Craft · National 5
Take rough timber and turn it into something you are proud to put your name on. Course notes, drawings and folio projects for every stage of National 5 Practical Woodworking.
SCALE 1:1
N5Woodwork
SubjectCraft
LevelNational 5
LicenceFree to copy, adapt, share
Sheet04.2 · N5 · Woodwork
01Choose a topic
Three topics, each with course notes, skill builders and folio projects. Most classes start with Frames, move on to Carcases, then finish with Machine Tools.
01
T-halvings, bridles, mitres and mortise and tenons. Build a mirror, clock, photo frame or memo board.
Open Frames →
02
Housings, dowels and boxes that stand up on their own. Build a DVD store, boombox or foosball table.
Open Carcases →
03
Pillar drill, scroll saw, sanders, mortiser and lathe. Make a spatula, sheep roll holder or stepping stool.
Open Machine Tools →
Virtual Woodwork · 3D
Watch a joint being made one step at a time, from checking the wood is square to gluing it together. Spin the model round, zoom in on the tools and see exactly where every line and cut goes.
1
Pick a joint from the list. The corner halving and dovetail halving joints are ready now, with more on the way.
2
Drag the slider to watch each step of marking out, cutting and assembly, with a safety tip for every step.
3
Spin, explode and X-ray the model, and open the working drawing.
4
Test yourself with the tool library, the quiz and the tolerance checker.
Runs in your web browser on a PC, Chromebook, iPad or phone. Nothing to install. Best on a bigger screen.
DesignClass Virtual Woodwork
02Skills for success
Talent is not the secret. These six habits are, and every one of them can be practised.
01
Accuracy starts with marking out. Use a sharp pencil or marking knife, hold the try square tight to the face side and measure everything from the same edge. Aim for half a millimetre.
02
Clean up the gauge lines, check for square at every stage and dry-fit before you glue. Gaps you can see light through are the first thing an assessor notices.
03
Goggles on, hair tied back, guards down and both hands behind the cutting edge. Safe workers are fast workers, because nothing goes wrong.
04
Orthographic views, dimensions and the cutting list tell you everything you need. If you can read a working drawing, you can make almost anything.
05
Mark out all the parts, then cut, then fit. Knowing what comes next saves time, saves timber and stops mistakes before they happen.
06
Every joiner has cut a joint too loose. Work out why, adjust, and make the next one better. That is how skill is built.
03Next qualifications
N5 Practical Woodworking is an SCQF level 5 qualification that schools, colleges and employers recognise. Here is where it can lead.
In school
Design and Manufacture, Engineering Science and Graphic Communication all build on the practical, drawing and problem-solving skills you use in the workshop.
In S5 and S6
Spend part of your week at college and with an employer while still at school, and leave with an SCQF level 6 qualification.
After school
Earn while you learn. Carpentry and joinery apprentices work towards an SCQF level 6 SVQ, with day or block release to college.
College and university
Carpentry and joinery, furniture making, construction, architectural technology, product design and engineering courses all value proven making skills.
04Where it can take you
The habits you build in this course, accuracy, patience and planning, are exactly what these jobs ask for.
Construction
Joiners fit the stairs, doors, roofs and kitchens in every new home and school. Skilled joiners are in demand all over Scotland.
Craft and design
Design and build furniture people keep for generations. Scotland has its own furniture school, the Chippendale School in East Lothian.
Marine
Scotland still builds and restores wooden boats. Argyll College UHI runs a boatbuilding apprenticeship based in Lochgilphead.
Film, TV and theatre
Build the worlds that films, TV shows and stage productions are set in, often against a tight deadline.
Construction
Design and manufacture the timber frames used in a large share of new Scottish homes, mostly built in factories.
Design
Every chair, toy and gadget started as a sketch and a model. Making skills help designers test ideas fast.
The built world
Turn an architect's ideas into detailed drawings that builders can follow, down to the last joint.
Education
Share what you love with the next generation. Scotland needs more Design, Engineering and Technology teachers.
"The details are not the details. They make the design."
Charles Eames