Wood: When joining wood to build the set, I found that using gorilla glue and a brad gun worked the best for if you wanted a neat join but screws were best for a strong hold. When making the supports for the church I used glue and brad gun as they had to be neat and they did not have to be too strong. However, Charlie and Sam had to use screws for their wood to make their house as that structure was holding up a lot more weight.

Polystyrene: When joining polystyrene, it is best to use adhesive glue and skewers. Adhesive glue is applied to both parts you want to join then left for 5/10 minuets until it becomes tacky. Before placing them together, we put a skewer half way into one side before putting the other side of the skewer into the other side of polystyrene, joining the two together. Other glues cannot be used on polystyrene as they are either not strong enough or they erode the polystyrene.

For dance show, a wall was needed so that one of the dancers could run up it during part of their dance. This meant creating a structure that was strong enough to support a dancer, yet light enough to be moved quickly on and off stage. The structure was also being stored in the wings so had to fit in the doorway behind the curtain so the dancers could still use the wings.

We found an old door in the compound along with some braces. We decided to us this, as it was the perfect size that the directors wanted. We found some old triangular pieces of metal that we used as braces so the door could stand up. Even with these braces, we still needed to stand behind the door so that it would not topple over.

When we used this wall in rehearsals, we found that it was heavy and awkward to move into place as well as get the braces on in time before the dancer ran up it. One reason for this was that the wood was warped therefore the braces did not go on straight, also the door was very thick and heavy so needed at least two people to lift it. This was a problem as there were already lots of people backstage and this just created more chaos. 

This was my first problem, I had to now think of a material that would be light enough to not collapse under it’s own weight. However I also needed a material that would be durable enough to stand for at least 2 weeks. In then end, with advice from Cooper, I settled for Polystyrene beams. Even though they are not as durable as first hoped, they would be light enough to hold them selves up with little support.

These are three of the polyester beams set out to make one of the beams. I had to make sure that the beams spanned the length of the seating bank, which is 20 foot across. Laying it out like this meant that I was able to get the right angle so that I could cut out the supports and the edge of the polystyrene so that they would fit together. I did this three times to get all the top beams of the church.

The inside angle was measured at 40°, therefore, when cutting the supports I had to make sure that they were 40° so that they would line up perfectly with the beams and not look out of place. The picture to the right shows the marking out of the supports. I had to draw out 12 so that there would be enough for each beam (there would be 4 supports on each beams, 2 on each join). With help from Cooper (who showed me how to do the first one) I was able to draw out the rest of them to an accurate scale. I then used a Jig Saw to cut them out and used Adhesive Polyester glue to stick them together, placing stage weights on top to make sure that they stuck down. The adhesive glue took a while to stick; therefore I had to leave all the beams to dry overnight in the workshop before we were able to move them into the auditorium. Moving them into the auditorium was a struggle. It wasn’t that the beams were heavy; it was more the fact that they were extremely fragile and large, making them hard to manoeuvre. These 3 photos below show the stages of building the beams.

These are the tools that were used to build the beams. From top to bottom; • Protractor • Bugger flipper saw (we used the fine edge for a smoother cut) • Tape measure • Pencil • Set square All of these tools were important to make sure that the beams were made to the best standard. When sawing I had to make sure that it was straight, when measuring I had to be accurate. My pencil had to be sharp so that the line was as thin as it could be to be accurate. My lines had to straight so that I could make them line up. When cutting the wood I had to use a jig saw at the bed saw was too big for the small lines and a circular saw would not be accurate enough. The only problem I had when using the jig saw was making sure the line was straight. Because the jig saw is initially used to cut out shapes, it is easy to move away from the line. If there were a smaller circular saw, then it would have been easier to make sure the lines were straight. Overall, I thing that the supports came out well, it took a few attempts to get them right but overall they worked well and were able to support the structure.

These are photos of the 4 beams that hold up the main structure. They were made out of wood as it is more durable that polystyrene and would not have to hold themselves up as we can support them by drilling them into the floor. This meant that we were able to make these supports out of wood. That way the audience would not be able to pull chunks out of it and make them look horrible. The wood is more durable therefore a better material to use.  To make these, I had to cut out 12 strips of 2-inch wood each at 4.98 inches in width. This meant that they could all fit together to make a beam that was 5-inches all around, the same width as the polystyrene beams. To hold the beams together, we used Gorilla glue and a brad gun so that they were secure and would not fall apart. We added another set of supports to the top so that we could slide the polystyrene beams into it and glue them together.

The above photo shows the first beam that went in. this beam has support from both sides, however, we also used string to suspend it from the ceiling as well just so if the supports were to fail, the beam would not fall onto the audience. This was a very important measure for the other 2 beams as they only had support on one side.

Ladder safety:

• Always have 3 points of contact with the ladder

• Stand facing forward on ladder. NEVER turn around and face away from the ladder

• If you are using tools up the ladder, make sure that people underneath the ladder footing it are wearing head protection e.g. Hard hats

• Make sure ladder is away from live wires (minimum of 6 meters horizontally)

• Only carry light tools or equipment up the ladder, heavy equipment must be lifted with a pulley device

• Make sure anyone who is using the ladder has had proper ladder training and is fully aware of the risks

• People footing the ladder should be concentrating on the person up the ladder and should not be on their phone or be using any other device that can distract them.

• Make sure the ladder is in good working condition, any loose bolts should be tightened, make sure the rungs are dry and free from grease and oil which can make them slippery, DO NOT use the ladder if any part of it is damaged or broken.

• Do not over reach. Guidelines state that your belt buckle or navel should stay in-between the stiles

• Do not overload the ladder. Make sure that you read the guidelines that state the maximum weight that the ladder can take.

These images are taken from http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg455.pdf and show the correct and incorrect ways to use a ladder

Safety when using tools:

• Use the appropriate protection. For example, when cutting anything wear goggles. When welding wear a welding mask. When grinding metal, use a glove to stop sparks from burning your hand • Make sure training for tools is up to date and the person using the tools in the correct way. • Tools should be safety checked and maintained to a good standard, making sure that any tools that are broken. • If the tool sparks while you are using, stop use immediately and contact a electrician to get it checked (this mostly goes for tools that are plugged into the mains) • Avoid wearing loose clothing that can be caught in tools • Use the right tools for the right job, e.g. never use a screwdriver as a chisel • Do not use tools that have a ‘do not use’ sign on them. • Never stand in or around water when using tools • Make sure work area is well lit and you can see what you are doing at all times. • Never yank the cord; use and extension lead if needed. • Replace any cords that are frayed or damaged, do not tape them back together. • Disconnect any tools that are not in use

Workshop safety

Today we continued to be in the auditorium. Myself, Ross, Jack and Keiron spent the morning putting together the second crane of the two cranes. To do this we had work together to complete the crane. To finish the crane we all needed to look at the completed crane and use it as a guide to copy what Alex had done the previous night. We did this by each taking an area of the crane to focus on. Myself and Jack focused on the back of the crane whilst Keiron and Ross focused on the front of the crane.  By splitting in to pairs and each taking a part of the crane to build it allowed us to quickly complete the crane. The back involved attaching two strops together with carabennas and then attaching them to another carabenna which was wrapped around the trust of the. Once they were attached we then had to attach 5 stage weights to the back crane. Again this was done by folding a larger strop in half so that it was stronger and could therefore take the weight of the 5 stage weights without braking. Once we wrapped the strop around the stage weights myself and Jack then had to attach the weights with a carabenna to another strop wrapped around the trust. We had to get this strop in the correct place so that it weighed down the correct part of the crane. Once myself and Jack completed that the back of the crane was put together and fully supported. Once we had the crane finished we then had to lift it and put it onto the standing trust. This again involved us working together with the help of Cooper to lift the crane into position. We all had to communicate successfully with each other to make the lift as safe as possible. Once we had the crane into position it was my job to place the axial through the holes to hold it in place and allow it to move. Whilst doing this I had to inform the team whether to move the trust up or down to get it into the hole. Once it went in we attached the various strops to each other and both cranes were complete. 

After we had completed the cranes we set about making platforms for the flying people to stand on and attach their harnesses without having to reach from the gantries. This meant that we would have to cut up metal to the different lengths required and then cut a piece of wood that would fit on top of the metal to form the platform. The second years were tasked with cutting the metal to the right size, whilst myself, Ross, Jack and Keiron helped Cooper workout were the platform would be placed. Once we had worked out were the platform would be placed we had to grind of the rust on either side of the gantries so that there was metal that Cooper would be able to weld onto. When using the grinder to shave metal you need to use a thick blade not a thin blade, as a thin blade is used for cutting. Once you have the thick blade you the glide the grinder over the piece of metal to remove what you want to be removed (in this case the rust on the gantries). When grinding you need to follow these safety rules; you must wear goggles to stop the spark that come off of the metal when grinding from going in your eyes, you also need to wear ear protectors to stop your ears being damaged by the noise that the grinder makes when it is grinding off the metal. Finally you need to warn people around you that you are grinding to stop the sparks going in there eyes. Once we had grinded the rust off of either side of the gantries myself, Ross, Jack and Keiron were told to go and cut a piece of wood to 3 foot to make the standing part of the platform. We did this with the circular saw. The circular saw is a power tool that allows you cut wood in a straight line, because the blade is too big to cut curves. When using the circular saw you have to line up the blade with the line that you want to cut. To do this you follow the 0 which is shown on the tool. When working with the circular saw the health and safety rules you have to implement are; wear goggles to stop the pieces of wood from going into your eyes and damaging them, you have to be aware of where about's you are supporting the pieces of wood to stop you from cutting off your fingers with the sharp blade, similarly you also need to be aware of the people around you that are supporting the piece of wood you are cutting so you don't cut off there limbs. Once we had cut the wood up we took it the circular saw and the trestle in to the auditorium, where Cooper was welding the pieces of metal together. Once he had welded the pieces of metal together myself and Ross screwed the wood platforms to the metal skeleton and then we helped Cooper weld the on by holding them in position.

Here are the platforms for the flyers;   

After we had put the platforms up we returned to the workshop were we were shown the design that the design team had come up with. It would have different London landmarks that would have a Steampunk theme to it. We were also shown the trucks that would form Tommy Titanic's office and would also have a Santa's Grotto on the other side. 

Here is the model box design and truck model and paper design; 

Today