Lest Lesson for Term 3

7K's last Design Futures lesson was our final lesson of the Term - and can I say, it was DEFINITELY the best and most exciting. When we first walked into the workshop, Mr Andrews was preparing a machine to cut some more MDF for the students without a square for their clock - little did I know that he would ask me next along with 3 other girls and himself to cut the MDF. We did this in front of the class so they could see the machine in action, but most were startled at the noise! The process for cutting the MDF was quite simple really;

1. Two people at either end of the long sheet of MDF pushed it onto the bench and into the saw. 
2. Myself and another girl at the opposite end then had to pull it out making sure the wood at all times   was brushing up against a metal barrier. 
3. Mr Andrews was standing on the out-wards side watching the process ready to act on any problems that may have occurred. 

...unfortunately for us there was a problem. About half way through the process, the machine started squealing (more than its usual loud sawing sound). Mr Andrews stopped the machine immediately and all pushing and pulling stopped. We were informed that we were not pushing the MDF towards the metal barrier enough, this had caused the machine to jam, the saw to lock and the woo to have sharp jagged edges. Once we realigned the wood we tried again however the saw kept jamming on the already jagged edges. Mr Andrews turned the MDF around (with the help of us extremely muscular girls...not) and we started form the other end. The saw again jammed but luckily the two ends had been met and the MDF was cut!

Mr Andrews then invited some other girls to help him cut the long strip of MDF into smaller individual squares. This was when the rest of the class (who were able to) started tracing their first clock layer onto their square for Mr Andrews to cut out. I have decided that the actual shape of a Ferris Wheel is not to be cut as a base layer, simply because the main cutting machine cannot accurately cut it out and there is not enough time to use a hand-held saw or sander. Instead, I will probably paint the gaps in when decorating my final result. As a result, my first layer is a circle.

After my first layer was cut out, I sanded the edges of my first layer with sandpaper, and then the bumps with a curved file, however the circle shape still seemed uneven - so Mr Andrews used the 'motor-operated sanding machine' to finish it off. My final result was a completely smooth circle that will be my first layer. For the rest of the working time in the lesson, which was only about five minutes in total, I started work on my second layer, which is basically my second layer traced onto a piece of grey, stiff cardboard.

Next lesson, I will definitely be finishing tracing my second layer on the cardboard, which will take longer than my first as it was not cut perfectly, and it involves a lot of painstaking and precise cutting of smaller shapes and then cutting in between them. So I will probably spend most of the lesson on my second layer - if not all. Hopefully, I will be able to finish that, I will cut it out, and then start on my third layer of Ferris Wheel detail, most likely on the grey cardboard again.
A summary for this Term would be:

• I have decided on my design.

• I have completed all blogs for all lessons and will now commence blogs for different materials and processes e.g. Thermo and Thermo-Setting Plastics, the Vacuum Forming Process etc.

• I have decided and completed all my layers - plan.

• I finished my first layer. 

• I've started on my second layer.

• And my goal and plan for next lesson will be finishing my second layer and starting on my third.

Thank you Mr Andrews for a wonderful Term and I cannot wait until Term 4 when we will really be knuckling down into the clock-making process! 

Bye for now and keep posted for my next blogs on information that will help me and possibly you in creating your own clock!