I once worked with a wonderful technician who made a mistake and said to me “I love a mental challenge”, at the time I took advantage of this and I learnt as much as I could from him as he really was an inspirational person to work alongside. In the last 13 years or so of not working with him I have been on my making journey. During this time I have developed my love of a mental challenge and one area I really enjoy pushing myself is adapting things for the students I work with. The items on this page are a sample of how I adapt things to help them with their day to day challenges (especially in the Design Technology workshop).

Colour Coding Sand Paper Trays

Surely the most basic item to use in the workshop has to be sand paper. I have not got any form of electric sander in the workshop and for this I am grateful. Firstly electric sanders product a lot of dust, then they are dangerous but they also make students lazy. So as a result my students usually cut closer to the line and then will work through the different grades smoothing their work.

I use Green, Red and Yellow for ‘woods’ and then the Light blue and dark blue for wet and dry paper. When buying new sand paper I will buy it in the correct colour as this really helps the students to see what they are working with.

Colour Coding Chisels

What do you do if you are asked to get a 6mm chisel or a 12mm chisel? Do you get a ruler and measure? Do you stand there and look confused, have to ask for help? To overcome this in work I have painted the handles of the chisels different colours. This way rather than finding that 12mm chisel you could look for the ‘red’ chisel. This saves me time as a teacher and it helps the students to find the correct tool each time.

Colour Coding Files

This is the same sort of problem as the chisels only this time with different shapes or file / rasp. To overcome this in work I have painted the handles of the chisels different colours. This way the students can get the green rasp rather than the blue oval file.

Giving a coping saw a helping hand

When the students are working with coping saws they often struggle when using coping saws. This usually ends up with a teacher or a teaching assistant trying to use the coping saw with them sharing the handle. This is not the most ideal solution to the problem. To overcome this I have added inset screw into the end of all of the coping saws in work and then with two to three turns of the extra handle we can quickly extend the handles. This way as you walk around the room all of the students can quickly be supported as needed.