Potpourri bowl

A lovely potpourri bowl turned by one of the girls in my year 9 class

Camphor clock

Another beautifully finished, slightly quirky clock cut from some camphor laurel wood using the jigsaw as a year nine article.

Allowing a little... a shift towards creativity

As students go through their final year of school and the course they need to apply the skills of the previous year. For this project, I selected a hall table with some student trying out different things as long as they did not change the actual design. The table is made with traditional joints but applies all the modern processes to achieve this.

The drawer was joined with dovetails that were made using a dovetail jig. It runs on standard drawer runners.

The beading on the outside corner of the leg was created with a scratch-block.

Industry not creativity

Sadly in year 11 the subject changes dramatically and it all becomes about meeting industrial standards where students need to understand the production process. It's about production lines and meeting the set criteria .... so everyone makes the same thing. The project I used this year for the year 11 furniture section was this 'peg it in the ground' picnic table made of Kauri Pine.

The good old Bandsaw Box

This is a collection of a few bandsaw boxes recently made by the year 10 students.

Saw the light... going with a good idea

One of the tools used for the list of projects is the jigsaw. Some students have found some good ideas to apply the saw too. Here is another of these ideas that have been well used to construct a light. We gather lots of wood from parents, farmers .... just anyone, but it's using it effectively the makes me happy. When students step out of the usual and try the unusual. Enjoy!

Year 10 bandsaw work

Using the bandsaw to create a bandsaw box or other creative designs

The "Tree Flower Holder"

Using the smaller pieces of wood/offcuts to create small extra projects.

It is always very difficult keeping a large class of mixed ability students working in the same time frame. As a result, students who complete their work quickly are given another simple project to continue with. I have many smaller offcuts that I use to allow them to make candle holders, pen holders etc. with the addition of the laser cutter students compile a print which is then cut into their work. This can be a pattern, phrase or picture.

Pewter casting

As we begin the new courses for the year with another class of keen and creative students in year nine we again start with the pewter castings. We now have a laser cutter and will experiment with cutting the designs out in wood rather than the cuttlefish shells. It will allow far more detail and accuracy. One senior student did just this and the result was really good (first design). All the other designs were cast into cuttlefish shells.

A new year. 2017

As all the students move up to a new year level, other students move in to try out their designs and skills. 2017 is well on its way and the students are beginning to reach the end of their initial practical work. Many designs are similar as we have a set syllabus to follow, but the individual flair and creativity vary so enjoy this year's work.