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Practical Woodworking: Creativity Through Practical Woodwork
Practical Woodworking: Creativity Through Practical Woodwork
Practical
Woodworking
Creativity through Practical
Woodwork
[NATIONAL 4;
NATIONAL 5]
This advice and guidance has been produced to support the profession with the delivery of
courses which are either new or which have aspects of significant change within the new
national qualifications (NQ) framework.
The advice and guidance provides suggestions on approaches to learning and teaching.
Practitioners are encouraged to draw on the materials for their own part of their continuing
professional development in introducing new national qualifications in ways that match the
needs of learners.
Practitioners should also refer to the course and unit specifications and support notes which
have been issued by the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/34714.html
Acknowledgement
The publisher gratefully acknowledges permission to use the following sources: image of a
watercolour finished laser etched yoyo docpop; photography of decorative cabinet doors
Vilseskogen; photograph of exposed jointwork YardSale; photograph of a laser cut pendant
Shannon Henry; photograph of a wooden iphone case redzonelabs.
Crown copyright 2012. You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in
any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence,
visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ or e-mail:
psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain
permission from the copyright holders concerned.
Any enquiries regarding this document/publication should be sent to us at
enquiries@educationscotland.gov.uk.
This document is also available from our website at www.educationscotland.gov.uk.
Contents
Introduction
Materials
12
Finishing
14
Detailing
16
Construction
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Introduction
These materials form part of Education Scotlands commitment to develop
practical advice and guidance to support the profession with the delivery of
courses where there are aspects of significant change within the new National
Qualifications .
The materials build on and develop earlier advice and guidance on
Curriculum for Excellence, both generic and specific to the technologies and
Practical Woodworking with a particular focus on National 4 and 5. The
materials complement other key support resources including, for example, the
relevant Unit and Course Support Notes provided by SQA. They aim to
reinforce key themes where appropriate, but without unnecessary repetition.
It is clearly important that practitioners are familiar with those key resources
which relate to Practical Woodworking. Crucially, the advice and guidance
tries to meet the challenge of conveying the spirit of learning in the
technologies and Practical Woodworking, with their focus on problem-solving
and real-world relevance and the world of work, within the framework of
principles of Curriculum for Excellence.
The materials aim to be accessible, practical and attractive, exemplifying
effective and dynamic approaches to learning and teaching. They invite
teachers, young people and others to explore them and reflect on the value
they might add to learning, teaching and achievement in Practical
Woodworking, to the extent that individuals need or wish. These materials are
offered as a starting point and are interactive by design. They actively invite
users to edit them (for example, in the style of Wikis,) and enhance the
contents for their own purposes, but then to share them with colleagues in a
spirit of partnership. The summary of key issues on pages 35 will be helpful
for users since they exemplify generic positive influences on learning and
teaching in the technologies contexts of craft, design, engineering and
graphics. Other practitioners will wish to consider pages 48 which set out
ideas directly relevant to Practical Woodworking and highlight differences in
the course structure. At the heart of this resource, Creativity through
Practical Woodworking (pages 915) offers practitioners a number of
possible approaches and resource prompts. Practitioners will note, at this
point, that the advice and guidance reflects the specific context of a school
with particular facilities and equipment. Whilst these resources may not be
available in all schools, practitioners may be able to source them or access
Units
There are four mandatory Units including the Added Value Unit. Units, which
are statements of standards for assessment and not programmes of learning
and teaching, can be delivered in a number of ways. The structure of the
Course allows learners to cover fundamental woodworking skills in a
progressive fashion. Each Unit covers a set of new woodworking skills. All of
the Units include skills in measuring, marking-out, cutting and jointing
techniques. Throughout the Units learners will develop an appreciation of
safe working practices in a workshop environment. They will also gain an
understanding of sustainability issues in a practical woodworking context.
1.
2.
3.
4.
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Materials
Composites
Making use of composite materials such as plywood can achieve striking
effects, for example, through the natural contours revealed as the material is
shaped and formed. Small offcuts of plywood can be transformed into
creative detailing such as finials and handles. Alternatively, creating bespoke
composites by gluing and clamping thin sections of mixed timbers can have
an effective impact, including, for example, to camouflage exposed edges of
composites.
Learning Prompt
At a suitable point in the manufacture of a chosen product, introduce the idea
of using offcuts to learners to create unique composite pieces as a feature.
Laminating
Using a vacuum press to laminate thin sections of timber around prefabricated or tailored moulds provides an easy route to explore the
possibilities that exist beyond straight sections. Introducing curved timber as
an intricate detail of a model can transform a basic shape into something
more obviously styled and crafted. This creative method of shaping timber is
widely used in furniture design to create high-quality flowing surfaces and
shapes that cannot be achieved economically by other means.
To learn more about how this technique works follow this link:
http://bagpress.com/How_It_Works.html .
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Finishing
Whilst the main function of the finish is to protect the surface of the item
being manufactured, changing the colour or nature of that finish offers
creative possibilities.
Spraying
Gloss paint and other aerosol-applied finishes such as crackle touch or
glow in the dark paint provide a contemporary means of finishing
woodworking projects, completely or partially. Appropriate facilities,
including fume extraction, need to be provided. High standards of finish
can be achieved if time and care are taken in the preparation. This
approach can add contrast and definition to projects.
Water-based paints
Acrylics and poster paints provide a brush-applied alternative to aerosols,
although they can also be sprayed if the appropriate equipment is
available. As well as changing the overall colour and appearance of a
model, they can be used to add detail, working well in combination with
other processes, such as relief work through laser etching or routing.
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Learning Prompt
Perhaps as a homework task relating to a specific product, ask learners to use
their knowledge of colour theory to plan a contrasting colour scheme
appropriate for a nursery environment.
Dyes
Dyes have long been used to alter the appearance of timber, which in itself
is a creative solution when trying to achieve a desired effect on a tight
budget. Dyes can also be used to give the impression that inlay or
marquetry have been used. This can be achieved by marking out the design
onto the timber in pencil, creating relief lines along the pencil lines using a
craft knife and straight edge, then applying the different colours of dye to
each section using the relief lines as a natural barrier to the dye bleeding
from one area to the other.
Learning Prompt
Provide a group work task where learners experiment with different varnish,
polish and paint finishes on timber offcuts, perhaps in stations. Learners
should feed back to the class on how the different finishes react with the
surface of the timber, to inform their decisions and choices about finishing
their products.
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Detailing
Laser cutting
Laser cutters are becoming increasingly available and affordable. The laser
cutter can be used to cut out intricate shapes and forms from a variety of
materials, including timber and composites, that would challenge traditional
workshop equipment. These forms can be highly personalised or tailored to
reflect a specific aspect of the model or its environment.
Some examples of use include creating
decorative panels or screen work for a
standard carcase construction project.
Laser cutters are also well suited to
the production of stencils from card,
which can be used to achieve creative
and complex shapes when applying a
paint finish to your project.
Etching
Another use of the laser cutter is to etch relief work onto the surface of flat or
curved surfaces. Ideas generated using appropriate
computer drafting packages
can be transferred onto the
surface of a piece of
craftwork, for example Celtic
knot work, lettering or
geometric patterns. These
techniques open up a range of
opportunities for creativity in the context of practical woodworking skills.
16
Inlaying
Inlaying is another practical woodwork skill that
has a long history. In a school workshop it is
possible to use hand tools or, with staff assistance,
a router to cut grooves into timber that can then be
populated with a donor material such as a
contrasting section of timber. As alternatives,
learners can use a range of donor materials such as
coloured acrylic or other plastics.
Router work
A router mounted in an appropriately guarded router table is a
very versatile piece of workshop equipment that can be
employed for both productivity and creativity tasks. Once set
up, it can be used, under close supervision, to quickly and
repeatedly machine a range of profiles onto the edges and
surfaces of timber either during the construction phase or after
flat frames have been assembled. The importance of safe
appropriate, safe use cannot be overemphasised.
However, this type of creative expression can often be
appreciated through both the visual and tactile results achieved.
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Pyrography
Pyrography is the process of burning the surface of timber in a controlled
fashion to create a decorative finish. The resulting design can be as simple or
as complex as desired. A wide range of tones and shades can be achieved
depending on the temperature setting, type of tip used on the tool and the way
in which the tool is applied to the material. Light-coloured hardwoods such as
sycamore or beech are well suited to this technique, but pine will also work.
The effect can also be used to age or distress material, to achieve an antique
look.
For a range of tips, techniques and inspiration have a look at the following
website: http://www.scorchpyro.co.uk/ .
Learning Prompt
Ask learner, in teams or individually, to create a signature emblem (for the
school/faculty/department/house) as a trademark or crest. Use a laser cutter to
etch it onto surfaces of appropriate projects
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Construction
Our own woodworking traditions tend to encourage crisp, neat, flat-finished
construction methods. These can have the effect of concealing the skills of
construction. Incorporating exposed joints as a creative and decorative aspect
of construction has a long heritage in countries such as Japan and China.
Exploring these alternative views on recognised construction methods
provides a means of expressing creativity whilst reinforcing the need for skill
and precision in manufacturing.
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Links to SQA
National 4 Practical Woodworking
Course Specification
Course and Unit Support Notes
Unit Specification
Course Specification
Course and Unit Support Notes
Unit Specification
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