OUFM203 - Day Nineteen

Today's main focus was on the completing the first joint of the legs, and then I moved onto making a Soss Hinge Jig which was the exact size for one of the leaves. This allowed me to get the spacing perfectly accurate on both pieces, as this is crucial to get a perfect hinge. 

Overall this was an easy enough set-up  which I cut using the laser cutter, and then fine tuned with sandpaper and the mini-bobbin sander to get a wide enough opening. The main problem with this set-up is the deep mortise that is required is too deep for the router, so I have to hand chisel the depth required.

Above: Leg joint finished

Above: Hinge test fitted using jig

OUFM203 - Day Eighteen

I started the week off by carrying on with the legs of the table, including the finger joints. The biggest problem I found was that the wood has further shrunk, meaning the joints have become slightly loose, but hopefully that will correct itself once out of the workshop.

The main task I carried out was making a MDF mock-up of the stool, which can be seen below:

Christening Gift - Stool

So me and my partner and been asked to be God Parents for Tianna, my little cousin. For the gift I have decided to make a stool, which has been designed by us. The important part of the design is to make it so it can be disassembled, as they live in Australia! Below are a couple of quick renders to show the idea:

Final Trip to Thorp Perrow

Today was the trip to view all this years installed pieces that were created, but it was also the last visit due to the course shutting.

Whilst there, we met the outdoor playground carpenters Alastair Guy and Sons, who who fantastic, explained the project, let us have a sneak preview and even take photos. This reminded me of something similar of what I am helping to craft during the summer, so I have added picture to this post:

OUFM203 - Day Fourteen to Seventeen

The last few days have been carrying out rather similar tasks, which was beginning the joinery for the legs. I first began by doing this by hand and then I decided it would be easier to remove the majority of the waste with the bandsaw, and then clean them up with a chisel and sandpaper.

This was not particularly accurate  so after speaking to one of the tutors, I began to use the tenoner. This required me to take the cleaning brushes out to fit them through, but this was much more accurate. This took the majority of one day to get the measurements correct.

The two biggest problems I had was the machine kept cutting out, which wastes a lot of time, and that the tenons on the legs on the machine can only be cut to 60mm, whereas mine need to be 100mm, so I have to take the rest of by hand.

OUCE255 - Poster Comparison

Design 1:

Although the first design adequately visually describes the event being held, it could be greatly improved and changed to be much more effective. The first change I would make is the font used for the title of poster. It is very simplistic, so although it is easily readable, it could be a more aesthetically pleasing font, with the possibility of a wider range of colours. The use of capital letters, in this case is fine, but it should be limited to just the title, and not any other text, as it is much harder to read text which is in capitals.

I feel that there could possibly be more information regarding the event on the poster, such as a small quote, from possibly a philosopher in the furniture making field, to add a little context and interest to the poster, and would possibly make people stop and study the poster further.

Another issue I have with the poster is the amount of white empty space surrounding the main picture, and the way she blends in, almost making her look like a floating head. I feel that the background could be a slightly different shade, emphasizing the main purpose of the poster.

The final point that I would change is the information regarding it's location. Depending on where the poster is located,  whether it be within the college, or external to the general public, as it doesn't tell you which building, and where the exhibition is taking place within the college.

I like the concept of the person vs the size of furniture but I feel that the space is taken up to much of the person, and could of been a close up of her hands, or possibly an eye looking through gaps within the furniture.

Design 2:

Design to seems much more aesthetically pleasing, with one of the main reasons being the use of the magnifying glass to highlight what the event is about, without taking the emphasis off of the pieces, unlike the first design. It also is laid out much better then the first design, with the image being framed from the bottom right hand corner. The space is also filled well, with very little white space on the page.

I also like the use of the text rapping around the magnifying glass, as it grasps the audiences attention, although I am not sure if the font is appropriate, as it doesn't really match the rest of the text.

I still think that there should be more information in regards to what the exhibition is about, its location, and possibly a quote relevant to the exhibition. Finally I wouldn't include the whole images of the pieces, but possibly close-up shots so it still leaves a lot to be seen and understood, but gives the audience a taste of what to expect.

OUFM203 - Day Thirteen

I carried on working on the slides today, and it took me all morning to set up the overhead router, as this allowed me to carefully adjust the slides to make them a perfect fit. I had to make a custom fence, with mounts to hold the pieces in place, which is shown below. 

After this I used a hand router, table router and dowels to create the locking mechanism which stops the slides from just pulling out of place.

Above: Custom fence on overhead router

Above: Pieces clamped ready to be routered out for lock

Above: Slide finished, shut

Above: Slide finished, Open

OUFM203 - Day Twelve

I really wanted to make a full size, test slide, with my own locking mechanism  as I had only made a quick small one out of pine, and so I am not sure whether it is going to function properly.

After laying out all the components to make sure they would fit correctly, I then began looking at the slides. I first thicknessed some spare material to size, and then used the table router, straight bit and a dovetail bit to make the slots that the slides would go through. I first set the fence, and then using the straight bit removed the same distance from all the pieces. I then moved the fence slightly to widen the groove, and keep all the pieces identical. I first used a straight bit to reduce the stress on the dovetail bit, that I then used in similar fashion.

This took a long time to work out correctly, so that's all I managed to get done today.

Above: Components laid out in place

Above: Three pieces with Dovetail Grooves

OUFM203 - Day Eleven

I have been having some problems with the camera equipment at the moment, which is why the next few days it may be incomplete.

My main focus was sanding down the large surface, cutting it down to the correct size, and cutting the other leaf in half so it will fold, using the bad saw and surface planer, as we can't rip on the dimension / panel saw.

The biggest problem I had was when I was using the pad sander, which somehow dug into my work, shredding the belt which then flew off, and digging a huge groove into my work. Luckily it is underneath, and most of it was cut of as waste, so the damage is minimal.

Above: This shows the the groove that was made by the pad sander

OUFM203 - Day Ten

It was a much more productive day today, with me gluing up the rest of the table top, sorting out all the components, remembering my plans and thicknessing the table down ready for gluing the final pieces together to form the table top. I also began to lay out the pieces ready for the dovetail slides, and thicknessed the "L-Shaped" extending leaves.

Above: Complete table top gluing

Above: Tabletop L-shaped Leaves thicknessed and laid out in place

OUFM203 - Day Nine

I didn't get much done today, apart from sorting out all the components, remembering my plans and thicknessing the table down ready for gluing the final pieces together to form the table top.

Above: Thicknessing one piece of the table top.

Scouts: Green woodland campsite

Although not strictly furniture related, I am posting about a Scouting event recently, which was to camp over and construct a camping area. This included laying growing green fences, along with steps down to the campsite, a bridge, the beginnings of a clay oven and of course a camp fire circle. Images follow:

Above: Steps down to campsite

Above: Steps from below looking up from campsite

Above: Bridge leading into campsite

Above: Campsite including shelter, green living fences and campfire circle