UNITEC second week

My second week at UNITEC Boat Building CAT course has been different from all my previous learning experiences.  There are several learning principles I took away from this week in the actual construction of the tool box. Simple as it looks, the tool box construction was an eye opener and in many ways present new learnings and insights into my learning journey.

Having worked for American companies for most part of my life, I am more inclined to taking action based on preliminary planning and then take corrective action as the plan progress or materialise. This approach of "shoot and then aim" is not useful here as I found to be detrimental to my construction of my tool box - the outcome is that my tool box base was not properly aligned and the consequence of this was "transfered" to the sides of the box. Therefore the first learning I have drawn from this it that in practical work, especially in a static non changing environment such as outcome for the tool box, I need to have more detailed planning and an overview of the the final product before I started working in it. Thus having "an end (detailed) in mind" become more evident for me to add to the "big picture" - every detail of the final product in my mind.

Second learning for me is that I need to develop more patience in practical work. Slow down and think through each step first before driving the nail in. Mistakes are costly - especially if the final product is a water tight boat which could make a difference between life or death. Definitely my final tool box is not "seaworthy" as there are gaps at the joints. Precision is critical and vital for a water tight vessel.

Thirdly - in term of the processes, a proper set up for the work at hand is critical. Without a proper setup, the planning and joining of the parts of the box became very difficult. Securing the wood or ply to the bench to hold it is vital before starting work. Safety issue is also involved as a slip could cause accidents.

Fourthly - there is a place for proper tool for the job/task at hand. I try to plan off more than 3 mm off the plywood  (after Brett had left for his meeting and I could not use the machine to dock off the excess). It was hard work until I decided to get supervisory presence at the table saw for cutting the sides of the box to size.The plywood are very difficult to plane as it is cross grained and the ends got chipped off in the process. Maybe another reason is that my planner is new and I am new to using it. So I need to develop skills in using my tools. This is my first time using such carpentry tools. I do DIY jobs around the house but mostly with hammer and other hardware tools but not with carpentry tools.

Fifthly - I need to understand the characteristics of different materials used. Though both are wood, the plywood behave differently from the pine wood. In boat building, there are also non wood materials commonly used in the construction such as composites and aluminium. Thus some research and knowledge into the different material characteristics and .behaviour are essential in my learning journey into boat building.

In summary, this second week is a start of my "relearning" away from my background and training. I have to switch from a "management mindset" to a trademan mindset. Looking into details and executing them rather than overseeing the management of the work  i.e.very much more hand-on.