickly tenon sawed the two cleats and fixed them to the legs, following the same method of marking out i used on the legs.
After the cleats were completed i planed down the edges of them to be flush with the legs producing a nice neat finish. Then i moved onto te bearer, the piece of wood that sits ontop of the spreader and exposed tops of the legs. As i was marking out the bearer it occurred to Paul and i that because of how short my saw horse was, it would be better to use a wider piece of wood for the bearer. This was because the height of the saw horse was perfect for sitting on and for using as a small step up platform. We chose a piece of 170 x 35mm as the bearer. I used 5 75mm screws and glue to fix the bearer to the spreader and once it was completed i was very pleased with the way it turned out, it is a perfect size to sit on comfortably and also is the right height to be comfortably used as a small step platform.
Once all four legs were put on i placed a piece of 140 x 19mm onto the back of the legs and marked out the cleat. I quickly tenon sawed the two cleats and fixed them to the legs, following the same method of marking out i used on the legs.
After the cleats were completed i planed down the edges of them to be flush with the legs producing a nice neat finish. Then i moved onto te bearer, the piece of wood that sits ontop of the spreader and exposed tops of the legs. As i was marking out the bearer it occurred to Paul and i that because of how short my saw horse was, it would be better to use a wider piece of wood for the bearer. This was because the height of the saw horse was perfect for sitting on and for using as a small step up platform. We chose a piece of 170 x 35mm as the bearer. I used 5 75mm screws and glue to fix the bearer to the spreader and once it was completed i was very pleased with the way it turned out, it is a perfect size to sit on comfortably and also is the right height to be comfortably used as a small step platform.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Planing Legs and Completion of Photo Story
This morning Greg and I continued on with our Photo Story based on the electric planer. After completing it, Paul and Tim viewed our photo story, and although it was very entertaining and funny, found that it would not be acceptable as a final product. After this we joined the rest of the class and began hand planing down our legs for the saw horse.
This was quite a challenging process but became much easier when i discovered that everyone else had used a sliding bevel to get the right angle on the wood. I corrected one of my legs but it became too thin so Paul placed all of the legs through the Thicknesser at a height of 77mm. I then began marking out the angled feet of the legs. By using a bevel on the pre-made saw horse, i obtained the angle of the feet. I placed the legs in the vice one by one and started sawing them.
After Lunch Greg and I changed our photo story to a more tamed down version. We used the same pictures as before so it still retained that funny side that greg and i had planned for.
This was quite a challenging process but became much easier when i discovered that everyone else had used a sliding bevel to get the right angle on the wood. I corrected one of my legs but it became too thin so Paul placed all of the legs through the Thicknesser at a height of 77mm. I then began marking out the angled feet of the legs. By using a bevel on the pre-made saw horse, i obtained the angle of the feet. I placed the legs in the vice one by one and started sawing them.
After Lunch Greg and I changed our photo story to a more tamed down version. We used the same pictures as before so it still retained that funny side that greg and i had planned for.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Drawing completion and Photo Story commencement
This morning we continued on with our drawings of the saw horse. I finished off my plan view and then started labelling the certain parts of the saw horse , which consisted of four parts, the bearer on the top, the spreader inbetween the legs, the legs and the cleats. After this i drew in some dimensions such as the 800mm length of the bearer and the 595mm total height of the saw horse.
After this i moved onto the mathematics of figuring out the actual length of the legs by using the pythagoras thereom. The hypotenuse of the right angled triangle drawn from the diagonals created by the legs on the plan view, worked out to be 606mm long, which was precisely what my line actually measured because i damn good at drawing and mortal kombat 2. It was required that we write down how we came up with the actual lengths of the legs in the 100mm boarder, so i wrote it out with all the steps included.
After lunch we commenced work on our photo stories of a particular power tool. Greg and i worked together on the electic planer. First of all we wrote out a storyboard, with descriptions of the photos we were going to take along with the accompanying text. In all Greg and i had 7 scenes, which were pivotal to conveying the main parts of using an electric planer. We took alot of photos in different positions so later on we could choose the one that appealed to us the most when we are actually going to make our photo story.
I thought today was a productive, easily understood enjoyable day, in which i finished my drawing and worked well through the photo shop planning. I enjoyed the drawing as a subject and found it a good problem solving excersise and use of fine marking hand skills.
The photo shop, although not really releative to carpentry, was very enjoyable and i did learn more about the electric planer such as they contain 2 blades that rotate on a wheel at around 15 to 16 thousand RPM.
After this i moved onto the mathematics of figuring out the actual length of the legs by using the pythagoras thereom. The hypotenuse of the right angled triangle drawn from the diagonals created by the legs on the plan view, worked out to be 606mm long, which was precisely what my line actually measured because i damn good at drawing and mortal kombat 2. It was required that we write down how we came up with the actual lengths of the legs in the 100mm boarder, so i wrote it out with all the steps included.
After lunch we commenced work on our photo stories of a particular power tool. Greg and i worked together on the electic planer. First of all we wrote out a storyboard, with descriptions of the photos we were going to take along with the accompanying text. In all Greg and i had 7 scenes, which were pivotal to conveying the main parts of using an electric planer. We took alot of photos in different positions so later on we could choose the one that appealed to us the most when we are actually going to make our photo story.
I thought today was a productive, easily understood enjoyable day, in which i finished my drawing and worked well through the photo shop planning. I enjoyed the drawing as a subject and found it a good problem solving excersise and use of fine marking hand skills.
The photo shop, although not really releative to carpentry, was very enjoyable and i did learn more about the electric planer such as they contain 2 blades that rotate on a wheel at around 15 to 16 thousand RPM.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Planning and Drafting
Today we were in class again to learn about constructing a plan for our saw horse. This involved coming up with the major steps, which were Planning, Set up, Manufacturing and Assembly. Under these main steps we came up with some significant points that needed to be done to complete each major step.
Under Planning we discussed that what tools, where you were you going to work were two important steps to planned out. Hazards were also under planning and we came up with a few hazards that could result in constructing the saw horse and also how we would go about minimising or neutralising these hazards.
I struggled to concentrate through this part of the class as i had a sore, blocked ear that made it difficult to hear and hard to concentrate. I also found the planning steps hard to understand as they didn't have any strict rules or guidelines to them so in my mind all the steps were just floating around everywhere and were hard to make any sense out of. I did however learn the importance of scanning your work environment for where the fire extinguishers, emergency power stop buttons and fire blankets, before a problem arises as it only takes a second too long and someone could die or be seriously injured.
After lunch we started working on our large scale drawings of the saw horse we are planning to make. First of all we obtained long lengths of brown paper 900 wide and we ripped them from the roll at around 2m. Using masking tape we taped down all 4 sides of the paper to the wooden drafting board and then cut our paper to the size of the drafting board. After this we drew a 10mm boarder around the edge of the paper and then used large aluminium squares to make our "true" lines. From there we drew up our 100mm margin boarder on the right hand side, which contained 60mm x 100mm boxes, which had our name, project and also the scale.
Once this was complete we began drawing up our saw horses, firstly in the side elevation and secondly the plan view. I found this a good practical problem solving excersise, it really got me thinking about how i was going to obtain diagonal lengths with only limited straight lengths.
Under Planning we discussed that what tools, where you were you going to work were two important steps to planned out. Hazards were also under planning and we came up with a few hazards that could result in constructing the saw horse and also how we would go about minimising or neutralising these hazards.
I struggled to concentrate through this part of the class as i had a sore, blocked ear that made it difficult to hear and hard to concentrate. I also found the planning steps hard to understand as they didn't have any strict rules or guidelines to them so in my mind all the steps were just floating around everywhere and were hard to make any sense out of. I did however learn the importance of scanning your work environment for where the fire extinguishers, emergency power stop buttons and fire blankets, before a problem arises as it only takes a second too long and someone could die or be seriously injured.
After lunch we started working on our large scale drawings of the saw horse we are planning to make. First of all we obtained long lengths of brown paper 900 wide and we ripped them from the roll at around 2m. Using masking tape we taped down all 4 sides of the paper to the wooden drafting board and then cut our paper to the size of the drafting board. After this we drew a 10mm boarder around the edge of the paper and then used large aluminium squares to make our "true" lines. From there we drew up our 100mm margin boarder on the right hand side, which contained 60mm x 100mm boxes, which had our name, project and also the scale.
Once this was complete we began drawing up our saw horses, firstly in the side elevation and secondly the plan view. I found this a good practical problem solving excersise, it really got me thinking about how i was going to obtain diagonal lengths with only limited straight lengths.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Fire Extinguisher Presentation
Today we continued on with our work on the workbooks containing the information about hand tools. The pages i workedon today were primarily concerning the types of saws, how to sharpen the blades and also terminology used to describe a saws attributes. The kerf is the width of the cut wich is generaly 1.5 times the actually width of the saw blade, because the teeth splay outwards. By having this wider cut made by the teeth, the saw is able to sink deeper and deeper into the wood without getting any friction and thus making the saw harder to operate.
I also learnt a bit about oil stones, that the main synthetic stone used is made of aluminium oxide and that natural stones give a much finer, more precise finish to blades of chisels and the like but cost alot more, so only a fine furniture maker would purchase a natural stone. Oil stones need to be washed in oil to float away the pieces of metal and stop the stone being clogged up. If an oil stone becomes clogged up due to the drying out of the oil, it is nescessary to wash the oil stone with petrol or kerosene.
After lunch we moved back into the classroom for a presentation made by a man that works for Bell Fire, called Jim. The basic outline of the course was to inform us on why we need fire extinguishers, how to use them and what different types of fire extinguishes there are. I found Jim to be very engaging and spoke with a clear a loud voice and often used vibrant hand gestures and vocal effects to describe explosions and other situations. I found Jim informative and entertaining.
During this presentation i learnt that under law it is nescessary to have a fire extinguisher in your car, you must be trained how to use it if you employ other people and if you're an employee you must do everything you can to extinguish a fire otherwise your ass is liable and you can be sued. It is nescessary by law for any place of employment to contain at least one portable fire extinguisher and a wall mounted fire hose reel. The fire hose reel should not be used to carry out other duties in the workplace.
All fire extinguishers have been standardised in Australia to be painted red. There are four tyes of different fire extinguishers, each singalled by a different coloured band around the top part of the cylinder.
Black Band - These are carbon dioxide fire extinguishes. As explained and demonstrated by Jim these are rather useless in extinguishing any fire outdoors and if inside there is air conditioning they useless as well. The only plus side is that they create absolutely no mess.
White Band - These are dry powder (monoammonium phosphate) fire extinguishers. These are rated for all three main types of fires, paper, flammable liquids and electrical. The powder is non toxic. These were proved to be extremely effective, as they are very efficient at puttingout flammable liquid fires and also because the powder, in the air, protects the user from heat as it stops the heat radiation.
Blue Band - These extinguishers are filled with a foam. Jim did not discuss these in great detail but he stated that they are't that effective and are not rated for electrical fires, and when used in bad weather conditions the foam can quickly be washed away.
No Band - This signifies a fire extinguisher that contains only water, so it is not rated for electrical fires or flammable liquid fires.
Classifications of fires.
A) ordinary combustibles - tree products
B) flammable liquids - plastics
C) gas
D) flammable metals
E) electrical fires
Monday, September 3, 2007
First of all in the morning today we began work in a classroom near the carpentry workshop room. For about and hour and 45 minutes we worked through some new workbooks that contained images and short descriptions of different types of tools. By reading through two books called Practical Carpentry numbers 1 and 2, and then writing the answers in the workbook. Some of the tools in the workbook weren't located in the books so we had a class consultation about what we thought the tool may be used for and then Paul would give us the answer. I found brainstorming with the class about what the tool may be used for and its features such as the rebate planes blade, very useful to help me remember the tool and its name.
After our morning break we moved on to the library and separated into two teams of three and were asked to prepare a presentation on a particular construction item commonly used in roof carpentry. Rhys, Michael and I decided to go with hardiflex as it is particularly interesting material as it poses a serious health risk. Using the computers to further contribute to our previous notes from last week, we assigned certain parts of the presentation to each member of our group.
I was unclear as to how ellaborate we were expected to be with our speeches and how professionally we were to go about it, so i did struggle to concentrate on the computers. When each of us got up and presented our knowledge on the construction material, i found it very engaging as not only did we have someone talking to us about it, Paul would throw in bits of his knowledge about the subject and get all of us having a discussion about the subject.
During the speeches i learnt about Wesbeam's E-beam, a type of LVL (laminated vinear lumber) from the other group. I learnt that similar to the Hardiflex, the dust produced from the sawing of the E-beam, is dangerous to your health and can cause a rare cancer of the sinuses, so dust masks must be worn in enclosed areas.
After we finished the speeches we moved onto more practical joinery tasks back in the carpentry workshop room. Today i finished the bridal joint and was very pleased with the fit of the joint, i was shown by paul how to use a granny's tooth plane, which was one of the things we learnt earlier in the morning. I found it very effective as opposed to using a chisel where the depth isn't perfectly level.
After our morning break we moved on to the library and separated into two teams of three and were asked to prepare a presentation on a particular construction item commonly used in roof carpentry. Rhys, Michael and I decided to go with hardiflex as it is particularly interesting material as it poses a serious health risk. Using the computers to further contribute to our previous notes from last week, we assigned certain parts of the presentation to each member of our group.
I was unclear as to how ellaborate we were expected to be with our speeches and how professionally we were to go about it, so i did struggle to concentrate on the computers. When each of us got up and presented our knowledge on the construction material, i found it very engaging as not only did we have someone talking to us about it, Paul would throw in bits of his knowledge about the subject and get all of us having a discussion about the subject.
During the speeches i learnt about Wesbeam's E-beam, a type of LVL (laminated vinear lumber) from the other group. I learnt that similar to the Hardiflex, the dust produced from the sawing of the E-beam, is dangerous to your health and can cause a rare cancer of the sinuses, so dust masks must be worn in enclosed areas.
After we finished the speeches we moved onto more practical joinery tasks back in the carpentry workshop room. Today i finished the bridal joint and was very pleased with the fit of the joint, i was shown by paul how to use a granny's tooth plane, which was one of the things we learnt earlier in the morning. I found it very effective as opposed to using a chisel where the depth isn't perfectly level.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Safety Signs
The blue signs located around the work shop signify that a certain piece of personal safety equipment must be worn. In this picture to the left it shows that it is mandatory to wear ear muffs and eye protection.
31st of August Housing Joints and Bridle Joints
Today we continued on with cutting and fitting different types of joints from sheet plans. After the halving joints yesterday, i commenced housing joints. I, as well as a couple of others, found it difficult to get the cuts and joins right today, which was very frustrating. I had to repeat the second housing joint three times until i had gotten it done well enough, and even then it wasn't satisfying.
After struggling through the housing joints and in the end doing only a half reasonable job, i decided to move onto the bridle joints, which appeared to be much more difficult. The first end angled bridle joint definitely made me think on how to set it out and where to cut, which made me work alot slower. I think moving onto a new project and taking my time helped me to achieve a much better job, which i felt much more satisfied. I got more tips from Paul once i had cooled down, and found these really helpful especially using the mortise guage where the two cutting lines down the center of wood was required.
I found today challenging but nonetheless educational.
Sharpening Chisels
Today as part of our practical learning in the carpentry workshop we learnt how to sharpen chisels on the stationary electric grinder, which had a dry grinding wheel. Sharpening the chisels made a significant impact on how well the chisels cut and the final finish on the joins.
1. First of all a blunt chisel, which is easily identified by the difficulty to cut or shave the wood, is taken to the grinding wheel.
2. When using the grind wheel it is important to wear safety glasses and/or have the perspex protective visor, that is attached to the grinder, placed inbetween the operators eyes and the grinding of the chisel. This is to avoid damage to the eyes because of small flying metal sparks.
3. The chisel is then observed to check for any chips taken out of the end of the chisel or if the chisels end is not square.
4.If this is so, the chisel is slowly pushed up to the grinding wheel with the edge of the chisel parallel to the grinding surface and ground until the end is square and/or all chips are removed from the edge.
5. Once this is done, the chisel is then turned upside down by simply turning the chisel as you would a screw driver, 180 degrees. The chisel should then be flat all the way up to the edge with the angle on the bottom.
6. The chisel is then slowly pushed towards the grinding wheel with the angled surface completely in touch with the grinding wheel. This grinds the angled surface down blade edge becomes sharper.
7. As you grind the chisel, move it side to side twice and then place in the water to cool the metal off and avoid burning, which is visible by the metal turning blue.
8. Once the chisel is satisfactorily ground down and the edge sharp, the chisel is then ground down on an oil stone with the flat surface being ground first. After it is smooth, then the angled edge is ground with particular care taken to keep the angle the same.
9. When the flat surface edge begins to bur outwards, you then repeat the first step of grinding the flat surface down until smooth.
10. Always keep the flat side of the chisel perfectly flat.
1. First of all a blunt chisel, which is easily identified by the difficulty to cut or shave the wood, is taken to the grinding wheel.
2. When using the grind wheel it is important to wear safety glasses and/or have the perspex protective visor, that is attached to the grinder, placed inbetween the operators eyes and the grinding of the chisel. This is to avoid damage to the eyes because of small flying metal sparks.
3. The chisel is then observed to check for any chips taken out of the end of the chisel or if the chisels end is not square.
4.If this is so, the chisel is slowly pushed up to the grinding wheel with the edge of the chisel parallel to the grinding surface and ground until the end is square and/or all chips are removed from the edge.
5. Once this is done, the chisel is then turned upside down by simply turning the chisel as you would a screw driver, 180 degrees. The chisel should then be flat all the way up to the edge with the angle on the bottom.
6. The chisel is then slowly pushed towards the grinding wheel with the angled surface completely in touch with the grinding wheel. This grinds the angled surface down blade edge becomes sharper.
7. As you grind the chisel, move it side to side twice and then place in the water to cool the metal off and avoid burning, which is visible by the metal turning blue.
8. Once the chisel is satisfactorily ground down and the edge sharp, the chisel is then ground down on an oil stone with the flat surface being ground first. After it is smooth, then the angled edge is ground with particular care taken to keep the angle the same.
9. When the flat surface edge begins to bur outwards, you then repeat the first step of grinding the flat surface down until smooth.
10. Always keep the flat side of the chisel perfectly flat.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
31/08/07 Thursday
Today we had the majority of our day in N block in the carpentry workshop area. I veiwed this as a great oppurtunity to utilise my limited knowledge of hand tools and to learn much more of the finer details of making more precise finishes on timber work. The project set out was a piece of timber with 4 adjoining pieces of timber, each joint to the main piece with a different halving joint.
I enjoyed the day actually making something and found Paul to be very easy going, relaxed and very open to giving us tips and instructions on how to make the joints. I learnt a great deal on how to use tenon saw much more effectively, which i very pleased with because myself and others in the class were struggling to achieve precise cuts. It was a good day to just get involved in using tools that i don't usually use, learning tips to further increase the accuracy of my sawing and chiselling.
I enjoyed the day actually making something and found Paul to be very easy going, relaxed and very open to giving us tips and instructions on how to make the joints. I learnt a great deal on how to use tenon saw much more effectively, which i very pleased with because myself and others in the class were struggling to achieve precise cuts. It was a good day to just get involved in using tools that i don't usually use, learning tips to further increase the accuracy of my sawing and chiselling.
FINE HAND TOOL SKILLS
Today we commenced our introduction to using hand tools at TAFE. Paul set out a plan for each of us, which was a diagram with measurements for constructing four different types of halving joints, an end halving joint, a stopped halving joint, a T-halving joint and a dovetail halving joint.
1. Paul showed us the timber we were to be using to construct the halving joints, which were 60x30mm lengths of timber.
2. Next I observed the measurements and chose a length of timber that would be suitable for as the main piece of wood that would have four other shorter lengths joined to it via the halving joints.
3. After this, using a sharp pencil and a square, i measured and marked out the lines i needed to cut out for the joints. Any cross sections of the pencil lines that marked a piece of wood that would become an off-cut would be marked with a cross to signify which pieces wouldn't be needed.
4. I then started sawing using a tenon saw with my index finger of my hand gripping the handle, running parallel to the blade, which gives greater lateral control of the saw. Also Paul instructed us to use long drawn out strokes of the saw to give a more accurate cut.
5. Any off-cuts at this point were to be thrown in the bin to make sure no accidents occurred due to left over pieces of timber.
6. Once all cuts on the main piece of timber were complete, i moved onto cutting the adjoining piece of timber, following the same steps as before.
7. Once both the main piece of timebr and the adjoining piece of timber are cut properly, i would then check to see how the fit was coming along.
8. Generally the cuts weren't accurate enough so i would then use the chisel to carefully (on the first end halving joint) shave the housing down, sighting and checking the fit as i would go as to make sure i did not take too much wood off.
9. Whilst using the chisel it is imperative to cut away from the body and two have both hands either on the handle of the chisel, or have one hand away from the blade of the chisel, to avoid any injuries due to slipping.
10. Next, once i was satisfied with the fit i would put the pieces together and clamp them tight in the vice on the edge of work table. From here i used the manual planer and planed down overhang of the adjoining piece of timber.
11. When using the planer Paul instructed me to plane diagonally across the wood because of the way the end grain behaves to being planed, this way it gave a much neater cut and did not cause chipping on the ends of the wood.
12. After planing had taken the wood down far enough i used a cork sanding block with 100 grit sanding paper, to sand down the timber with a nice finishing flush fit.
1. Paul showed us the timber we were to be using to construct the halving joints, which were 60x30mm lengths of timber.
2. Next I observed the measurements and chose a length of timber that would be suitable for as the main piece of wood that would have four other shorter lengths joined to it via the halving joints.
3. After this, using a sharp pencil and a square, i measured and marked out the lines i needed to cut out for the joints. Any cross sections of the pencil lines that marked a piece of wood that would become an off-cut would be marked with a cross to signify which pieces wouldn't be needed.
4. I then started sawing using a tenon saw with my index finger of my hand gripping the handle, running parallel to the blade, which gives greater lateral control of the saw. Also Paul instructed us to use long drawn out strokes of the saw to give a more accurate cut.
5. Any off-cuts at this point were to be thrown in the bin to make sure no accidents occurred due to left over pieces of timber.
6. Once all cuts on the main piece of timber were complete, i moved onto cutting the adjoining piece of timber, following the same steps as before.
7. Once both the main piece of timebr and the adjoining piece of timber are cut properly, i would then check to see how the fit was coming along.
8. Generally the cuts weren't accurate enough so i would then use the chisel to carefully (on the first end halving joint) shave the housing down, sighting and checking the fit as i would go as to make sure i did not take too much wood off.
9. Whilst using the chisel it is imperative to cut away from the body and two have both hands either on the handle of the chisel, or have one hand away from the blade of the chisel, to avoid any injuries due to slipping.
10. Next, once i was satisfied with the fit i would put the pieces together and clamp them tight in the vice on the edge of work table. From here i used the manual planer and planed down overhang of the adjoining piece of timber.
11. When using the planer Paul instructed me to plane diagonally across the wood because of the way the end grain behaves to being planed, this way it gave a much neater cut and did not cause chipping on the ends of the wood.
12. After planing had taken the wood down far enough i used a cork sanding block with 100 grit sanding paper, to sand down the timber with a nice finishing flush fit.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
TUESDAY 28TH
28/08/07 Tuesday
In the morning today we had a maths class with Sue doing large adding sums such as 451
+ 367
These were rather easy and i breezed through them. After this we progressed to some large multiplications using only pen and paper. I found this a great refresher on how to do large multiplcations such as 399 x 407. The maths i found engaging because i knew how to do them but it was a challenge to work through them and acquire the right answer. The only down side was that the class did start out a bit slow with Sue asking questions about how we felt about maths, which i found rather irrelevant and made it hard for the class as a whole to take seriously, other than that Sue performed well once we had got started, she just let us do our own thing and helped out when help was required.
During the transition period between morning and afternoon, Paul gave us a power point presentation on what employers are looking for in employees. Although it was a good presentation and Paul spoke clearly and confidently, and i found it easy to engage, i thought it wasn't really nescessary.
After this we proceeded to discussing teamwork, the definition of it and the key components that are required for good teamwork. This went well and Paul engaged the whole class by asking questions and made it into a relaxed discussion that i feel clearly communicated the key points of the lesson. The real highlight of the day was when we got to build a structure out of straws and masking tape, that was required to hold a 2.5kg packet of bottled water. This allowed us to do what we do best and use our hands and brainstorm with each other. Having being split up into two teams also gave us motivation to outdo the other team in some friendly competition, which we sadly lost hahaha. Overall a much better day than yesterday.
In the morning today we had a maths class with Sue doing large adding sums such as 451
+ 367
These were rather easy and i breezed through them. After this we progressed to some large multiplications using only pen and paper. I found this a great refresher on how to do large multiplcations such as 399 x 407. The maths i found engaging because i knew how to do them but it was a challenge to work through them and acquire the right answer. The only down side was that the class did start out a bit slow with Sue asking questions about how we felt about maths, which i found rather irrelevant and made it hard for the class as a whole to take seriously, other than that Sue performed well once we had got started, she just let us do our own thing and helped out when help was required.
During the transition period between morning and afternoon, Paul gave us a power point presentation on what employers are looking for in employees. Although it was a good presentation and Paul spoke clearly and confidently, and i found it easy to engage, i thought it wasn't really nescessary.
After this we proceeded to discussing teamwork, the definition of it and the key components that are required for good teamwork. This went well and Paul engaged the whole class by asking questions and made it into a relaxed discussion that i feel clearly communicated the key points of the lesson. The real highlight of the day was when we got to build a structure out of straws and masking tape, that was required to hold a 2.5kg packet of bottled water. This allowed us to do what we do best and use our hands and brainstorm with each other. Having being split up into two teams also gave us motivation to outdo the other team in some friendly competition, which we sadly lost hahaha. Overall a much better day than yesterday.
25 TO LIFE WITH NO PAROLE
Definition of Teamwork: A group of individuals working together to achieve a common goal, generally by overcoming an opponent or obstacle.
Good Teamwork consists of: Cooperation
A common goal
Enthusiasm
Listening
and Communication
To excersise our knowledge of teamwork we were separatedc into two teams of 3 with a goal of constructing a structure out of masking tape and straws that could hold a 2.5kg packet of bottle water. First of all we had to plan how we were going to go about it. Our team decided that building large poles of around 16 straws tightly binded with tape, braced with bracers made of 8 straws bound together, and then finally a large flat platform with diagonal bracers across the bottom, on the top.
At first our tower collapsed to one side when the water bottles were placed ontop but after adding one more brace diagonally across the bottom of the large poles, it was able to support the weight without distorting and breaking. I lost $5 in a bet....
Monday, August 27, 2007
What employers want.
Steven Cook:
Steven Cook gained experience in building by doing work with his father after he finished year 9, the work he did was tiling and painting. During this he gained enthusiasm for these trades and a desire to go further with his career.
When looking at hiring an apprentice he looks for decent writing skills on an application form, a desire to learn and he emphasised greatly, a passion for a particular trade.
Ray Hall:
When looking at hiring an apprentice, key factors that influence his decision are whether the applicant has a keen knowledge of of maths and drawing, experience in the industry of boiler making or completion or enrolment in a pre-apprenticeship course, being polite and well dressed, punctuality and self discipline.
Rod Slater:
Rod was a high school drop out at 13, after which time he simply went around door knocking asking for an apprenticeship in car mechanics. From a very young age he was excited by cars and knew that cars were going to become his career pathway, which most probably influenced his decision to leave high school so early. When he was first employed it became evident to Rod and his employer that his reading, writing, maths and other skills gained in school were dissatisfactory for him to excell in his chosen career so he chose to go to night school where he had a "love affair". In 1971 he created Euro cars in 1971.
When looking for an apprentice he likes to have a meeting with the applicants parents most probably as a background and personality check, they show pride in their work. One key thing he was insistent on was that apprentices own up for their mistakes as this shows they are keen to learn and to acquire a greater understanding of the processes involved in the skill. Also he is against the use of the drugs as he believes that if " you do drugs, drugs do you, and they will destroy everything you aspire to be".
Steven Cook gained experience in building by doing work with his father after he finished year 9, the work he did was tiling and painting. During this he gained enthusiasm for these trades and a desire to go further with his career.
When looking at hiring an apprentice he looks for decent writing skills on an application form, a desire to learn and he emphasised greatly, a passion for a particular trade.
Ray Hall:
When looking at hiring an apprentice, key factors that influence his decision are whether the applicant has a keen knowledge of of maths and drawing, experience in the industry of boiler making or completion or enrolment in a pre-apprenticeship course, being polite and well dressed, punctuality and self discipline.
Rod Slater:
Rod was a high school drop out at 13, after which time he simply went around door knocking asking for an apprenticeship in car mechanics. From a very young age he was excited by cars and knew that cars were going to become his career pathway, which most probably influenced his decision to leave high school so early. When he was first employed it became evident to Rod and his employer that his reading, writing, maths and other skills gained in school were dissatisfactory for him to excell in his chosen career so he chose to go to night school where he had a "love affair". In 1971 he created Euro cars in 1971.
When looking for an apprentice he likes to have a meeting with the applicants parents most probably as a background and personality check, they show pride in their work. One key thing he was insistent on was that apprentices own up for their mistakes as this shows they are keen to learn and to acquire a greater understanding of the processes involved in the skill. Also he is against the use of the drugs as he believes that if " you do drugs, drugs do you, and they will destroy everything you aspire to be".
HARD TARGET
Don't Hunt what you can't kill.
Van Damme makes his exciting return to the big screen in this all action thriller where he must defeat a madman who sells the right to hunt down ex-army bums to wealthy business men who want to kill some shit. Things all change when Van Damme becomes emotionally involved with a woman whose father was one of the men shot to death, and he has to come face to face with problems he had with his own father. Can Van Damme not only overcome the most deadly adversary yet but also overcome his shattered past? One thing is for sure, Van Damme will be a Hard Target to hunt down.
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