WOODEN LETTER

WOODEN WORD

Our ‘warm up’ project!

Initial projects, such as this, introduce our students to…

• the design process
• wood theory
• general workplace & woodshop safety
• production of technical drawing
• scale, proportion and measurement
• hand tool skills
• woodshop equipment skills (belt/disk sander, drill press, scroll saw, band saw)
• wood finishing skills 

CO2 DRAGSTER

The CO2 Dragster is one of our most popular projects.  It focuses on the principles of vehicle engineering. Students research scientific topics inclusive of aerodynamics, drag, friction, etc. Then we watch real dragster videos, seek out images of car designs and blend this inspiration into our own concept dragster designs.  We begin by hand sketching. These designs are then transferred into 3D AutoCAD or Inventor Pro.  Wind tunnel testing followings.  Depending on the results, alterations to the designs are considered.  From here, we go into the woodshop to make our ideas come to life!  It is in the woodshop that real problem solving skills come to play as we attempt to execute, with accuracy, our own design intentions.  After sanding, sanding and more sanding of our dragsters, we are almost ready to race.  

RACE DAY setup is an excellent example of all students working together to prepare for the big event.  Statistics are recorded on the blackboard, students vote for who they think will win (based on our recently acquired knowledge) and results are tallied.

RACE DAY is awesome fun!

Race Day Videos:

3D PRINTING

(ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING)

Here at SATEC we believe that 3D Printing is an integral technology for our existing society, and it will continue to be even more important in the future.  3D Printing touches almost every aspect of our lives… healthcare, transportation, hospitality and tourism, architecture and so on! 

Each year our students explore different themes and create their own ‘keychain’ designs.  In the past we have created ‘environmental mascots.’ These mascots were designed to promote care and consideration for our environment both close to home and abroad.  In the spring of 2017, we explored the theme of ‘careers’ and asked ourselves... ‘How is 3D Printing incorporated into aspects of our future jobs?’

Can you guess what these students hope to study and work at in the future?

CEDAR PLANK PROJECT

The cedar plank project is simple… each student receives a 6” x 18” cedar plank with which they must employ the design process to create a unique, useful product.  

Steps involved:

• Concept design
• Technical drawing
• Measuring and marking the wood
• Building the project in the woodshop
• Finishing by sanding and oiling
• Creating a portfolio sheet
• Reflecting on our learning & discussing transferable skills

TREEHOUSE ARCHITECTURE

As a child we have all dreamt of climbing up into a treehouse to enter an imaginary world.  It is this freedom to imagine that inspires our treehouse model designs here in the SATEC TDJ2O classroom.  

By researching environmentally conscious architectural principles, such as thermal massing, greenhouse effect, solar orientation, solar shading and prevailing wind protection by trees, stack effect, green roofs, etc., we begin to understand that good design is well considered design.  Adding to this knowledge, we then explore cool treehouse designs from around the world to feed our imagination.  Scale and proportion mean everything to the treehouse experience; we measure ourselves ‘acting out’ our programming needs - sleeping and sitting outside having a hot chocolate. Once we know how tight our spaces have to be, we are ready to design!

Off we go to create design sketches, technical drawings and final scale models of our dream ‘home’ floating up and away in the leaves...

HOVERCRAFT

The Hovercraft project is a blend of engineering principles, understanding materiality and creative problem solving.  Students research and design their concept Hovercraft.  Inventor Pro is used to create technical drawings.  From here, it is into the wood shop to build prototypes.

Do you think they hover?  It is a challenge that is not as easy as you may think to solve...

AUTODESK INVENTOR PRO 

AutoDESK Inventor Pro is a parametric drawing software used extensively in manufacturing applications.  At SATEC we learn the basics of how to create 3D ‘part’ models that are fully constrained and have equation based relationships within their measurements.  From here, these parts and then joined together into 3D ‘assembly’ models that illustrate how the project will be actually assembled / built. Once this base information is drawn, students create technical working drawings that they use in the wood shop to build their prototypes.

WOOD JOINERY BOX,  

WOOD JOINERY PUZZLE

The Wood Joinery Box (or puzzle) is a challenging project where accurate measuring and marking of wood and accurate use of hand tools - chisel, mallet, dovetail saw - are required.

Students soon learn that patience is as important a skill as strategic planning, crisp pencil lines and straight cuts! Good luck to all! 

WOODSHOP SAFETY and EQUIPMENT / HAND TOOL SKILLS

It is in the Grade 11 TDJ3M course that we focus heavily on developing our woodshop safety knowledge and skills.  The initial curriculum taught covers workplace safety and employee rights, as well as the purpose of (and how to use) the woodshops safety features and their purpose.

The equipment students will be trained include the belt/disk sander, drill press, scroll saw, bandsaw, jointer planer, thickness planer and the table saw.

Students will learn how to take rough lumber and create from it ‘true’ boards.  The term ‘true’ refers to boards that are square and straight on all six sides.

Further to equipment use, we practice our ‘hand’ at using hand tools.  This is quite challenging and is often the first opportunity students have to try creating with wood using chisels, saws, clamps, etc.  Prior to any cutting, SATEC students focus on measuring and marking accuracy; we use sharp pencils, metal rulers, tri-squares and marking gauges to achieve this.  

+ + + =

  rough wood               jointer planer        thickness planer          table saw                     ‘true’ board

USE WOOD SHOP EQUIPMENT TO CREATE A ‘TRUE’ BOARD.

+ += 

          tri - square                      sharp pencil                     marking gauge            accurately marked wood

USE HAND TOOLS TO MEASURE AND MARK.

+++ =

back saw                           mitre box                   bevel chisel                   mallet                

USE HAND TOOLS TO CREATE WOOD JOINERY.

INDIVIDUAL WOODSHOP PROJECT

The final project for our SATEC TDJ3M course encapsulates all the skills we have learned and practiced throughout the term.

Students have the opportunity to imagine a wood project, sketch their ideas, create technical drawings of each wood component and then enter the woodshop to create their project.

This is a challenging endeavor!  With the use of the design process, thoughtful planning and some patience, the quality of the final projects speak for themselves.

Well done TEAM!