design and technology student needs help

[wooden_boy]

Im a 16 yr old design and technology student in high school in Australia and i am going to make a fold out bar and i dont know what type of wood would be appropriate? :confused: if any body has any ideas let me know it would be most appreciated

[mat]

It really depends on how much money you have available for the project and the quantity of materials needed.
For solid timber at a reasonable price Tasmanian Oak (Tasmanian Ash) or Victorian Ash all referring to the same timber species would be a good choice.

[wooden_boy]

thanks mat i will look into tasmanian oak

[ss_11000]

Im a 16 yr old

why does your profile say 17?

[Wood Butcher]

Stirlo, WHO CARES. He into woodwork, that's all that matters!

[ozwinner]

Stirlo, WHO CARES. He into woodwork, that's all that matters!

Dont forget 1 year makes all the diff if you are 13.

Al

[eddie the eagle]

Im a 16 yr old design and technology student in high school in Australia and i am going to make a fold out bar and i dont know what type of wood would be appropriate? :confused: if any body has any ideas let me know it would be most appreciated

Woodenboy,

I'm a senior high school design and technology teacher full time as well as a working cabinetmaker. (yes, I have loads of spare time)

I'm guessing that you're in year 12, had the opportunity to start your project last September and have just made a start by the sound of your questions. (By the way, you have 41 weeks in total to work on your project, take away about three weeks for trial HSC, potentially half yearlies, another two weeks for work placement if you're doing that, and about another week for illness, etc... over the course of the year, as well as the fact that the thing is due 7 weeks before the end of the HSC, term 3, week 3??? leaves you a total of 28-30 weeks to work on your project. You're currently in week 18, so you're a touch over halfway through your allotted time. Good news is that you're starting now, but you've got to work smart now, as well as hard.)

My suggestions below are to try to refocus what you're trying to make, and these aren't meant as criticism, but as a helping hand from someone who's had numerous classes go through. I've seen plenty of projects like this and score 55 to 60 as a HSC mark. Doesn't sound so bad until you realise that nobody gets below 50 in the HSC - the score of 55 is a band 2 out of 6, a very basic project in the subject.

All these questions are for you to answer - be honest with yourself - don't reply in public unless you want to.

You could copy this post and your responses into your folio - it would be a good point to start.

First, you need to be solving a clear need in D&T that can't be met by off-the-shelf (or off-the-showroom-floor) solutions. A bar in a timber that you can't specify, with joinery that you can't specify, isn't really a clear need. This appears (and I may be wrong) to be a project doomed to be a band 1/2 (ie: very 'lower end')

Your folio design brief/statement of intent (haven't got a class this year and it's a busy day, with me having numerous senior moments today - can't remember the exact title of your design solution) should be incredibly detailed but open ended, eg: "I am making a unit to assist in our entertainment of people at our house - this is what it needs to do ... .... ...., this is what furniture it has to match re:colour and grain ... ... ... , finished to this gloss level...able to take the following punishment without damage ... ..., able to hold the following (including their size ... ... ...) (etc.)

Have you done this yet??

If you walk in and say: "I'm gunna build a bar and I don't know what timber yet", what design need are you really solving????.
To build a bar or piece of furniture is more a job you see in Industrial Technology (timber) As you know, it's way too late to change (about 1.5 years too late.)

Look at the problem you state and then come up with a number of options for each problem - eg: if you need a device to store books, it could be a simple bookcase - it could be a set of open shelves that double as a room divider, it could be a rotating carosel, it might be a simple bookrack, it could be a lockup cupboard, it could be a barrister's bookcase. Who says that the books have to be horizontal - it could be a vertical stack.

Being honest, building a solid timber bar that does not solve any real problem is a waste of money as far as your HSC is concerned. It is possible that it will solve a problem that no other bar has solved - but what solution makes your bar unique???

Projects usually fail in D&T because of two (or three) reasons:
1) You aren't committed to the project because it's someone else's idea, and someone else's money, and they keep overriding you (ie: you're stuck in the middle of a poofight and you can't be bothered fighting any more)
2) The project you've chosen is way too challenging for you, both in skill and complexity so you're overwhelmed and don't know where to start (suggestion: positive attitude and start working term 4, or else choose something else.)
3) You thought you had plenty of time so you didn't work hard and now you're cut short (suggestion: think outside the square and look at what you really need to do in D&T - it isn't large furniture projects, believe me.)

Personally, I'd look at what you really need to solve in D&T, and come up with another problem/solution.

As you haven't really sunk any dollars into the project yet, you can still afford to make the change.

When you write your folio, you still say what you did in term 4 and 1 (if you did anything. The time isn't wasted, you can still show research skills for this project, even if you did change direction partway through.

We see this regularly - what about the kid that has a massive blue with Mum & Dad and moves out of home (no more money, but still finishes yr12 sleeping on a mate's floor, or the family where Dad loses a job and can't afford to pay $600 for materials any more - plus lots of other equally valid scenarios.)

Look at the links below for some real examples of projects and folios - the folio is more important than the project (even though the project is worth 40% and folio is worth 20%.)

Let me explain. You can't talk to the examiners when you're marking, you can only talk to them through the folio. A really well built unit with a really poor folio scores something like 20/60 as the folio has not told the examiners what it is that they need to know.

A poorly built unit but one that is backed up with a good folio that shows the examiners what problem you tried to solve through your design, how you went about solving the design problems initially, shows continual evaluation of your project and why you changed direction en-route, how you solved challenges during manufacture etc... will probably score more like 40/60.

To get the 60/60 (and about 5-10 projects typically do this every year) you need a really clear folio that answers all of the needs in D&T as well as a really well-built solution to your design problem.



So, my best suggestions are as follows:

1) Ask yourself what is the problem you are clearly trying to solve - if you don't have one, start over again - better that you work hard on something that might score good marks and be finished than on something that will score poorly and might or might not be finished by the due date.

2) Find a project that YOU are committed to do - if you like what you're doing, you have more of a chance to finish it and will look forward to spending the time in the workshop. Sounds as though the bar is not really a winner on this front, or else you would have been well underway by now.

3) Look at the Design and Technology Standards Reference Packages for D&T - they're your major project cheat sheets. What works well in the written folio, what is a poor answer. The sort of design solution that scores well, the sort of project that scores poorly. There's a 2001 and a 2002 Standards reference package on this site

http://arc.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au

I'd personally spend the time looking at this website tonight as well as the marking guidelines- this would be the best use of your time, in my opinion

4) Look at the MARKING GUIDELINES for D&T - see what you've got to do to get your maximum marks. This is another critical page to visit.

It's under Design & Technology on the board of studies site www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au, look at the HSC Syllabus section and then in the right hand column, they're there.


5) Go and see your teacher with solutions. Figure out what you want to do and then go to your teacher with three possible solutions. Don't go to them and tell them that you've got a problem. <-just a hint.

6) You've still got about 14 or 15 school weeks to go. Use them wisely to ensure that you complete your project.

7) Did I mention that it might be a good idea to look at your design problem and possibly change it to something that motivates you, is achievable with your skills (ie:don't show the examiners what you're not good at) and can be finished by the deadline.

Good luck, whichever way you go.

CHeers,

eddie

[ss_11000]

Stirlo, WHO CARES. He into woodwork, that's all that matters!

yeah, i was just wondering....

[ss_11000]

Dont forget 1 year makes all the diff if you are 13.

Al

yeah, and to think i'm 14 in a month.......

[zenwood]

But how old is eddie? Must've aged a year writing that post.

Just messin with ya mate

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

yeah, and to think i'm 14 in a month.......

Don't worry, around here you age fast. Another year or two and you'll be reminiscing about the "good old days" before you had white hair, a nervous tic and incontinence.

[wooden_boy]

yeah i was tired i was studyin b4 i wrote it and wasnt payin attention, + my bday has just gone past lol

[wooden_boy]

hey eddie thanks alot that has helped me out heaps i will b sure that i look into those web sites thank u so much. oh yeah my teacher didnt let us start our poject untill we finished our project propposal, project management and gritea to evaluate success so i no im runnin a bit late

[DPB]

Eddie, great encouragement and suggestions. I hope WB takes your well written response to heart. You are a credit to your profession.

We are often critical of teachers and claim that our educational standards have slipped. But it is obvious that the syllabus is well thought through and that there are teachers who really care for their students. Ultimately, it rests with the student.

WB, there is enough help offered by Eddie to see you get a top mark if you apply his recommendations. Here's to your success! It's in your hands now.

[Simomatra]

Eddie, great encouragement and suggestions. I hope WB takes your well written response to heart. You are a credit to your profession.

We are often critical of teachers and claim that our educational standards have slipped. But it is obvious that the syllabus is well thought through and that there are teachers who really care for their students. Ultimately, it rests with the student.

WB, there is enough help offered by Eddie to see you get a top mark if you apply his recommendations. Here's to your success! It's in your hands now.

My sentiments.

Well done Eddy nice to see teachers that really take an interest. As DPB says you are credit to your profession.

In an age where there are a shortage of trades and professionals we need to encourage our young people as much as we can

Wooden_boy good to see you answered Eddy. It in your hands. I wish you all the best in your endeavours

Who knows what you may achieve but at least you are into wood.

Cheers sam