Diary of manufacture

You will be given 2 halves of your design printed on A3 paper. Use the guillotine to slice off the print-border on only one of the halves. 

Now that you have sliced off the print-border, you will be able to line up both halves to assemble your full design.

Use a ruler to measure that the outside walls of your table template measure exactly 350mm/35cm. To be sure, you should measure both the top side and the bottom side to ensure that it is perfectly square.

Use masking table to secure the paper after you have measured and aligned the 2 halves. 

You now have your complete table template.

MDF. Use some MDF scrap wood to measure and cut out a test shape. This is recommended if you have repeating shapes.

You may need to cut out 2 or 3 MDF test shapes before you are totally sure the shape is correct. This will help you when setting up your jig for repeated cuts.

A jig allows you to set up guides or markers so that you can cut the same length or angle again and again very easily without having to measure each one each time.

If you are sure the MDF test shape fits perfectly within the lines of the temple than it is time to start manufacturing the real pieces from hardwood.

You should cut out each shape so you have individual templates but...

Do not cut them all out at once - cut a few out at a time as you need them. this will help you stay organised and not lose pieces. 

Your template will be printed on white paper but the examples shows a mix of black and white paper

Choose your wood.

Once you have cut out a selection of templates, you should stick them down onto the wood. You will cut these out later.

Tessellate your template pieces so that you can fit as many on to the wood as possible and not waste the wood. 

Save any offcuts as these could be useful for other smaller pieces or other students.

Template pieces can be glued down side by side other parts. Try to leave a very small gap between the parts because you will be cutting and sanding 

Use the scroll saw to cut out each shape following the template line. Depending how you have set up your pieces, this could be 'following the paper edge of the template' or 'following a pencil line' that you marked onto the wood.

As you cut each piece you should make a quick check against your paper template or your wooden laser cut base to make sure it is correct before you continue.

As you cut more pieces or larger pieces you will start to see how your table takes shape. Continue to check that each part lines up to the template and that your accuracy is still good.

scroll saw zoom in to line edge

Without using any glue, you should align and position each part as you make it. this will help with ordering them and also checking to see if the size and angles are correct.

If you find that the gaps are too large, then it is likely that your angles, measurements or cutting techniques are slightly wrong. Take time to find out what the problem is and find a solution.

This could be remeasuring, adjusting how you are cutting, cutting on the outside of the marked line or finding the part/piece that might be the odd one.

sanding up to the pencil line 

sand paper

Glue should be applied to the wooden base template evenly and smeared around so that the glue covers all parts of the wooden base.

You will need to align your pieces and jigsaw them together following the laser cut template on the wooden base.

You will need to work quickly and efficiently so that the glue doesn't start to dry before you. have placed your pieces. if the glue dries first or between classes, you will be left with an uneven and lumpy surface to attach you parts the next time.

You need to apply glue to the side walls of each piece so that they are glued together as well. this will give a stronger bond and also help to fill any small gaps you may have.

Small gaps between pieces are normal. Sometimes the glue you use to will be enough to fill the gap but gaps can reappear once the glue starts to dry or soak in to the wood.

Gaps as seen in this photo will need wood filler.

Table is placed inside the Jig. A Jig helps to hold the table in a set position and supports the hand-held planer as you use it.

The Planer is attached to the vacuum cleaner to extract dust.

*turn on the vacuum cleaner to control the dust

The planer has two buttons. One is a safety button on the side, you have to press this first before you can pull the trigger to make the blades work.

There are different colours or shades of wood filler. This si so that you can choose a filler colour that best matches your wood. 

CLOSE THE LID

Wood filler dries very fast. Close the lid after every scoop or it will start to harden

Use a pieces of scrap wood like MDF to take a scoop of wood filler (then close the lid) and work the filler into the gap to fill it. Any messy wood filler on the top surface can be sanded later so that doesn't matter.

The surface of a table top that has many gaps may look like this where most of the table top has been covered. However, the excess wood filler on the surface is only a very thin later as it has been smeared and spread around the table top.

Ask your teacher to use the bandsaw to trim the edges of your table incase there are any parts that stick out.

This final cutting will ensure that your table measures 350mm x 350mm.

Sandpaper grit explained.

There are different grades of sandpaper which are scaled by numbers. Grades with a lower number indicate a rougher, more coarse paper where sanding can be done faster but will not leave you with such a smooth finish.

Grades of sandpaper with a higher number are smooth and sand less wood but will leave a much smooth finish.

It is best to work through the grades starting with a lower number and finishing with a smoother number... don't forget to include a range of grades inbetween too.

Airbench turned on.

Hand sander connected to the vacuum cleaner.

Face mask worn

Work through different grades of sandpaper from rough to smooth to get a better finish.

After sanding through the different grades of sandpaper, your table top will start to feel very smooth.

All parts and pieces should feel of even height with no rough edges or excess filler on the surface.

You may notice a few small gaps where the filler has not filled the gap enough or the filler fell out during sanding - this will be fixed later so don't worry.

A chamfered edge is an edge that is angled instead of having a right angle edge. It is usually 45degrees but could be different.

A fillet edge refers to a rounded edge to give a smooth finish and softer lines.

Cutting a chamfer or fillet edge can be done with a hand router. The cutting tool can be changed so you can get different types of cut, such as a chamfer or fillet (but there are also many more).

You can see examples of different cutting tools and a fillet edge in the examples above.

Use the router safely as the cutting tool on the bottom of the router is very sharp and spins very quickly.

Only use a router with the correct jig, table set up and teacher supervision.

CLOSE THE LID

Wood filler dries very fast. Close the lid after every scoop or it will start to harden

After you have completed step 6 of using wood filler and completed step 7 of sanding, you should now have a table top with a nice smooth finish and where you can see all of the shapes and filled gaps. 

You may notice that some of the filler in the gaps has been missed, didnt fill properly or fell out when you were sanding. This will leave some very small gaps between the pieces and you will need to make some touch-ups

To fill only small gaps, you will only need a small amount of wood filler. use a flat edge of some scrap wood and work the filler into the gap as shown above.

Drill pilot holes through the holes in the metal legs. Use a 2.5mm drill bit. Be careful to hold the legs still so that the holes are drilled in the correct place and line up.

This is a pilot hole with the metal removed. It should not go very deep. 5mm only.

Put a washer and screw into each hole.

Use the screwdriver attachment for the drill to drive the screws into the holes. Hold the screwdriver perpendicular to the screw to drive the screw vertically.

Glueing the layers starting from the middle