• Some more research (workplace safety)

    Charles Lamb • 08/12/2018 at 10:59 • 0 comments

    Workplace safety

  • Storage options

    Charles Lamb • 08/05/2018 at 02:53 • 0 comments

    Time now, I think, to undertake some research into different storage options (tool cabinets, mobile tool racks/trolleys, toolboxes, etc.).  I'll update this log with some examples as I come across them.

    Lean Foundation Training (Excerpts from the Thornley Group)

  • Activities consolidation

    Charles Lamb • 07/31/2018 at 14:59 • 0 comments

    Activities consolidation

    There are certain activities that I’m likely to undertake around the same time.  When starting a project, for example, I need to measure and mark out joints and desired shapes, and then undertake the shaping and jointing.  So, going through the various activities I’ve come up with the following groupings starting with putting on PPE:

    0) Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) + toolbelt

    Standard kit

        - Jacket

        - Trousers

        - Steel-capped boots

        - Gloves

        - Toolbelt

    Additional kit when using powertools *

        - Face mask

        - Hearing protection

        - Respiratory filters

    * Am saving up for a proper positive-pressure powered respirator but they are many hundreds of pounds.

    1) Marking, shaping, and jointing

        - measuring and marking tools

            - squares

            - rules

            - pencils, rubber, sharpener, and holder

            - marking guages

            - scribes

            - measuring tape

            - plumb line

            - spirit levels

            - compasses

            - digital calipers

            - miscellaneous marking templates

        - drilling and Dremel-carving kits

            - holesaws

            - spade bits

            - Forstner bits

            - chamfer and countersinking bits

            - etc.

        - chisels (carving)

        - chisels (jointing)

        - routers (hand), blockplanes, spokeshaves

        - wood planes (smoothing and planing)

        - jigsaw, Dremel, and router kits (includes accessories and bits)

        - collection of hand saws (tenon, coping, etc.)

        - rasps and files

        - collection of awls

        - collection of punches

    2) Assembly (Gluing, clamping, and assembly)

        - medium and large clamps (small ones hang from my light bar)

            - quick action (F and spreader)

            - Sash

            - spring

            - corner

            - G

            - band (ratchet strap)

        - glues and glue clean-up

        - affixing kit (screw and other specialist bits, adaptors, nail guns, spanners, socket set, rivet gun, consumables)

        - assembly kit (measuring tape to measure square, engineers’ squares, ratchet straps, etc.)

        - dead-weight mallet

        - protection blocks (timber/cork) for protecting timber to being clamped

        - masking tape

        - water

    3) Finishing (lacquers, sanding, waxes, etc.)

        - rags

        - spray gun

        - containers

        - sanding kit (hand and powered sanding)

            - sanding blocks

            - sandpaper

                - small scraps

                - sheets

            - random orbital sander

            - belt sander

            - disc sander

        - brushes

        - sealed cabinet for lacquers, oils, etc. to minimise the breathing in of VOCs

        - disposable gloves

        - epoxy, lacquers, oils, waxes, paints

        - masking tape

        - polishing discs/materials/etc.

  • Accessibility bands

    Charles Lamb • 07/30/2018 at 14:22 • 0 comments

    Human factors continued | Accessibility bands

    Like with the zones, the areas for best accessibility are in front of me within an arc angle from left to right of approximately 135°.  I’ve just guestimated this by waving my hands around holding a few tools (drill and metal rule).  I’ll need to revisit all this once I’ve read up on some human factors research. 

    For height, I’ve identified three bands of decreasing accessiblity.  Band 1 is easy to access, Band 2 is moderately easy, while Band 3 is a little more difficult.  Unfortunately, my workshop ceiling, bonnie as she is, is fairly low (at just 1900ml high).  This really restricts the height of Band 1 from that point down and also means that I don’t have any Bands above that point (unlike in my garage).  Again, waving around some tools (this time including heavier items like my plunge router) I’ve come up with the following bands:

    Band 1Just above bench height up to just above head height.  For me, this equates to 800–1900mm from the floor.
    Band 2From 400–800mm from the floor.
    Band 3From the base of the unit/cabinet/shelf/trolley up to 400mm upwards.

  • Human factors

    Charles Lamb • 07/29/2018 at 14:52 • 0 comments

    Human factors engineering

    Here's an initial basic consideration of human factors.  I'll need to return to this later but there are some obvious aspects to consider immediately.  There are certain places and actions that are better than others, for example, reaching too high or too low, twisting actions, and lifting heavy items over long distances are to be avoided where possible.

    So, here are some early ideas: 

    • Identify accessibility bands according to how easy a particular location is for me to reach.
    • Place heavy items at locations that minimise lifting (e.g., from down low up to a bench would be less than ideal.)
    • Minimise twisting actions.
    • Visual cues (in order to minimise memory burden) for stored items (tools, consumables, accessories).

  • Proposed zones

    Charles Lamb • 07/29/2018 at 14:19 • 0 comments

    So, I've had a wander around my workshop and thought about the different sorts of jobs I might be working on (e.g., making a cabinet, bedside table, or a timber lamp) and the activities (e.g., sanding, planing, glueing) needed to do those jobs.  

    The main working place will be my bench and, in particular, my bench vice.  I've already put an overhead storage system in place that I'm using for holding my collection of smallish clamps.

    This is working so well that I'm going to keep it for the time being.  I use clamps on a regular basis to hold pieces while I work on them, for assembly, and during the glueing process.  And I often need to hold a piece in one hand and grab a clamp with another.  This means that I really ideally need the clamp always within arm's reach.

    Here are the zones I've worked out so far:

    Zone 1On me (i.e., my toolbelt) 
    Zone 2In front of me (on my bench, overhead storage) 
    Zone 3Mobile storage trollies, toolboxes 
    Zone 4Workshop walls (e.g., in a tool cabinet) 
    Zone 5Storage cupboards/drawers (noting that there can be memory burden with these) 
    Zone 6Under work bench (I don't have much room around my workbench so reaching under it is problematic)  
    Zone 7Storage outside the workshop (e.g., in the garage)


    They are listed in decreasing order of accessibility.

  • Projected woodworking activities

    Charles Lamb • 07/29/2018 at 12:10 • 0 comments

    List of common woodworking activities in no particular order:

    • Measuring and marking [4]
    • Drilling (for shaping timber [2] and for affixing purposes [4]) 
    • Planing [3/4]
    • Smoothing [3/4]
    • Glueing [2]
    • Clamping [2]
    • Assembly [2]
    • Maintenance (sharpening, lubricating, adjusting, etc.) [1]
    • Affixing (with screws, nails, bolts, floating tenons) [4]
    • Sanding [2]
    • Carving [1/2]
    • Finishing (lacquers, waxes, oils, etc.) [2]
    • Edging (e.g., with moulding planes or trim router) [1]
    • Jointing (hand) [4]

    N.B. I'll not include milling and sawing in the above list because it will be done with powered workshop machinery.  This also includes cutting milled timber to length with my compound radial arm saw (which I also use sometimes for roughing out fixed tenons). 

    Edit: Now updated with expected frequency that I'll undertake each given activity [1–4] where the number increases with increasing frequency.

  • Preliminary design approach

    Charles Lamb • 07/29/2018 at 11:30 • 0 comments

    Preliminary design approach

    Derived from Lean’s mura principle, I'm thinking I'll minimise geographic and time waste by locating items according to frequency of use; that is, store those items I will use more frequently closer to me and those less frequently further away. 

    How to do this in practice?  This won’t be perfect but I’m thinking I’ll start with the following steps:

    1. Identify planned woodworking activities for the shop.  The reason for this is that I expect to use particular sets of tools for specific activities, e.g., for marking and measuring timber.  It makes sense, then, to keep those tools near to each other.  (More on this later.) 
    2. Identify zones and rank according to distance from me (lower number is closer).
    3. Identify frequency of use for each of my tools and consumables within each activity type (higher means greater frequency of expected use).

  • Design methodology

    Charles Lamb • 07/29/2018 at 11:08 • 0 comments

    Here's a rough design methodology (ies) I'll be working from.  This will be somewhat flexible depending on how well I'm able to learn and apply them (together) for the project.

    Design methodology

    • Apply lean principles: minimise muda (valueless activities or waste), mura (unevenness in an operation), and muri (overburdening  of equipment or operators).
    • Design for human factors (tailored to me)—within easy reach, easy to access, and easy to put back.
    • Safe space to work in (including human factors relating to strain injuries).  Hazard analysis will be done using the STPA method.

  • Aims and Assumptions

    Charles Lamb • 07/29/2018 at 10:30 • 0 comments

    Following a basic engineering project methodology, I'll start with the aims and assumptions:

    Aim

    To create a highly functional, ergonomic, and safe space for woodworking.   

    Assumptions

    • That I will be using the workshop by myself.
    • That the workshop will be used almost exclusively for woodworking using only hand tools (includes powered hand tools but not large machinery).
    • That the constaints of the workshop dimensions will remain fixed (no extensions!)