Friday

Last day of our first block of TAFE today. We continued working on our saw stools and also finished up our photo story on the power saw which i'll hopefully be able to post soon. Making the saw stool involved planeing down the legs to size (by hand) and marking out the legs with the bevel and cutting to size.

Thursday

This morning we continued with our plan view and side elevation drawings of our saw stool. I was far more confident today with my drawing compard to yesterday and I think it turned out pretty well. The drawings included cuttings list and lengths of timber, and we had to work out plan lengths and true lengths of the legs which involved using pythagorus. Just last week I wouldn't have had a clue how to do these calculations but I seem to have got my head around it now so I'm pretty pleased.

After lunch we started creating a 'photo story'. This is a presentation on the computer usings photos, written and audio commentary. The topic was the correct and safe use of power tools and Daniel and myself were allocated the circular power saw. I thought it was a great activity as it was much more engaging than just reading and studying about how to use a power saw safely and it has also given us a new way to present and prove our on-site work.

Saw Horse Project

Today we started on our saw horse project, which involves creating a portfolio which is going to include things like material lists, site safety maps, costings and project sequencing among other things. The main steps involved for the project sequence were Planning, Set Out, Manufacturing and Assembly, and for each of these steps we planned what tools we would need, safety issues that may arise and what control measures we would put in place to prevent and accidents or injuries. This will be like a practice run as this is the format we will use for our larger projects this year like eaves and cieling frames. This took most of the morning.

After lunch we started drawing up a plan for the saw stool. I have never been any good at drawing so this is proving challenging but interesting.

Ka Boom

Today was spent continuing working through the workbooks in the morning and then after lunch we were treated to a really informative and interesting presentation from a bloke from Bell Fire.

Jim Ponsonby (bell fire) was obviously really enthusiastic about what he does which of course makes it much more interesting for those listening. He covered the different types of fire extinguishers and for which fires they should be used and explained the rating systems on each one of them. These ratings indicate how effective they are for certain types of fire. The type that stood out above the rest was the D.C.P. (Dry Chemical powder) as it is effective in extinguishing A. B. C. and (e) type fires or Ordinary Combustibles, Flammable liquids, Gas and Electric fires. The presentation also included a demonstration.

Monday

Today we started of in the classroom where we did some work in the work books. We covered measuring and marking equipment and some hand tools. It was quite interesting to see the range and different types of tools (5 or 6 different types of planes) and when and what they are used for.

We then went on to work in groups to plan and present information about a product that we use at the work place. We started this research on our first day here working individually but presented our findings as a group today. The group I worked in presented e-beams and we covered things like the different sizes it comes in, PPE needed when handling or using this product and how to install it.

We also went back to the workshop in the afternoon to continue working on our joints. I had a second go at the bridle joint and it came out much better than my first attempt, probably due to paying more attention in the marking out stage and cutting more carefully.