Learning activities Each of the lessons has a learning activity at the end. The Workbook for this unit contains all of the learning activities together with spaces for written answers. Again, you will find the learning activities on the website version, together with some interactive ‘Just for fun’ exercises. Practical demonstrations Your final assessment of competency in this unit will include various practical demonstrations. Their purpose is to assess your ability to use hand and power tools in a range of situations. To help you get ready for these assessment activities, see the sample checklist shown in the Practical demonstrations section at the back of this Learner guide.
set out other angles. Protractor – like a bevel, but has the degrees marked in an arc. Electronic angle finder – provides a digital readout of the angle formed by the arms. Checking and marking levels Spirit level – uses a bubble to show whether a line or surface is level (perfectly horizontal) or plumb (perfectly vertical). Laser level – for projecting level and plumb lines on walls. Checking and marking straight lines Straight edge – for checking flatness and drawing long straight lines. Chalk line – for marking set-out lines across a floor or along a wall. Learning activity Are there any tools shown above that you don’t use in your work as a kitchen and bathroom cabinetmaker? Write them down in your workbook. Are there other tools that you do use for measuring or setting out that aren’t shown here? Write down their names, and briefly describe what they’re used for.
Hammering and nailing Cabinetmakers have a range of hammers and mallets to choose from when they need to insert a fastener, tap something into position, or use with a chisel. There are also various power tools that can be used for some of these tasks, particularly for driving in nails and staples. Below is the general range of hammers, mallets and nail and staple guns. Hammers and mallets Claw hammer – has a flat head on one side for driving nails and tapping items, and a claw on the other side for withdrawing nails. Warrington hammer – has a standard flat head on one side, and a ‘cross pein’ on the other side to start a small nail or brad without hitting your fingers. Ball pein hammer – has a standard flat head on one side and a ‘ball pein’ on the other, used for beating metal and other functions. Mallet – for tapping woodworking chisels. Nail guns and staple guns
Nail gun – used to fire nails into timber and wood-based panels, such as particleboard, plywood and MDF. Staple gun – used to fire staples, particularly when fixing panels to the backs of cabinets. Powder actuated gun (e.g. ‘Hilti’ and ‘Ramset’ gun) – used to fire fasteners into concrete and steel with an explosive charge. Learning activity What sorts of hammers do you use at work? Name each type of hammer, mallet or gun, and briefly describe what tasks you use it for.
Belt sander – for sanding timber surfaces with a sanding belt. Orbital sander – for use when a belt sander is too awkward, or a finer finish is required. Sandpaper and block – for touching up small areas or sanding puttied nail holes by hand. Scraper – for finishing benchtops and other high quality timber surfaces by scraping the surface rather than sanding it. Rasps and files Rasp – for shaping wood, such as rounding the corners of timber benchtops. Rasp plane – a heavy duty rasp that’s used with a plane action. File – for removing burrs and overhangs in timber, metal, plastic and composite materials. Learning activity Sandpaper comes in a variety of ‘grit’ sizes, using numbers to refer to the coarseness of the abrading material. Coarser grits are used when you need to remove a lot of material quickly. Finer grits are used when you’re finishing off the surface in preparation for a paint or clear coating. Do you know what some of the common grit sizes are for different grades of sandpaper? Write down a typical coarse, medium and fine grit size that might be used for sanding a timber benchtop.
Cutting, chiselling and routing Some tools use a saw blade with teeth to cut materials. The blade could be circular or straight, depending on the cutting action of the tool. Other tools use a wide flat blade with a sharp edge to do the cutting. These include knives and chisels. A router is in between, with a small circular router bit that has a rotating cutting action. Set out below are the main types of saws, chisels and routers you’ll come across in your kitchen and bathroom work. Hand-powered saws Handsaw – for cutting timber and wood-based panels. Hacksaw – for cutting metal, plastic and composite materials. Chisels and knives Firmer chisel – for general purpose use, suitable for tapping with a hammer or mallet. Bevelled edge chisel – also for general work, but better for getting into corners because of the bevelled edges. Mortise chisel – for chopping mortises (recesses) with a mallet and levering out material.
Paring chisel – for ‘paring’ back the surface of timber and panel products by hand. Utility knife – for trimming melamine edges, glue lines and general cutting work. Power tools Angle grinder – for cutting and grinding masonry and steel. Jigsaw – for cutting panels and timber to a profiled shape. Circular saw – for cutting straight lines in timber and panels. Drop saw – for timber and board products to length. Router – for cutting grooves and rebates in timber and board products. Multi tool – for cutting under door jambs and in other awkward areas. Biscuit joiner – for cutting slots in the edges of material to be joined with ‘biscuits’. Learning activity
We’ve said above that a router is designed to cut grooves and rebates. What’s the difference between a groove and a rebate? Go to you workbook and do a simple line drawing of each one. Put a label under each drawing. We’ve also said that a biscuit joiner is used to cut slots (known as ‘mouths’) in the corresponding edges of two pieces of material that are to be joined together. Do you know what a biscuit looks like? Draw one in your workbook and label it. If you haven’t seen one before, ask your trainer for more information, or look it up on the web.