A furniture design that looked simple on paper turned complicated when necessary structural elements were added. Pratt High technology instructor Bryan Pixler recognized that Chere Nash would need to spend hours perfecting her skills with power tools and weeks cutting out the framework for a chair and loveseat she designed.
That doesn’t mean that the project couldn’t be done, but it needed to be done in a different way. The solution was a higher level of technology and bigger, faster equipment than is available in the PHS wood shop.
With the help of Jason Withrow, a former PHS student and current project manager of a manufacturing technology center at Pittsburg State University, Nash and Pixler converted her paper drawing to a computer draft. The teacher and advanced cabinetmaking students took a field trip to Pittsburg to see three sheets of birch plywood loaded onto a $250,000 router. Nash pushed a button and in about 10 minutes all the cuts were made automatically.
The students were able to see equipment that is available in the woodworking industry, and Pixler brushed up on his computer-aided drafting skills, which he will teach for the first time next fall.
There was still plenty of work for Nash to do in a more traditional manner. The plywood frames needed to be assembled and slats cut and shaped for the seats and tops of the two pieces. Paint — she’s leaning toward blue and gray — will add an element of color. She plans to make or buy cushions to finish up the project.
Students were not required to design their own projects, but that is a special interest for Nash.
“I wanted something functional and with a modern look — something different,” she said.
The seating pieces also provide storage on the backside. A senior, Nash looks forward to using them in her first apartment.
In her first cabinetmaking class last year, she said she didn’t have much of a design focus; she just wanted to learn to use the tools. And although she isn’t the only girl enrolled, she is definitely in the minority. She assumed the boys would know more than she did about woodworking.
“I don’t think they did,” she said a year later. “We were all pretty much learning at the same time.”
She has not settled on a career, but is considering something in art, design or architecture. She hopes to continue designing and building furniture. It’s cheaper to build some things, she said, but cost isn’t the main factor. There’s a sense of satisfaction in putting a plan on paper and then carrying it through to completion. And she likes the compliments.
Cabinetmaking students displayed their projects-in-process at a showcase Tuesday evening at the school, during the final home basketball game. About 30 students are building a wide variety of furniture — bed frames, entertainment centers, tables of all descriptions, dressers and storage pieces.
Students in art and family and consumer science classes also displayed projects.
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A furniture design that looked simple on paper turned complicated when necessary structural elements were added. Pratt High technology instructor Bryan Pixler recognized that Chere Nash would need to spend hours perfecting her skills with power tools and weeks cutting out the framework for a chair and loveseat she designed.
That doesn’t mean that the project couldn’t be done, but it needed to be done in a different way. The solution was a higher level of technology and bigger, faster equipment than is available in the PHS wood shop.
With the help of Jason Withrow, a former PHS student and current project manager of a manufacturing technology center at Pittsburg State University, Nash and Pixler converted her paper drawing to a computer draft. The teacher and advanced cabinetmaking students took a field trip to Pittsburg to see three sheets of birch plywood loaded onto a $250,000 router. Nash pushed a button and in about 10 minutes all the cuts were made automatically.
The students were able to see equipment that is available in the woodworking industry, and Pixler brushed up on his computer-aided drafting skills, which he will teach for the first time next fall.
There was still plenty of work for Nash to do in a more traditional manner. The plywood frames needed to be assembled and slats cut and shaped for the seats and tops of the two pieces. Paint — she’s leaning toward blue and gray — will add an element of color. She plans to make or buy cushions to finish up the project.
Students were not required to design their own projects, but that is a special interest for Nash.
“I wanted something functional and with a modern look — something different,” she said.
The seating pieces also provide storage on the backside. A senior, Nash looks forward to using them in her first apartment.
In her first cabinetmaking class last year, she said she didn’t have much of a design focus; she just wanted to learn to use the tools. And although she isn’t the only girl enrolled, she is definitely in the minority. She assumed the boys would know more than she did about woodworking.
“I don’t think they did,” she said a year later. “We were all pretty much learning at the same time.”
She has not settled on a career, but is considering something in art, design or architecture. She hopes to continue designing and building furniture. It’s cheaper to build some things, she said, but cost isn’t the main factor. There’s a sense of satisfaction in putting a plan on paper and then carrying it through to completion. And she likes the compliments.
Cabinetmaking students displayed their projects-in-process at a showcase Tuesday evening at the school, during the final home basketball game. About 30 students are building a wide variety of furniture — bed frames, entertainment centers, tables of all descriptions, dressers and storage pieces.
Students in art and family and consumer science classes also displayed projects.
