7/1/19 – Introduction to Joining and Fastening

Today, we learned the safety rules about hand tools and power tools. First, we started with learning how to cut cardboard and thin sheets of wood with box cutters. We then cut basic lines in thin sheets of wood and cardboard, and we had to clamp the materials to the table to get the safest and cleanest cut possible. Box cutting

After box cutting, we then learned how to use handsaws to cut thicker wood. There were two different general types of saws we used: push saws and pull saws. I liked the Japanese pull saw the best because it made really smooth cuts and didn’t take too much physical effort to use. The saws I liked Another I liked The saw I didn't like

Then, we learned how to use the scroll saw, which is good for making curved, specific cuts. It was harder to use because the blade moved the piece of wood up and down. Scroll saw

After cutting, we moved onto drilling. We first learned how to use the hand drill, which is good for making quick holes but isn’t always the most accurate and perpendicular. For more accurate holes, it would be better to use the drill press. The drill press is a larger machine and was harder for me to operate because I’m too short. very sad. It was very cool, though. Handheld drill

Finally, we joined two pieces of wood together to make a sword. We first started by finding a screw to use, and we decided on a self-tapping screw. Then, we needed to drill a hole into the top piece of wood that was slightly bigger than the screw, so I used a caliper to find a drill bit that was slightly larger than the screw. We drilled our hole, and then put wood glue around the two pieces, and then used a drill with a screw bit to screw in the screw. The screw was slightly too long for the pieces of wood, so we had to use a hacksaw to chop off the sharp end and then a file to shave off the remainer of the sharp edges. Screws and drill Our sword!!! The back

Questions for tomorrow:

  1. How do you know what type of screw to use in different situations?
  2. How do you safely and accurately break off the end of a boxcutter blade? We tried today and it wasn’t the most accurate/safe.