Senior project

[curtis rosche]

As part of the senior graduation project for school I have to write paper. The topic i chose for my project was wood turning. The paper only has to be loosly related to the project. So I could to a paper on woodtur in or on wood recycling or on anything related to wood.
Here's the limitations It can't be a "how to" or a "history of" kind of paper. It has to have a thesis and prove something. I.e.. Wood working has become more of a hobby because the tools availible today are easier to get than they were in the 1800s. ( I know this is not a great example). The other limitation is that I can only have one Internet source and the other tree sources have to be written sources

so here the question. Can you help me come up with a topic that will be intersting and be easy to find information on? Thank you for your help.

[Karl Card]

just a thought, might write how the largest percentage of wood workers help each other without ignorance involved. I have had alot of hobbies but none near as cool as the whole world of woodworking and the other people that do it.

Secondly you can watch threads on here and if you wil notice that woodworking seems to ease the mind, most of the time. It is just a different hobbie/career/job.
And so many aspects to it. turning, cabinetry, marquetry, inlay, and the list goes on... I realize I problably havent helped but at least i feel better now..lol

good luck and i am sure you'll do great.

[curtis rosche]

im normally pretty good at writing papers, i just cant seem to pic a topic

[Belinda Barfield]

I think Karl's suggestion is a good one. You could also possibly get some first hand interviews with a few Creekers regarding the aspects of stress relief from a psychological standpoint.

http://www.guidetopsychology.com/stress.htm from this site
2. For any individual, some activities are more physiologically arousing than others; accordingly, a less threatening activity can provide a relative sense of relaxation after a highly threatening activity.

This means that a person in a demanding job, such as options trading, or air traffic control, or emergency medicine, might find an activity such as woodworking to be relaxing. Even though woodworking may have its own inherent demands, it can be a major relief from the life-or-death decisions a person may have to make as a daily part of his or her job.

Cooking for many people provides the same stress relief. You might make a comparison between cooking and woodworking. Both, if well done, take raw materials and transform them into something of enhanced function and/or beauty.

Good luck!

P.S. I known you meant to say "three of the sources have to be writtien", but I thought is was interesting that you typed tree of the sources . . . :)

[Sandy Smith]

Curtis,

Here is a thought. You said above that your subject was wood turning.

Since you are in one of my favorite areas of Pennsylvania. How about a paper written on how one or two of your local wood working companies are making a good living at their choice of occupation.

Some of your local wood working companies produce a great product and use wood turning in their production. They are sometimes producing items using very old equipment and some companies use air tools or belt driven tools only.

Good luck with your project.

Friday I'll be at the Paradise Sale Barn Auction I hope my machines bring in a good price.

[curtis rosche]

Some one else sent me the idea of how woodworking has become safer due to technology. How's that sound?

[Prashun Patel]

I think the broader topic of 'how safe is woodworking' is a good topic. Technology has made more safety devices, but that can also lull you into a false sense of security. Looking at tool-related accidents and deaths over time as a % of woodworkers will probably yield interesting results.

You might also investigate how dangerous wood dust is for your lungs. Dust collection and respirator technology has gotten better; but how many people are using it? Is it a real concern? You can check out Bill Pentz's website for a lot of great info for that.

You might also look at the Sawstop. It's very polarizing. Many people understandably love it. Others think it's unnecessary given blade guards, splitters, and riving knives. Still others even think THOSE devices are not needed if one is properly educated on how to use a saw.

[Augusto Orosco]

If the guidelines ask you to go about it in a 'scientific way', how about something that would involve some 'lab work' (i.e. real turning) that you enjoy so much?

I am not a turner, so I might not be making a lot of sense with this example, but for instance you could posit something along the lines of cataloging wood species with respect of their ease for turning a bowl. You could design an experiment in which you control for the sharpness of your tools (say quick grinder pass and x strokes per stone until you reach y microns) and measure how quickly/cleanly/easily or whatever a bowl is made. With a digital camera you could document and edit your experiments adding explanatory notes in the photos. At the end, you would have a set of guidelines and/or best practices regarding wood choice and method. I am sure there's a lot written about this already, but doing it as a controlled experiment might add the twist you are looking for.