Compass Project Week 4: Work on the Morbic 12 begins!!!

The parts for the Morbic 12 finally arrived and you could feel the excitement in the workshop when we walked in and saw the girder (or strongback) and molds for the boat set out!  Shane and Wendy led a lesson in the basic boat parts, including the girder, stem, transom and bulkhead, all of which we would be working on today.  We then grouped around the girder to discuss what the goals of this exciting day would be. 

While we look on with amazed expressions, Shane explains that in only 25,746 steps, this wooden endoskeleton will be a beautiful sailboat...

A draft of the Morbic 12 from the instruction manual...

We then learned about the many wood materials that are used in building this boat.  Discussion centered around OSB, marine grade plywood, and laminate materials.  The students divided up into four groups.  One group worked on the girder with Allen, while the other three groups would work as gluers and laminators for the transom, bulkhead and stem.

James, Conner and Allen look over the plans and begin work on the girder...

James and Allen problem solve a difficult mount on the girder...

Molly and Elena work on gluing and laminating the bulkhead pieces with Shane...

Elena uses the band saw to prepare a caul, a wooden clamp tool, to use in clamping the laminated parts of the bulkhead...

Marissa and Mrs. Duddy clean the surface of the stem to prepare for gluing...

Marissa, Hannah and Greg glue the various stem piece together and prepare to clamp them to complete the lamination process...

Wendy discusses registration marks with Andy and Ahmed...these useful marks will help keep the transom parts lined up correctly during the lamination process...

Andy prepares to glue the transom sections...like a true athlete he focuses solely on the task at hand and checks his equipment to ensure that he finishes in first place...

Working hard on applying glue to the transom parts...make sure you cover it thoroughly - Wendy will be checking for "squeeze out" to ensure that there are no "voids" between the layers...

Elena curls a clamp...it's important to keep strong - boat building is hard work!!!

Compass Project Week 3: Learning the tools of the trade

This week in the workshop was spent learning about the tools of the woodworking and boat building trades.  Each of us chose a tool from the tool wall that we were unfamiliar with and we worked together to sort out what each tool did.  Some of them stumped us, but with the combined knowledge of Shane, Wendy, Allen and Greg we were successful! 

Socheta and Molly work with a traditional hand drill....

and use it really well - so well that they drill right through the work table!

Ahmed works with a chisel and wooden mallet...

The students put the finishing touches and measurement markings on their speed squares and tried out a few of the power tools that they hadn't worked with yet.

Andy works on the table saw as Wendy and Mrs. Duddy look on...

Marissa and Shane on the circular saw...Ahmed in the background working with the drill press...

Molly, Molly's great smile and Mrs. Duddy...

James hammers out the final metric measurement marks on his speed square...

Shane told us that the pre-cut parts for the Morbic 12 are scheduled for delivery this week!  We are really looking forward to getting down to business with the construction of the boat. 

Pathways Fall Fest Bake Sale

We had this week off from the Compass Project because of Fall Fest at FHS.  The Pathways students decided to hold a bake sale during the afternoon Fall Fest activities.  All of the proceeds from this sale would be used towards our first Pathways community service project.

After several class discussions and a visit from Holly MacEwan and Dede Bennell, our school Service Learning Coordinators, the kids decided that they would like to hold a children's book drive.  The students plan to send the books they collect to children in Guatemala with the students who are traveling to Safe Passage in the spring.  Using the money raised at the bake sale, we will also be purchasing new copies of books written by Maine authors such as Robert McCloskey, Heather Austin, Maureen Heffernan and Barbara Cooney.  They plan to use these books to create "books on CD" recordings.  They will also be designing covers for these audio book CD's which will include their picture and a personal note to the kids in Guatemala.  They hope that these CD's will encourage literacy and help these students to learn the English language.  Money from the bake sale will also be used to purchase portable CD players to send along with the books and recordings.

We had a great time preparing for the sale and the kids were excited to get started on the project...

 Connor puts in the first batch of cookies

Elena, Molly and Andy hard at work in the kitchen - thanks Mrs. Tartre for loaning us your room!

Elena, Andy, Mrs. Horton and Josh waiting for customers...

At the end of the sale, we were almost completely out of baked goods and had raised $101.50 towards our Books on CD project to benefit Safe Passage! 

Compass Project Week 2: Completing the Speed Squares

They say that time flies when you're having fun (and learning in a hands on way)...this was very true of our first week at Compass Project.  In fact, time passed so quickly during our first week in the workshop that we had to run to catch the bus before we even had a chance to clean up.  This week, I remembered to set my phone to go off 10 minutes before we had to catch the bus back to school so that we would be able to leave the workshop in order!

This week began with Allen, a retired engineer and Compass Project volunteer,  sharing his modified bicycle invention with us.  The kids were fascinated and amazed at how agile this machine was - truly an engineering feat.  After showing us how it worked, Allen even let the kids who wanted to take it for a spin...

 Allen demonstrates how his invention works...

Ahmed makes it look easy!

Andy takes a turn...

Elena after a successful trip around the parking lot!

Week two also had us finishing up our speed squares.  After a workshop safety review, the kids were back to work...

Merry and Wendy work on the speed square base...

Connor and Andy mark out their initial cuts...

Socheta on the band saw and James on the drill press as Shane looks on...

Ahmed uses the drill press to make the center hole in his speed square...

James prepares to make the kerf in his speed square base...

Andy puts the finishing touches on his project...

Compass Project Week 1: Workshop Safety & Building Speed Squares

Welcome to the FHS Pathways Program boat building program at the Compass Project.  Working closely with Shane, Allen, Wendy, Greg and Hannah from the Compass Project, 10 FHS students in grades 10-12 will build a French designed 12' sailing vessel called the Morbic 12.  These students are proud to be the first people in the United States to build this boat.  

Our first week focused on workshop safety and the importance of accuracy and precision.  Students learned about several power tools and saws as well as some of the more traditional boat building tools that they would be using.  Students then began work on building their own speed squares.  We spent time during the week in our classroom at FHS working with the metric system and with some basic physics concepts including Newton's Laws.

The Compass Project Workshop - Portland, Maine

 Elena's ready to get to work...notice her stylish goggles!

 Around the main table as work on the speed squares begins...

Shane, Allen & James learn how to safely use the band saw...

Merry, Marissa and Allen begin work on their speed squares...

James, Merry, Marissa, Elena, Molly and Ahmed learn the next steps in building a speed square...

 Vocabulary word of the week - "KERF" - when sawing wood, a kerf is the the initial "notch" you cut to help keep your main cut straight

 End of session group meeting...