REPORT in Tampere, Finland, March 2015

The five countries (Danemark, Germany, Sweden, France and Finland) gathered in Tampere on

Sunday, 15th 2015. This was the second time we met altogether in Finland to work on our mutual

project concerning safety on woodworking machines.Everybody arrived on Sunday, more or less

late in the evening. After the checking of our hotel rooms, we met each other in a restaurant called

‘Plevna’.

Monday 16th

We started class at 9.00am where we discovered the new product to be built : a little chair for

children made in birch. At this point, Pekka, the Finnish coordinator, decided to create four groups

in which students and teachers would work together without knowing each other. Each group

would work on a specific part of the chair.

Group 1 would focus on the rear legs and the front ones.

Group 2 would focus on the back or top rails.

Group 3 would work on the seats, group 4 on the aprons.

We began to work at 11.15am, thinking about the different processes of work to do and the

machines to use. At 12.00, we stopped to get lunch at the canteen. We started again at 1.00pm.

In group 1 the rear legs were alreadymade before with the CNC machine, so we firstly used the

sanding machine to sand them in the right thickness. Then we used the router to get them neat.

In group 2 they were making a template in order to get the edges rounded, but first they used the

circular saw to cut every rail.

In group 3, they cut each seat using the sanding machine and the circular saw.

In group 4, they were making the aprons and the rebates. For this, they had to use the automatic

dowel drill machine (’32 system’), the molding machine, the tenon machine and the circular saw.

We left the workshop at 4.00pm. We decided to meet each other at 7.00pm for a dinner in the

previous place we went the day before, ‘Plevna’.

Tuesday 17th

Our day of work started at 9.00am as usual. First, we went to the workshop to see how the air

press works . Ismo, a Finnish teacher, showed us how he glued the 4 plywood pieces altogether in

order to get the right thickness for the top rail. Then he put them on the curved template,

activated the air pump to get a big pressure on the piece. This process of pressure is required for

one day or two. To be sure the top rails would be ready before our leaving, they were made before

our arrival.

Then each group started to work again on the project until 12.00.

Group 1 (Folke, Thorsten, William and Isabelle) began to sand the front legs to the sanding

machine. Then each piece was cut into two parts. We used the ‘multi’ drilling machine so as to drill

the holes allowing to assemble the parts of the chair.

Group 2 (Sebastian, Jes, Isak and Pascal) was building a template which could be used to do the

curving shape of the top rail. For this, they used the molding machine.

Group 3 (Ulli, Emil, Sven and Sam) was building a template used to cut the edge on the seat. For

this, they worked on the circular saw.

Group 4 (Hans, Andreas, Astrid and Olivier) was working on the drilling machine to drill the central

hole on each small groove block which would be screwed later under the seat.

At 12.00, we had the lunch break and we went to the canteen. After lunch, meanwhile some were

still working on their respective groups,some of us went to the turning machine to get some

approach to this technique. We had the opportutnity to work on and create something from our

imagination.

At 4.00pm we stopped working and after cleaning the workshop we went back to the city

center.We met each other at 7.30pm to go to a ‘Tex Mex restaurant’ where we had good burgers

and beers.

Wednesday 18th

This day was supposed to be a day of discovery for a big part of us. At 9.30am we drove by vans to

Kuru, about 50 kilometers North from Tampere. We were welcomed by Timo Järvenpä, a teacher

from the forestry college. This college is married to Tredu College since 2013. Until 12.00, we had

some explanations about the Finnish education system, the different courses the 200 students can

attend, such as harvesting, building log houses, and so on. This college is said to be unique in the

world, very famous for its specialities and its environnment. Around the college, you have

dormitories, sauna, smoke sauna, and a jogging track.

At 12.15pm, we were invited to get a lunch in the canteen until 1.15pm. Then, one of Kuru’s

teachers, Janne Ruokonen, showed us how the harvester simulator works. Each of us could try it. It

was good fun, even if it was hard to manipulate and do in the right way. At 2.30pm, Jari Syvälä

welcomed us and we went to the forest to look at how the big machines harvest trees. It’s

unbelievable how the job is done quickly and efficiently. At 4.15pm, we took the vans again to go

to the sauna site…there was a hole in the lake which could give us the possibility to jump into it

after the sauna session. Everybody liked it, and after enjoying this marvellous moment, we had a

dinner over there, overlooking the sun’s coming down on the frozen lake. We shared this dinner

until 8.30pm.

Thursday 19th

This morning, everything was almost ready before assembling the chair. One group was sanding

the top rail.

Another group was finishing to cut the edges from the seats.

Another group was working on the dowel machine to drill the holes in order to put the dowels and

assemble the parts of the chair together.

For the finishing, all parts of the chair have to be sanded.