Application
The unit involves sharpening tipped circular saws in a forest products factory setting The skills and knowledge required for competent workplace performance are to be used within the scope of the person's job and authority |
Elements and Performance Criteria
ELEMENT | PERFORMANCE CRITERIA |
1. Prepare for sharpening | 1.1. Applicable Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), environmental, legislative and organisational requirements relevant to sharpening tipped circular saws are identified and followed 1.2. Work order is reviewed and checked with appropriate personnel 1.3. Tipped circular saw blades to be sharpened are removed or appropriate equipment fitted to allow saw to be sharpened in machinery 1.4. Equipment is selected appropriate to work requirements and checked for operational effectiveness in line with manufacturer's recommendations 1.5. Sharpening process is planned in line with site procedures and environmental requirements 1.6. Communication with others is established and maintained in line with OHS requirements |
2. Assess condition and set up sharpening equipment | 2.1. Cutting performance of blade is assessed for sharpening requirements and blade replacement reviewed in line with site requirements 2.2. Condition of teeth, straightness of blade and prior repairs are assessed for suitability to site requirements 2.3. Sharpening machine with suitable wheel diameter is selected and grinding wheel changed or dressed 2.4. Machine settings are adjusted to suit required blade geometry and blade set to manufacturer's recommendations 2.5. Saw is set up in grinder or grinder set up on saw while in machine to ensure tooth profile and geometry are maintained |
3. Sharpen tipped circular saw blade | 3.1. Pre start-up checks are carried out on equipment in line with site requirements 3.2. Grinding coolant system is prepared in line with site requirements 3.3. Saw and grinding wheel angles, speeds and feeds are selected to suit saw 3.4. Teeth face and gullet are ground to achieve the sharpened finish requested and to maintain original profile 3.5. Tooth profile and pitch are maintained to industry standards 3.6. Variations in tooth height and depth of cut are brought within industry tolerances for concentricity 3.7. Feeds of wheel and saw are set to minimise wear and to avoid burn marks 3.8. Tipped circular saws that cannot be sharpened or are damaged in the sharpening process and cannot be repaired are disposed of in line with site procedures, manufacturer's recommendations and environmental requirements 3.9. Sharpening and equipment faults are recorded and reported to the appropriate personnel |
Required Skills
This describes the essential skills and knowledge and their level required for this unit |
Required skills |
Technical skills sufficient to use and maintain relevant tools, machinery and equipment; efficiently and safely sharpen tipped circular saws Communication skills and interpersonal techniques sufficient to interact appropriately with colleagues and others in the workplace Literacy skills sufficient to accurately record and report workplace information, and maintain documentation Numeracy skills sufficient to estimate, measure and calculate time required to complete a task Problem solving skills sufficient to identify problems and equipment faults and demonstrate appropriate response procedures |
Required knowledge |
Applicable Commonwealth, State or Territory legislation, regulations, standards, codes of practice and established safe practices relevant to the full range of processes for sharpening tipped circular saws Environmental protection requirements, including the safe disposal of waste material, minimising carbon emissions and the cleaning of plant, tools and equipment Organisational and site standards, requirements, policies and procedures for sharpening tipped circular saws Environmental risks and hazards Characteristics of tipped circular saw blades Sharpening methods and geometry Teeth settings methods Established communication channels and protocols Problem identification and resolution strategies and common fault finding techniques Types of tools and equipment and procedures for their safe use, operation and maintenance Appropriate mathematical procedures for estimating and measuring, including calculating time to complete tasks Procedures for recording and reporting workplace information |
Evidence Required
The evidence guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the performance criteria, required skills and knowledge, range statement and the Assessment Guidelines for the Training Package. | |
Overview of assessment | A person who demonstrates competency in this unit must be able to provide evidence that they can safely and efficiently sharpen tipped circular saws within organisational requirements |
Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit | The evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit must be relevant to, and satisfy, all of the requirements of the elements of this unit and include demonstration of: following applicable Commonwealth, State or Territory legislative and regulatory requirements and codes of practice relevant to sharpening tipped circular saws following organisational policies and procedures relevant to sharpening tipped circular saws sharpening tipped circular saws in line with the work order and within prescribed organisational requirements removing and replacing tipped circular saw blades from equipment |
Context of and specific resources for assessment | Competency is to be assessed in the workplace or realistically simulated workplace Assessment is to occur under standard and authorised work practices, safety requirements and environmental constraints Assessment of required knowledge, other than confirmatory questions, will usually be conducted in an off-site context Assessment is to follow relevant regulatory or Australian Standards requirements The following resources should be made available: workplace location or simulated workplace materials and equipment relevant to undertaking work applicable to this unit specifications and work instructions |
Method of assessment | Assessment must satisfy the endorsed Assessment Guidelines of the FPI11 Training Package Assessment methods must confirm consistency and accuracy of performance (over time and in a range of workplace relevant contexts) together with application of required knowledge Assessment must be by direct observation of tasks, with questioning on required knowledge and it must also reinforce the integration of employability skills Assessment methods must confirm the ability to access and correctly interpret and apply the required knowledge Assessment may be applied under project-related conditions (real or simulated) and require evidence of process Assessment must confirm a reasonable inference that competency is able not only to be satisfied under the particular circumstance, but is able to be transferred to other circumstances Assessment may be in conjunction with assessment of other units of competency The assessment environment should not disadvantage the candidate Assessment practices should take into account any relevant language or cultural issues related to Aboriginality, gender or language backgrounds other than English Where the participant has a disability, reasonable adjustment may be applied during assessment Language and literacy demands of the assessment task should not be higher than those of the work role |
Range Statement
The range statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Bold italicised wording, if used in the performance criteria, is detailed below. Essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) may also be included. | |
OHS requirements: | are to be in line with applicable Commonwealth, State or Territory legislation and regulations, and organisational safety policies and procedures, and may include: personal protective equipment and clothing safety equipment first aid equipment fire fighting equipment hazard and risk control fatigue management elimination of hazardous materials and substances safe forest practices including required actions relating to forest fire manual handling including shifting, lifting and carrying machine isolation and guarding |
Environmental requirements may include: | legislation organisational policies and procedures workplace practices |
Legislative requirements: | are to be in line with applicable Commonwealth, State or Territory legislation, regulations, certification requirements and codes of practice and may include: award and enterprise agreements industrial relations Australian Standards confidentiality and privacy OHS the environment equal opportunity anti-discrimination relevant industry codes of practice duty of care |
Organisational requirements may include: | legal organisational and site guidelines policies and procedures relating to own role and responsibility quality assurance procedural manuals quality and continuous improvement processes and standards OHS, emergency and evacuation procedures ethical standards recording and reporting requirements equipment use and maintenance and storage requirements environmental management requirements (waste minimisation and disposal, recycling and re-use guidelines) |
Saws may include: | circular saws hot saws cold saws |
Work order is to include: | instructions for the sharpening of tipped circular saw blades in designated equipment and may include: instructions for the environmental monitoring of work and procedures environmental care requirements relevant to the work |
Appropriate personnel may include: | supervisors suppliers clients colleagues managers |
Tipped circular saw blades may include: | tipped circular saw blades used for cutting timber and tips may include: tungsten carbide satellite other alloyed materials such as high speed steel |
Sharpening is to include: | face gullet pitch profile angle depth of cut speed the blade passes over the grinding wheel to obtain a sharp edge |
Equipment may include: | manually or automatically adjustable grinding machines abrasive wheels measuring tools equipment and is to include: procedures for equipment lock-out, i.e. protecting operators and co-workers from accidental injury by isolating the machine from the power source |
Communication may include: | verbal and non-verbal language constructive feedback active listening questioning to clarify and confirm understanding use of positive, confident and cooperative language use of language and concepts appropriate to individual social and cultural differences control of tone of voice body language |
Cutting performance may include: | length of production time achieved by the blade whether the blade performed with site tolerances of allowable deviation whether the surface finish was in line with site quality requirements |
Teeth are to include: | sharpness of each tooth damage to teeth pitch number of teeth per metre |
Straightness | is assessment of the entire blade to ensure it has not bent out of shape or warped in any way |
Dressing | is the process of cleaning or shaving the top surface of the grinding wheel to remove the build up of old sharpening metal and coolant |
Geometry | is the pitch and angle that a blade is sharpened at, allowing for the material they will be cutting |
Profile | is the shape of the teeth in line with the timber being cut usual direction of cutting, crosscut across the grain and ripping with the grain |
Pre start-up checks | are conducted to ensure: machine has been set-up correctly systems are performing accurately machinery is operating to optimum performance |
Coolant | is used in conjunction with grinding operations to cool the metal blade as it generates heat from the sharpening process to prevent burning |
Speeds and feeds | is the speed the grinding wheel rotates at, too fast and it may burn the metal, too slow and it may produce a rough finish or grab the blade similarly, the power feed controls movement of the blade to the desired rate |
Face is to include: | front edge of each tooth cutting part of the tooth |
Gullet | is the bottom hollowed section between each tooth |
Pitch | is the distance between the tips of the teeth on the saw blade |
Concentricity | is ensuring all teeth are at the same radius from the saw blade centre and that one tip is not higher than another |
Disposing of may include: | recycling tipped circular saws that cannot be sharpened or cannot be repaired re-using tipped circular saws that cannot be sharpened or cannot be repaired |
Records and reports may include: | the blade type size inspection grading and labelling outcomes storage locations quality outcomes hazards incidents equipment malfunctions and may be: manual using a computer-based system or another appropriate organisational communication system |
Sectors
Unit sector | No sector assigned |
Competency Field
Sawmilling and Processing |
Employability Skills
This unit contains employability skills |
Licensing Information
Refer to Unit Descriptor