With our seniors leaving yesterday, myself and another student took on the task of learning the waterjet machine. The process is fairly simple, as its a two dimensional cutting machine much like several others we have in the shop. The hard part is understanding all of its moving parts, as well as its antiquated operating system and software. That being said, we were able to cut some parts out of steel on our first try yesterday, so I think we at least have a good enough understanding to keep the machine running.
Seniors
Yesterday was the last full day with our seniors. Most of them continued to work on their cardboard canoe, which still has a long way to go, but they have vowed to come back and finish it over the next two weeks. Additionally, Myles spent some time teaching the next generation of students how to use the Omax Waterjet machine. We were able to make several successful cuts with it, and when it is working, it is a remarkable machine that has the ability to cut metal with incredible accuracy. A photo below of Myles in teacher mode.
Summer
Starting to feel like summer here in New England. Today was a beautiful day in the shop. We had the garage door open and we were working on the cardboard canoes. A good time to be in school. Tomorrow is the last day for our seniors, although they had a lot of other items to take care of today during class so they were not around much. I expect much of the same today. Thursday and Friday they have other commitments at the school and do not have to be in class. Hoping they come back to finish their canoe in so they can compete on June 12.
Boat Construction
Cardboard boat construction continues here in the shop, although it looks as though my seniors will not finish their boat during this week, which is actually their last week of school. We have welcomed them to come back anytime to finish up their boats, which we hope they do. The Junior boat is coming together very well, with just one more exterior skin piece to place before they can begin working on the interior. There is still a lot of work to be done to seal the boat, but they still have about 3 weeks to go until the competition. A few progress photos of the boats.
Sign
It has taken quite a while to come together, but Senior Myles Y has nearly completed the large metal sign that will hang on the wall outside our shop. The CAD required was fairly complex, and was mostly done in Inkscape. He had to break our logo down into 4 equal parts, plus a center part to make everything fit on our waterjet, which was the machine used to cut each piece. There were a lot of hiccups, and the waterjet can be a temperamental machine at times, so there were a few stop and go moments on this project. Still, Myles persevered and we put up most of the pieces of the sign today and it looked great. There is a plan to add LED lighting on the back, but that will most likely fall on a different student next year as Myles is graduating. A few photos of the project below.
