AQA A-Level
Design and Technology:
Product Design (3D Design)
6th
High Storrs School
Form Information Evening 2015
Mr Vickers & Ms Tiffin
4th November 2015
AQA GCE AS Level Examination
Unit 1 – PROD1
Unit 2 – PROD2
Learning through Designing and Making
Materials Components and Application

2Hour written paper


80 Marks


50% of AS Level, 25% of A level
Assessment Criteria
Coursework 50 hours
80 Marks
Electronic Portfolio and Manufactures outcome(s)
50% of AS Level, 25% of A level


AO1
Designing
AO2
Making
Maximum
Mark
Allocation
1 Investigation and
Clarification of Problems
8
8
2 Development of Design
Proposal
24
24
3 Making / Modelling
4 Evaluation and Testing
5 Communication and
Presentation
Total
S Tiffin
8
24
24
4
12
Information:
Initially design tasks are set by the
school at AS level in order to satisfy
criteria set by the examination board.
Students can choose to submit one
focused task or a portfolio of work
from a number of projects.
Project Examples:

Pre-school toy

Designer influenced appliance
8
4
12

Illuminating lamps
48
32
80

Jewellery
High Storrs School, Sheffield.
AQA GCE A Level Examination
Unit 3 – PROD3
Unit 4 – PROD4
Design and Manufacture
Designing and Making Practice

2Hour written paper


84 Marks


25% of A level


AO1
Designing
Assessment Criteria
1 Contexts and Objectives
5
2 Plan of Action and
Clarification of Problem
6
3 Development of Design
Proposal
26
4 Making / Modelling
AO2
Making
Coursework 60 hours
85 Marks
Electronic Portfolio and Manufactured outcome
25% of A Level
Maximum
Mark
Allocation
Information:
Students are to choose their own
design and manufacture activity
5
2
8
26
26
26
Free Choice Project Examples:

Jewellery storage

Electronic piano stool
5 Conclusions, Evaluations and
Testing
8
4
12

Heat exchanger and wind shield
6 Communication and
Presentation
6
2
8

Outdoor furniture
51
34
85
Total
S Tiffin
High Storrs School, Sheffield.
Final Idea
Constructed
from layers
of 1.5mm
plywood
glued and
curved using
a Jig and then
held into
place
Worm and
worm wheel
mechanism.
Constructed
from steel rod
and screw
thread, attached
to this is a DC
motor which will
adjust the height
of the stool
Within the centre
of the stool will
be a hole drilled
and a metal steel
bar, to allow the
product to pivot,
to create a hinge.
Plywood sanded
and varnished to
create good
quality finish.
Testing of the hinge and angle of the
stool
To enable me to test the joint movement of my developed
idea. I decided to create a model of the hinge of the piano
stool. By using card, paper and paper fasteners I was able
to recreate the movement of the legs to see what angle I
will need to create between the legs and the seat of the
stool. I moved the legs to four separate positions on the
card surface and measured the angle at which the seat
moved. I then colour coded this information.
Length of surface
Angle of legs
20 mm
180°
40 mm
150°
60 mm
130°
80 mm
100°
Conclusion
This testing was useful in enabling me to find the
measurement for the height and angle at which I need to
manufacture my piano stool. This is important because I
need to know the surface area of the seat in degrees,
when the legs were adjusted to an angle where stability is
still possible. I also need to insure that the steeper motor
is set the right setting to allow the client to sit on the stool
at the minimum and maximum setting. The maxium degree
will be 100° and lowest being 150°.
Figure 1
CAD Drawing of stool
Figure 4
Using Pro/DESKTOP, I created the CAD drawing of my finished design. I used
this software not only to reproduce the design and to show a clear accurate
representation, but it also allows me to experiment and test the height
adjustment. By changing the width of the curved sides, as you can see by figure
2 and 3, substantially reduces and increases the height of the stool. Therefore
showing that my design would work.
The Computer Aided Design allowed me to workout the
precise measurements of the final product, it has also
allowed me to show a realistic and accurate representation
of the design. Figure four shows one side of the design
which will then slot into place with an identical section. A 6
mm hole will be drilled in place in order to slot a steel rod
in place in order to act as a hinge.
Figure 5
As well as using CAD as a principle
that shows the lowering and raising of
the piano stool. The CAD drawings
also helped me to think about the
curved design and angle of the piano
stool . The curved design at the top of
the product I will also implement into
the design of my finished product.
Finished product
As you can see from the photographs above, my finished product consists of two 1:2 scale models. One model was
constructed to show the aesthetics of my design, I used plywood to create a curved, smooth unique design piano stool.
I varnished my final product to give a good quality finish. My second model, which I created from MDF, was intended to
show the workings of the electronics. To show how the electronics of the height adjustment feature. As you can see
from the photographs, I have wired up all the electronics and created the worm and worm wheel mechanism which will
drive my product up and down. I am extremely happy with the quality of my final product.
Manufacturing Process
Once all my materials are bought, I start my process of
manufacture by making the mould for the thin 0.5mm aluminium
(see right). It is made up of 11 bars altogether, with 2 wider bars
to create the spaces in the corrugation where the eyelets will be
fastened in place. With the gap in the mould 80mm wide,
(identical to the aluminium strips) it holds the strip in place while
I push the shorter bars into the gaps to create the oscillations. It
was made from several blocks of 20mm thick MDF and plywood,
glued and screwed together.
Once the mould is finished, and my aluminium strips are cut to size,
I begin to corrugate them by sliding them slowly through the
mould, pushing in the metal bars one at a time (see left). The
straight sides of the mould mean that the aluminium does not bend
at all and every corrugation is perpendicular to the edges of the
strip. The idea for this mould came about after a lengthy testing and
development process which saw me trying rectangular
corrugations, and even felt-tip pens to get a result. Eventually I
realised I had to find a way to keep the whole strip straight while
oscillating it, which required a mould.
With the two strips of thin corrugated aluminium completed, (see
right) I then cut off the excess metal that I didn’t need (the uncorrugated part at the end of each strip) and then drilled (see
below) 5.5mm holes in the metal that would later hold the eyelets.
Manufacturing Process cont.
Once all holes were drilled in both the 1mm and the corrugated 0.5mm
strips of aluminium, I cut out and bent into shape the smaller section of
metal that would house the screw thread for the wheel to run on (see
right). I then drilled four holes into that, and the bent end of the 1mm
outer aluminium strip. These would also hold eyelets.
Once the piece of aluminium to hold the hook and the wheel was made, I had to
manufacture them next. I cut a length of 15mm thick metal bar, and used a lathe
to knurl the end of it (see left). I then drilled a hole down the very centre of it
and tapped the hole, so it would run on the screw thread. (see right)
Now I had all my aluminium cut and drilled, and
the components for my hook and screw
completed, I went on to spray everything with
primer to give it an even undercoat, and then
with paint (see bottom right for one of the
paints I used).
Once everything was finished
with several coats of either
green or silver paint, it was
finally time to hammer in the
eyelets to fasten the whole
product together. I attached
the 5mm eyelets (left) by
using the eyelet tool and a
mallet (bottom left and right)
until every one was in place.
Then it was just a matter of
inserting the hook and wheel
to complete the whole
Finished Product