Timber Processes

Question 1

What is turning ?

Answer 1

Turning is a process where you machine timber on a lathe - which is a machine that rotates a workpiece at different speeds to perform various operations - you can adjust the speed of the lathe to assist you doing different operations as different things require different speeds etc

Turning is unusually done by hand - using tools that resemble large chisels known as gouges or scrapers - these are held on a tool rest and are moved in and out of the workpiece to create patterns etc

Question 2

What are the 3 methods for doing turning ?

Answer 2

Turning between centres, turning on a faceplate or turning in a chuck

Question 3

What is turning between centres ?

Answer 3

Turning between centres is used to machine a spindle such as chair legs and table legs - turning between centres enables the spindle to be machines to a reduced diameter

you gave to make a little hole on both sides of the wood in the very centre and then you put the centres into and then just turn on the machine etc

Question 4

What is faceplate turning ?

Answer 4

It is used to machine items such as domes or bowls. It involves screwing a thick piece of timber to a metal faceplate and then screwing the faceplate and timber to the lathe - after this you can use you scraper to shape the timber into something like a bowl

It is used to turn the outside circumference and to remove the inside in order to make a bowl

Question 5

What is turning in a chuck ?

Answer 5

It is when a pice of timber is gripped but the jaws of a chuck - it could also be 4 jawed chuck - allowing access to the sides

Question 6

What is routing ?

Answer 6

Routing is a process used to machine timber and is used to make slots and holes or it is most commonly used to decorate edges of the timber with the variety of routing bits that can make different shapes in the wood

It is most commonly used as a handheld device and the most common router is a plunge router which basically means that you can plunge it into the wood by pressing it down - you can also set a point at which the router stops going down into the wood just like a pillar drill - So you can change how deep the router will go into the wood

The router has a flat base and a rotating blade that extends past the base - the router can also follow a jig and the router can also be CNC

Question 7

What are the timber wastage processes ?

Answer 7

Milling, routing, turning

Question 8

What is Timber milling ?

Answer 8

Milling machines have a round bit that spins at high speeds to make shapes in the material - the round bit is called a milling cutter

Milling machines are usually used in small or basic jobs as they don’t have the same range of movement as CNC routers so they are generally used only for small items

So milling is just used to remove material of your workpiece

Question 9

Name some timber forming processes

Answer 9

Lamination, Steam bending and kerfing

Question 10

Explain the process of lamination ?

Answer 10

Wood veneers or manufacturing boards like plywood can be glued together and clamped to a former so that when the glue drys the things you stuck together will form a thicker board in the shape of the former

while drying, the laminates may be held in place with clamps or a vacuum bag

Question 11

What is steam bending ?

Answer 11

Steam bending is when you put strips of timber into a steam box and this is where the timber absorbs the steam - the combined heat and steam softens the wood fibres - enabling the timber to be made pliable ( bendable ) - after the timber has been placed in the steam box - it is then usually bent over a former and clamped to it - then when the wood dries it will retain its new shape while it was in the former

Question 12

What are some advantages of steam bending over laminating ?

Answer 12

• It’s quicker than waiting for the glued layers to dry
• It’s less wasteful because laminated parts usually require trimming to the final size

Question 13

Explain the process to kerfing ?

Answer 13

It is when lots of small cuts are made in a thicker piece of timber which makes it flexible so it can be bent into shape - then you can place wood glue in between these cuts and then like this you can bend the wood

Question 14

What are the 8 different wood joints ?

Answer 14

1. Butt joint
2. Dowel joint
3. Mitre joint
4. Comb joint
5. Dovetail joint
6. Mortise and tenon joint
7. Housing joint
8. Half lap joint

Question 15

How do the different joints look like ?

Answer 15

You have to look at the Goodnotes flashcards

Question 16

What is a modesty block ?

Answer 16

Used in things like Ikea furniture - where its used to permanently join together items such as cabinets

They are small rigid polymer blocks with holes that take screws to join the block to panels - simple to use but doesn’t create a particularly strong joint

Question 17

What is a barrel nut and bolt ?

Answer 17

It is used to join two pieces of timber together

The cross dowel is inserted to one of the olives of timber to be joined - the bolt is inserted through the other piece of timber and tightened into the cross dowel

They are used to assemble parts of flat-pack furniture - i.e Ikea furniture

Question 18

What are knockdown fittings ?

Answer 18

They are used to manufacture flatpack furniture - they enable manufacturers to supply products that are not assembled - they are easy to use during assembly and it means that the product doesn’t have to be transported fully assembled

Question 19

What are the 3 knockdown fittings ?

Answer 19

Barrel nut and bolt
Modesty block
Cam lock connector

Question 20

How does the cam lock work ?

Answer 20

It consists of a metal dowel (the screw thing) that is screwed into one piece of timber by turning it with a screwdriver

Then the other piece of timber has a pre drilled hole for the metal dowel - so you can place it through the end of the dowel

Then there is another pre drilled hole for the cam which is a disk that is placed in this pre drilled hole and when the disk is rotated with a screwdriver, the collar on the dowel locks into the cam and pulls both pieces tightly together

Question 21

What are the 3 different forms of wood screws ?

Answer 21

• Slot head
• Phillips
• Pozidriv

Question 22

What are the bolts that are used to join wood pieces together called ?

Answer 22

Coach bolts

Question 23

How does a coach bolt work ?

Answer 23

A coach bolt is a normal bolt but the special thing about it is that under the domed head of the bolt there is a square piece that digs into the wood when tightened - this prevents the bolt from rotating - this means that when the bolt is tightened - the domed head cannot be undone with a spanner - you would have to hit the other side of the bolt - the side with the nut to get the square piece out of the wood

Question 24

How are wood screws different to the screws used for sheet metal ?

Answer 24

Wood screws have fewer threads per inch 0- coarser pitch

Question 25

What can you use to make putting a wood screw into a timber easier and make the screw sit more flush ?

Answer 25

Make a countersunk hole before putting in your screw

Question 26

What is a pilot hole ?

Answer 26

IT is a hole that is thinner than the screw head therefore the coarse pitch ( threads) bite into the timber and secure the screw into the wood better