Routing, Turning and Quality Control
The production aids that make timber work repeatable, how to classify each process as wastage or addition, the commercial processes of routing and turning, and how tolerances and a go or no-go fixture control quality.
Justify the choices, the way you are assessed
Free interactive practice on the decisions the assessment actually asks you to justify.
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Making the same part again and again
A workshop rarely makes just one of something. To make many identical timber parts quickly and accurately, a maker uses aids that guide the tools, chooses the right process for the job, and checks every part against a set size. This module looks at those aids, the commercial processes of routing and turning, and how quality is controlled.
Workshop vocabulary
Learn these terms before you sort the processes.
Removing against adding
Processes are sorted by what they do to the material.
Name it, then classify it
In the exam, name the process first and then say what it does to the material: some take it away, some join it, and some change its shape. For a size limit, read both figures given and find the difference between them. Always match each aid to the job it makes repeatable.
Match the aid to its job
- jig
- template
- pattern
- reference edge
- holds the work and guides the tool
- a shape drawn round to mark repeats
- a master shape used to make a mould
- a fixed side you measure from
Match the process
- routing
- turning
- lamination
- go or no-go check
- cuts a groove or edge profile
- shapes timber as it spins on a lathe
- glues thin layers into a curved shape
- shows if a part is within its limits
What is a gauge for?
What is the purpose of a go or no-go gauge?
- To check quickly whether a part is within its allowed size.
- To cut the timber to length.
- To smooth the surface of the timber.
- To glue two parts together.
Pick the production aids
Select the TWO items that are production aids.
- A jig
- A template
- A tin of varnish
- A plank of timber
Order the batch job
Put the steps for making a batch of identical parts in order, earliest first.
- Make a template or jig
- Mark out each part
- Cut and shape the parts
- Check each part with a gauge
Complete the facts
A _____ holds the work and guides the tool. Sawing and drilling are _____ processes because they take material away. Gluing thin layers into a curve is called _____. The gap between the smallest and largest allowed size is the _____.
Work out the tolerance
A part is allowed to be as large as 52 mm and as small as 48 mm. Subtract the smallest from the largest to find the tolerance. What is the answer?
Spot the wastage processes
Tap the TWO processes that work by taking material away.
- routing
- drilling
- lamination
- gluing
Choose the right approach
Read what is needed and choose the best answer.
- Fifty identical brackets must be marked out quickly and the same way each time. What should the maker use?
- A round timber leg with a smooth curved profile is needed. Which process suits this?
- Every finished part must be confirmed to be within its allowed size before it is passed. What should be used?
Explain quality in a batch
Explain how a maker produces a batch of identical timber parts and keeps them all the right size.
- Name one production aid and say how it makes the work repeatable
- Name one wastage process and say what it does to the material
- Explain how a tolerance and a go or no-go gauge control quality