COA 8833 GH / COA 4803 - Fall 2006

Introduction to Wood Materials, Products, and Manufacturing

Tuesday and Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., Room 107 East Architecture and AWPL

Instructors: Alan Harp ( alan.harp@coa.gatech.edu ) and

Russell Gentry ( russell.gentry@coa.gatech.edu )

The Advanced Wood Products Laboratory at Georgia Tech is a research unit of the College of Architecture The AWPL mission is to advance the use of wood and woodworking technologies at the material, design, product, and manufacturing scales.

This course is an introduction to the materials and technologies used in modern wood products industries. The course will provide an introduction to wood and wood-based materials including wood composites. An introduction to traditional woodworking operations and skills will be provided near mid-term. Students will complete a small project to demonstrate their understanding of cutting/drilling/jointing/sanding and joinery in wood. An exercise on computer-based manufacturing in wood will be completed after the manual exercise. Students will receive instruction on CNC programming using AlphaCam and will design and produce a small product using the CNC equipment. At the end of the term, a simple bookshelf project will combine all of the facets discussed during the course -materials, joinery, design, and production. Each member of the class will produce a bookshelf of different materials and using different joinery, and the bookshelves will be structurally tested during class. Finally, the course will close with the analysis of various sectors of the wood products industries, with case studies presented by the instructors and students. Graduate students in the course will complete a short research project on an industry sector - identifying challenges within the industry sector, and technological advancements that address these challenges.

Students should be aware that a number of field trips are anticipated during the term. We will schedule these field trips at times/days of the week that will cause minimal disruption with other courses, but it will be likely that you will miss some class during these trips.

The course is open to all students in the College of Architecture and to students outside of the college with permission of the instructor. Due to the hands-on nature of the course, enrollment will be limited to 18 students (12 graduate, 6 undergraduate).

Grading

Objects design and constructed as part of the course will be juried at the end of the exercise. Grading of each object will be based on design intent (as documented in sketches and drawings) and in execution of the design intention. Students will provide their own critique of their work and students will be asked to critique each other's work as well.

Specific breakdown of course credit is as follows:

Other Course Requirements

If you are to do well in this class, you must attend. Much of the information needed to complete the course will come from lectures and hands-on demonstrations. Absence from class is not considered a valid excuse for not completing your work. If you have a problem that prohibits your participation, you must let us know beforehand.

Much of the homework in this class will require the use of the computers and machinery at the AWPL. The lab is typically open during regular business hours, from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and you are welcome here during those hours to work on your projects. Alan Harp will establish supervised laboratory "office" hours for the course once we receive your course schedule. If your work requires direct supervision (as all CNC work will), then you will need to coordinate your out-of-class time with Alan.

All students are expected to adhere to the Georgia Tech Academic Honor Code. Collaboration on assignments is acceptable, but it is improper to copy the work of other students. Obviously it is appropriate to collaborate on assigned group projects; however, you are expected to do your part and we ask to be informed if members of your group are not participating as required by the assignment.

Students with special needs that are administered by the Dean of Students or by the ADAPTS office should contact the appropriate office and inform us at the start of the term so that I can ensure that we accommodate you to the fullest degree possible.

Shop Safety

All students and faculty working within AWPL must follow safety procedures. It is expected that all students working within AWPL have received the safety training and certification provided in the College of Architecture shop (students who have not done so must schedule to receive this training from Tripp Edwards ( tripp.edwards@coa.gatech.edu ). AWPL will provide an additional safety briefing as part of the CNC training, and students will be expected to sign a shop safety acknowledgement form. In addition to being safe around the automated wood processing equipment, students must be instructed on and have permission to use ancillary woodworking equipment: joiner, planer, band saws, table saw, lathe, routers, etc. Metalworking equipment and other specialized equipment (e.g., materials test stands) are off limits to students and faculty unless special use permission has been granted. Part of safety is keeping a clean and well-organized shop. Students are required to clean up after themselves and replace tools on a daily basis.

In no instance should one person be working on the CNC or other equipment by him or herself, without the presence of a buddy or other person, who is aware of their work.

In addition to safety in the shop, it is important to note that the AWPL is on the perimeter of campus, and that the same personal safety concerns that we have for students and faculty at the college apply at the AWPL. During evening hours of operation (if scheduled), it is suggested that students drive to AWPL or use the GT Stingerette service. The machine supervisor will escort students to their vehicles or verify that they have been picked up during evening hour departures.

Course Schedule

The course schedule presented below is preliminary. Field trips dates have not been finalized and class assignment scope and due dates are tentative as well.