Hand Production Techniques - Lesson One

Well this was the first lesson of "Hand Production Techniques", or making, and I was really excited to start making. Sadly we didn't get into the workshop today, however learn't some valuable information to prepare us for tomorrow (when we will be in there).

Process Plan:

We first learnt about the process plan, which is a table where you list all the operations, their estimated time and then finally their actual time, like below:

This kind of preparation is incredibly useful, as it allows you to see exactly what steps need to be taken, and what time needs to be allocated to each one. Also if anything takes longer then expected, you will know and can factor it in on further operations. Crucially you can also work out WHAT ELSE YOU CAN BE DOING!

I also learnt how to basically plane a surface, which is shown in the diagram below:

This diagram shows the direction (arrows) which you should plane. You should plane from corner to corner, then straight up, moving the pressure from the toe of the plane (front) at the beginning, to the sole of the plane (middle) and finally the heel (at the back) when you are at the far edge of the wood.

Finally I learnt how to sharpen tools. This is done so you can make more precise cuts and joints, it takes less physical effort and also saves a lot more time then trying to do it with a blunt tool. This includes learning about the grinding angels and honing angles of both chisels and plane blades.

Will blog again tomorrow about what happens during the lesson and hopefully add some photos.