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Timbers - hardwoods, softwoods & manmade boards

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Timbers - working with timber & sustainablity

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Command words are the words and phrases that tell us how to answer a question. Understanding this vocabulary is a fundamental skill for students heading into exams.

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Page 9: Manufacturing Specification: GCSE AQA Product Design NEA / contextual challenge

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Materials can be selected based upon their working properties . It is important to know and understand which materials can be used for a specific purpose:

How do they look?

What are they commonly used for?

How can they be manufactured?

How do they perform in use?

What makes them unique - are they the most durable , the lightest etc?

When selecting a timber-based material, there are many different types to choose from. Hardwood and softwood are types of timber that come from many different trees. Manufactured boards such as medium-density fibreboard (MDF) are man-made from recycled material and other boards such as plywood are man-made from layers of wood.

Chipboard is a man-made sheet material, made from small chips of timber glued together to produce a dense sheet .

MDF is made from small timber fibres that are mixed with wax and resin . They are heated and compressed so that a flat, usable sheet is produced.

Plywood is made by gluing at least three layers of sheet timber together at right angles to each other - this is called laminating. Plywood is considered to be a strong board as the grain of the timber sheets are glued together in different directions.

Each type of timber or board will function differently and can therefore be used in different environments. Some timbers are hard and very dense , whereas some are lighter and softer to cut and work with.

Aesthetics relate to the way a material looks, and each example of timber has a different pattern on the grain and texture. The way a timber looks can be altered through several methods:

Quite often MDF is laminated with a single sheet of a hardwood veneer to give the impression that solid hardwood has been used to make a product, but at a fraction of the cost.

Environmental factors

When a tree is chopped down for timber, there is a cost to the environment. Trees are vital for our survival as they absorb carbon dioxide (CO ). Although more than one tree can be planted for each tree that is chopped down, older trees often absorb more carbon dioxide and provide more of a habitat for wildlife due to their size.

The availability of a material is an important consideration too. Some softwoods are readily available due to the fast-growing nature of the tree. Hardwood, on the other hand, grows considerably slower and is therefore much more expensive.

Material costs

Material costs are an important factor when selecting material. It is often possible that more than one material is suitable for a job, and it may be the cost that determines which one is used.

Manufactured boards vary in price depending on where they are bought and how many are bought at once. Some timber is sold at a price calculated by . The price per metre cubed (m ) is the method of working out the value. If the price per m is known, then the calculation to work out the cost starts with working out the volume of timber that is needed.

A piece of oak costs £1,700 per m and the piece to be valued is 1,000 mm × 50 mm × 250 mm. Calculate the price.

Convert to metres (m):

Volume = 1 m × 0.05 m × 0.25 m

Work out total cost (£):

= 0.0125 × 1,700 = 21.25

Total cost = £21.25

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Timbers - Timber-based materials - AQA - GCSE Design and Technology Revision - AQA - BBC Bitesize

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Materials can be selected based upon their working properties . It is important to know and understand which materials can be used for a specific purpose: How do they look? What are they commonly used for? How can they be manufactured? How do they perform in use?

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Primary data

Primary sources of information are gathered by the designer and used to help improve their designs:

- Looking at products that already exist and talking to clients to collect a wide range of information on what is successful and what needs developing to ensure a product is viable. Interviews and questionnaires can be used to gather information on shape, colour, materials and function of existing products and the answers analysed to improve the product.

- Another valuable perspective can be found by talking to the product's . Small groups can be interviewed, giving feedback before, during and after production, which can be used to improve the outcome.

- Looking at products that already exist can help improve further designs by pinpointing issues to improve designs and .

- Collecting maximum and minimum measurements about the target market's sizes can help improve designs by making the product easier or more comfortable to use. Anthropometric data can be used to work out the and of a product.

- Testing and analysing how a person interacts with the product can improve its functionality and how it fits into its surroundings.

Secondary data

Secondary sources of information use data already found by other people or organisations that are relevant:

Existing data - Average anthropometric and ergonomic measurements are available online, as well as government statistics and a huge range of questionnaires and public opinion.

- Books, newspaper articles, reviews and the internet all provide access to the opinions of others.

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Using primary and secondary data - Investigating - AQA - GCSE Design and Technology Revision - AQA - BBC Bitesize

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Primary sources of information are gathered by the designer and used to help improve their designs: - Looking at products that already exist and talking to clients to collect a wide range of information on what is successful and what needs developing to ensure a product is viable.

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Designing a product for a can be done in several ways. cannot risk investing large amounts of money into the production of a product that has not had adequate design, modelling, testing, and .

is a circular design process that models, evaluates and improves designs based on the results of testing.

Starting with a a designer may come up with a good idea that solves a problem. Using an iterative design process, a model can be made from a design sketch and then tested. The test results may suggest failures and to the design. These changes are evaluated, and then the cycle begins again - until the best solution to the problem is found.

ideas in card, paper, clay or other materials can create a cheap and quick way to do initial trials with a product. Using an easy to modify material provides a good way of seeing how a product looks and works, eg checking handles are in the right place or parts fit together well. Taking photographs or video throughout this can show development.

Once a model has been made it can be tested in a variety of ways:

destructive testing - tests the product to its extreme to see what conditions it can tolerate before being destroyed, to help decide on the best materials and construction methods to use

non-destructive testing - tests the model to identify areas of weakness without destroying it, to test the function of the product and highlight any unexpected design flaws

market testing - tests the product with its to give feedback on performance and design

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Iterative design - Designing - AQA - GCSE Design and Technology Revision - AQA - BBC Bitesize

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Designing a product for a can be done in several ways. cannot risk investing large amounts of money into the production of a product that has not had adequate design, modelling, testing, and . is a circular design process that models, evaluates and improves designs based on the results of testing.

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Minimising waste - Making - AQA - GCSE Design and Technology Revision - AQA - BBC Bitesize

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Learn and revise making with BBC Bitesize for GCSE Design and Technology AQA.

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A student is planning on making a watering device for gardeners. To identify if there is a need for such a device they research rainfall in the UK. The below shows average monthly rainfall figures for the UK. Identify any patterns in the data within the pie chart.

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Responding to feedback - Evaluating - AQA - GCSE Design and Technology Revision - AQA - BBC Bitesize

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A student is planning on making a watering device for gardeners. To identify if there is a need for such a device they research rainfall in the UK. The below shows average monthly rainfall figures for the UK. Identify any patterns in the data within the pie chart.

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Core technical principles - GCSE Design and Technology Revision - AQA - BBC Bitesize

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GCSE Design and Technology Core technical principles learning resources for adults, children, parents and teachers.

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Ergonomics and anthropometrics - Considering usability when designing - OCR - GCSE Design and Technology Revision - OCR - BBC Bitesize

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Learn and revise considering usability when designing with BBC Bitesize for GCSE Design and Technology OCR.