Woodcraft Freebuild

 

'Freebuild' means that students are given complete free freedom to find what they can in the wood scrap boxes and make whatever comes to mind. There was a structured 'kit' to go by if they were that way inclined, one of a simple house and many students preferred to make these. These photos are taken over a number of weeks showing how the return to woodcraft club was proceeding. So far so good and the glue might last until the end of term all being well. 

Noah's Ark

Recently at a community online gathering we were fascinated at the sheer size of the original Ark that Noah was required to make to prepare for the great flood over the land. The dimensions were given and the type of wood and number of decks. This family made a scale size model to match the plastic animals that their child played with and shared their experience with everybody else (below). The result is breathtaking reflecting a construction that seems similar in size to the Empire State Building on its side! We were made to appreciate why it took Noah 100 years to make it. He must have had an engineering mind or it could have developed "Titanic" cracks. Peter made the drawing (above) and added numerous exotic animals on the three decks. He added a totally inadequate food and water storage deck under these decks for the ten months they stayed cooped up. As he drew it he wondered how all these "calm" animals and humans managed to hold it together. This is a few notches above our present isolation experiences in terms of resilience. There were only a few windows at the very top of the ark and according to the biblical story one of them was only opened at the end of ten months to let out the raven and the dove. It would have taken some time to adjust to the outside glare! There are now many more questions that arise from this pondering but that must be for another time. 

Joseph Tests His Brothers

This is a very engaging story and comes from Genesis 42 to 45 in the Bible. Peter has a fascination about this story over many final chapters of Genesis. Peter made two videos of the actual 'test' of the brothers. The actors are dolly pegs! Some of the video sections are made with stop motion camera. The story of the test is in two parts and you can view can view them HERE and HERE.

Model House

The time this project happened was around twenty years ago and it now seems a good idea to be posted in order to make it a more permanent record and a helpful guide for others who might want to make a model house which adheres closely to modern building practice, including stair building. In fact, the main reason for Peter making this model was to build an open flight (with risers) and a closed flight (no risers - open space between the treads) and complete with handrails. The house went to live in Brisbane with family members.

Real floor sanding at this stage important

Bainbridge board acting as plaster board over the studs

Bainbridge board ceiling except for the stairwell space

All stud walls and windows assembled flat

Second level floor sanded before walls added

The house grew with a 1:12 vertical scale and a 1:20 horizontal scale - making the rooms smallish

Third level flooring one 'plank' at a time and weighted down until the glue held 

Note the second level interior space greater than first level through a planned overhang

Third level flooring joists extended to be attached to gable roof joists

Stairwell carefully measured for exact position

Some flooring planks needed to be weighted down well

Stairs finally fitted in - seemed a long time for this goal to be reached

Gable roof joists held by bulldog clips until the glue set

Veranda stairs, posts and awning work

Short veranda joists, roof slats, attic window

Corrugated cardboard used to catch the corrugated sheet iron look

A toilet added - found one on sale at the local newsagent

Back flap doors to close up the open side 

The finished product was pleasing and very robust (except for the corrugated cardboard areas

No attempt to deal with rood drainage was made

Profiles