And so it begins

[twintin]

couple of photos with the mount in a dry run. Im very pleased with the way its turned out. Just needs a lick of paint and reduce the studs. The micra discs had a 59mm bore so a little whizz round with the file and it was a perfect fit. I then measured for the pin using the tripod as a guide and drilled and tapped it for a bolt then put some nutss on the top to give the adjustment bolts a bit of purchase. I used a bit of scrap plate that i drilled and welded to the underside of the top disc. For the bolt i found a piece of M10 threaded bar and an old castor that i drilled out and sandwiched between two bolts to make a really nice sized grip so i can bolt it all up really nicely. Couple of piccies.

I also found some roofing paint with added fibreglass so i thought i might as well go over the joints in the osb as it's a pants forecast for a few days.

[twintin]

Hopefully picking up the timber for the wall frames this week so with a bit of luck at get them assembled and with a bit of luck I might have time to draw up the drop down bar section!

[twintin]

Having a think this morning on wall height. What height has everyone else gone too? I was thinking 2m so I can have a decent sized door but I'm worried it might be too high. I don't have a horizon view so I don't need to be too low. Should I set the mount and scope up and measure what's best? Any advice?

[yesyes]

Wall and/or pier height is one of the hardest things to give advice on. So much depends on your particular circumstances. And it will always be a compromise.

The best way is probably to set up you scope or some sort of contraption at the place where your pier is going to be. Then put some sort of horizontal bar where the wall is going to be, look along the scope just above that bar and see where in the sky that points to. Adjust heights as required and retest.

On the other hand, I didn't do any of this. I'm building my obsy in a small garden surrounded by 2 rows of terraced houses (east and west) and trees (north and south). So I don't really need to worry about seeing anything near the horizon. The top of my pier will be 1m above the floor and my walls 1.9m.

[twintin]

Hi Chris i think i may be going to opt for the "as high as it needs to be to keep the wind out" method. We live in the bottom of a valley and have houses all around so my horizon view is around 45 degrees anyway and the bright lights of Notts make most of the sky washed out for a fair bit as well! I think i'll have a check tonight but im pretty sure my 2m high walls will be fine

[yesyes]

Sounds about right. If you haven't got a low horizon, it's probably better to get the extra protection of high walls. I was planning 2m walls as well but had to go down to 1.9m because of the overall height restriction of 2.5m for permitted development. If you're building far enough away from the fence you might not have that restriction.

[Astrokev]

As Chris mentioned, deciding wall height is tricky and I've certainly found this to be the case, trying to balance protection from the wind, height of door/ceiling, and low horizon. With a 45' horizon, I'm sure 2m will be fine.

[twintin]

I picked up the timber for the walls today. So when I got home I mounted the scope temporarily and took some measurements. Seems my 2m was a good guess as I get no loss of view at all, so I built the first wall frame and wil get the other 3 done later in the week.

[yesyes]

don't forget the pictures...

[r3i]

As Chris mentioned, deciding wall height is tricky and I've certainly found this to be the case, trying to balance protection from the wind, height of door/ceiling, and low horizon. With a 45' horizon, I'm sure 2m will be fine.

Would echo that from personal experience. There's plenty of guidance available on what to go for in terms of length & width but for the third dimension it is very much dependent on personal circumstances. In my case I went for 1.8m walls but I do have a decent horizon and being somewhat vertically challenged also had an influence .

[twintin]

With it lagging down yesterday i thought i would spend the evening cutting my studs for the walls. They are all cut now so as the forecast is good for a couple of days i should be able to get them done and up. But im pondering castors now for the roof. Im goinf for a shallow pitched roof, mainly for aesthetic reasons so i'm looking for a few ideas for the rollingness! I want to keep it cheap and simple so think i'll be going down the screwfix castor and ali angle route but any suggestions welcome. Will post some more photos this evening when theres something to look at.

[r3i]

With it lagging down yesterday i thought i would spend the evening cutting my studs for the walls. They are all cut now so as the forecast is good for a couple of days i should be able to get them done and up. But im pondering castors now for the roof. Im goinf for a shallow pitched roof, mainly for aesthetic reasons so i'm looking for a few ideas for the rollingness! I want to keep it cheap and simple so think i'll be going down the screwfix castor and ali angle route but any suggestions welcome. Will post some more photos this evening when theres something to look at.

There's been quite a few threads recently on wheels and rails, here's some that I found:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/191030-ro-ro-roof-castor-details/

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/190194-roll-off-roof-wheels/

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/189646-angled-steel-ali/

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/188206-what-casters-rollers-for-roll-off-roll-on-roof/

[twintin]

Not managed to get as much done as I would have liked this week due in part to the weather turning and just being tired. Picking up the corner posts and rails for the roof to roll along today, so should get some piccies up later. Been a bit slack on the photo front so will rectify that shortly.

[twintin]

Today i managed to get a little bit more done. I put a few diagonal supports in (until i ran out of timber) got a couple more to do. Then i gave them a lick of preservative. I bought the corner posts which i had to machine the bottom of so that when they were screwed to the frames they overhang the bottom joists and finish flush at the bottom. They have been made so when the cladding is on they will sit proud of the sides which hopefully will look good. I have also trial fitted one of the roof rails and thats looking good. I can only use one upright as a second one will end up in the apple tree! So to overcome that i'm going to put a bearer on the concrete fence posts and run a rail from that to the post and i think that will work out ok. The rails for the runners have been let into a slot in the side so hopefully it should be fairly easy to weather proof and the added benefit of the weight being taken by the framework. Oh and i also managed to win an old pine front door on fleabay for the princely sum of........99p!!!!! a bit of fettling when i pick it up and it will save me having to make one from scratch. Sorry for the rambling and also for the iffy pics we are off out to the riverside festival probably to get wet!

The all important bar area

[Bizibilder]

Is that going to be an observatory with a bar or a bar with an observatory? Looks pretty good so far.

[twintin]

quick update. Managed to get the pergola side done this week. Its starting to look how i hoped it would. Ordered the shiplap yesterday so that should arrive soon. Cant see much in the pic cos its all sheeted up to keep the summer off! I'll post some better pics later.

[twintin]

Does anyone know of a cheap supplier of the sliding gate type wheels? I can get the track from brundles cheapish but they only do the wheels without the frame. I want them like castors really. The cheapest ones i've found are around £16 ea so that makes it nearly a £100 for 6 and when you add in the £60 for track it starts to get V expensive. I would sooner go this route than castors and angle but cost might force me this way and i want to get it sorted so i can get the roof done before we go away in a couple of weeks.

[twintin]

today i managed to get a few more hours on the obs. I made up some roof trusses from some 3x2 and nail plates. I first drew it up in autocad so i knew what angle i wanted as i didnt want the pitch too steep as im very close to the max height being close to the fence. Then it was just a case of setting the angle on my cross cut and cutting them all. I then used the nail plates to hold them together 30+ nails in each truss they aint goin nowhere! This afternoon i hoiked them up on the roof frame i made the other day and screwed them down. I put 4 castors on each side rail then screwed some ali angle on to the runner rails so it runs true. I was going to use garden gate wheels but as we are going on our jollies soon i just couldnt run to it. If the castors prove no good then i can change them at a later date. Then came time for the first roll and........................superb runs really good so hoping it stays that way when i get the roof boards on. A few piccies showing where i am at the mo.

[twintin]

Well it now looks like i've come to a grinding halt for a week or so. Cladding hasnt arrived and we go away for a week on sunday.Was hoping to get the roof done but thats slipped as well because the freezer has gone pop oh well these things are sent to try us. So its batten down the hatches secure the tarp and resume normal service when i get back.

[twintin]

Just been told my ship lap will be here in the morning. Wonder how much I can put up before we go away?

[twintin]

Well i did manage to get a side of shiplap on before going away, but i think i may have dropped a clanger. I noticed before we left that the vapour barrier was covered in condensation between the board and the inside. Now i'm worried that the water will be trapped and not dry out which will in turn rot out the cladding from the inside. Although it's tanalised i still cant see it lasting if its continually wet. Should i leave it or remove it when i get back? Anone else had this?

[Bizibilder]

Leave it and let nature take its course. Once complete the obsy should be 99.99% dry in terms of liquid water. The timber will only rot if it is permanently wet, for example if it is in contact with the ground.

[twintin]

Well it's got a week and as that side is in direct sunlight it should help it dry. I'll try not to think about it till we get back

[twintin]

Couple from last week, hope to get a bit more done now we are back from hols

[twintin]

Managed to get most of the cladding on today. just a few planks on the back to do tomorrow after work. i realised that i didnt have enough clearance on the roof trusses at the sides to give me room to have a drip overhang. I packed out with a 12mm spacer then added another layer of truss timber, this meant i could put the cladding on and have a 30mm overhang so no water ingress Just need to do the back one now. Anyway a couple of update pics if anyones still interested.

General view

Closer showing where the bar will be

Inside view of the bar doors

Bit more cladding for tomorrow, it's so tight behind there i need a couple of urchins to nip in and nail the cladding on

Showing the packed out spacing on the end truss