Profession woodturner

Woodturners use a lathe to remove superfluous material from wood. The lathe turns the workpiece around its axis, as shape tools are used to obtain the desired shape.

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Personality Type

Knowledge

  • Woodworking processes

    Steps in the processing of wood for the manufacturing of wooden articles and types of machines used for these processes such as drying, shaping, assembling and surface finishing.

  • Design principles

    The elements used in design such as unity, scale, proportion, balance, symmetry, space, form, texture, colour, light, shade and congruence and their application into practice.

  • Lathe machine parts

    The different parts of a lathe machine and their applications, such as the compound, the bed, the sadle, the cross slide, the cutting tool, the lathe dog and more.

  • Quality standards

    The national and international requirements, specifications and guidelines to ensure that products, services and processes are of good quality and fit for purpose.

  • Woodworking tools

    The various tools used to process wood, such as planers, chisels and lathes.

  • Types of lathe tools

    Types of tools used for the lathe machining process such as high-speed steel tools, carbide-tipped tools and carbide insert tools.

  • Wood cuts

    Different ways of cutting wood, across the grain or parallel with it, and radial or tangential to the core. The behaviour of cuts of wood under different circumstances and the optimal cut for a given purpose. Influence of special attributes of the wood, like knots or defects.

Skills

  • Wear appropriate protective gear

    Wear relevant and necessary protective gear, such as protective goggles or other eye protection, hard hats, safety gloves.

  • Turn wood

    Turn wood in chiefly two methods, spindle and faceplate turning. The key difference between these two is the orientation of the wood grain relative to the axis of the lathe.

  • Position cross slide of a lathe

    Position, by turning a specific lever, the cross slide of a lathe machine perpendicularly, calculating the size of the workpiece and the type of lathe cutting tools used for ideal positioning.

  • Use turning tools

    Use turning tools such as gouges and chisels to skin off rounded areas or cut new shapes in the wood.

  • Avoid tear-out in woodworking

    Use techniques to prevent the fibres of wood materials from tearing away, which produces a highly damaged looking surface, thus greatly reducing the value of the specific product.

  • Manipulate wood

    Manipulate the properties, shape and size of wood.

  • Tend lathe

    Tend a lathe designed for cutting manufacturing processes on metal, wooden, plastic materials and others, monitor and operate it, according to regulations.

  • Work safely with machines

    Check and safely operate machines and equipment required for your work according to manuals and instructions.

Optional knowledge and skills

troubleshoot consult technical resources check quality of raw materials apply wood finishes keep records of work progress operate wood sawing equipment identify hazards in the workplace manufacturing of furniture record production data for quality control dispose of non-hazardous waste sanding techniques meet contract specifications set up the controller of a machine perform machine maintenance report defective manufacturing materials inspect quality of products cutting technologies monitor automated machines sand wood timber products distinguish wood quality sawing techniques supply machine manufacturing of sports equipment manufacturing of daily use goods

Source: Sisyphus ODB