Last week the year 13s of CTA all came up with the idea of building a replacement seat for the one that was previously outside of the gym. We scouted the area where we were planning on putting it and getting the correct measurements done.
Once we completed that menial task we worked out the timber and tools we needed. We started by splitting up everyone, 3 people on the drop saw and the other 3 occupying the thickness-er. The 3 on the drop saw Nigel, Wiremu, and Te Waipuke cut 6 4:2 timbers into 3.3 meters for the top of the seats then keep the off cuts for the legs.
Once they were done cutting the timber Matua Jason was showing Dale, Mere, And me how to use the thicknesser. This machine is used to smooth the rough sawn timber for a refined finish fit to be sat on. We thickened all 6 of the timber for a finer look.
We used the off cuts from the timber we cut which measured around 560mm for the longer sides of the legs and the bottoms and tops to balance them were measured upto 160mm. Once we did that we sanded and routed them all and then connected them all for each of the seats and made 6 stable legs ready for the seat.
I Learned how to use a router for the edges of the timber to them for a more comfortable seating top, I was taught what a thickener does and how it works. I gained valuable first hands experience on what it is like to build and plan like in a construction site. There were some ups and downs for our measurements and made some mistakes but in doing so we learned from them.
