Yawning Angel

That's what I thought when I came across them a few years back. By far the best digging tool I've owned!

Thanks Alan its a narrow, curve section shovel - quite thick metal, and great for slicing neat holes and trenches and punching through roots and bricks ? http://www.spear-and-jackson.com/product/tubular-steel-shovels/tubular-steel-newcastle-draining-16

Indeed. I'm going to make up a nice short centre bolt, then drop those right down - I've plenty of height to play with. That said, it's pretty solid

Ooh, found some upvc in 2400x1200 sheets - ordered a sample ??Thanks Collected the pier from Rother Valley Optics too <glee>

The frame isn’t fixed down at the moment, but it will be wrapped beforehand, yes. The staggered ends seemed to make sense, leaving as little exposed end grain as possible, but I’m sure I cribbed it from a build on here. If it’s not yours, perhaps James’ ? Just weighing up ideas for the back wall, as it needs to be low / maintenance due to being very close to the fence. Front runner at the moment is the same coating that’s going on the roof (25 yr before maintenance, if it performs to spec), but over vertical OSB panels - built and coated flat then raised and fixed ‘finished’.

Collecting the pier on Saturday! ?? Should be doing the concrete on Sunday, all being well

Progress today. Base framing done, awaiting joists next. Slate ground cover heaped up for now, as the pier pour is next weekend and I didn’t fancy a landslide. The pier itself is due end of next week from the fine folks at Rother Valley Optics - slight refinements on their standard offering. Last job of the day was completing the bury of the SWA network cable. Nice to be going upwards ?

Planning to have plenty of sockets ? oh yes! Todays madness was to strip the grass on the Obs plot and clear the ground work spoil - on another blazing day! Massive thanks to @Uplooker for pitching in on the spade work. It filled a 2 ton mini skip, which wasn’t in the budget, but stuff like that is easily missed least exciting photo ever: Weed matting and stones in order to cover it. If only the builders merchants sold new backs, as mine is killing me!

Got wood!

Big hole in hardened clay, building rubble and the like. 45cm a side and about the same deep - can’t imagine what it’d have been like to dig without a Newcastle shovel! Pretty much another tick on the list, unless I get a sudden burst of energy to tackle the boulders, but I’m considering them part of the pier ??

First major landmark I guess, the Corners are installed! The Kerb blocks worked really well, other than a bit of fun levelling one of them. And cable in too, I followed a field drain to use the limestone as additional protection from future over enthusiastic digging Whilst waiting on timber for the base, it’s time to clear the remaining grass which will drop the ground level a little and get it in a skip. The area will then be covered in some weed membrane and gravelled over

The foundation blocks are in, along with the network and power SWA cables - so serious grafting in 28 degree heat, especially as I've spend 20+ years perfecting my physique to drive a desk! Mad dogs and Englishmen, eh @Uplooker ? The lawn might never forgive the brutalization in this dry weather, but that's a problem for another day. Photos later... Next job - order the base timber

The step up from there seems to be loglap, which is T&G rather than overlapped, but another notch up in price. It gives a 'cabin in the woods' look, and tends to hold it's shape, due to the curved cross-section

A little more progress - The concrete for the corner blocks (right-angle, internal kerbs) have arrived, so I can get those in and level. The mains SWA is ready to go, but I'm waiting on the CAT5e SWA to go in too...then, being an IT geek, I got disracted and bought a small (6u)comms cabinet and associated networky stuff for 'later' ? Given a fair wind / fingers crossed and all that, the base should be in this weekend, sans pier. The pit should also be ready for pouring, although I really need to make my mind up if I'm going concrete all the way, or concrete / steel

Looking really tidy there James! It must feel great to be going upwards finally, my build is still in the going downwards phase ⛏️??

Hiya, thanks for the links I’ll devour them a little later! The roof will be coated in a liquid applied membrane by Sika. It’s especially suited to awkward shapes, flat roofs and areas subjected to flex. This is one of the demo displays :

Some minor progress today in the baking heat. Dug the pads out for the ‘shed’ base, or rather chipped out. Clay and builders rubble under turf, so it was pickaxe work. Ordered the SWA, the corner blocks and concrete and started on the pier’s foundation pit The gazebo was the only way to make any use of the day ?

Looking really good!

Thanks James, I had thought I might run a high level cable, I can go over the patio via the existing pergola, then underground to the Obs. Clay soil and 4 weeks of no rain in making any spade work 'interesting' Very useful! I will be doubling up too, so even with the wall thickness, I should have that same edge...now I will make sure it's in the plan, to remind me I'm finding SketchUp invaluable for this job. Being able to slide the roof and see the clearances has really helped. Next step is to get the pads in and the pier block dug out then poured Don't worry, there will be pictures ?

After a frustrating winter with glimpses of the night sky few and far between, I’ve decided to try to join the ranks of amateur observatory owners to try and maximise my opportunities. So, inspired by @Astrokev, @JamesF and other recent builds I have permission from the missus (!) a space and SketchUp - what can possibly go wrong?? The plan is a 50/50ish roll off with warm room, weighing in at 2.4m x 4.2m and scraping in just under 2.5m high. Scope side is 2.4m square with the remainder given over to the warm side. The rails will extend over an area I can’t put posts in, so they’ll be supported by diagonal braces back to the main structure (this needs adding to the drawing) The all important roof is intended to be a ‘flat’ roof design, having about a 2.5% fall from the rolling side to the warm. Waterproofing will be liquid applied - I’m lucky in this, as i work for the manufacturers, so there is some expertise to draw on - not to mention staff discount ? Work-in-progress plan look like this: And the plot, taken looking north (warm room to the left, scope to the right) So I get North, East and round to South. The is already 3 core 2.5mm SWA buried, so power should be ok. CAT5 might be an issue, as all routes go under the patio. I’m hoping to get powerline networking out there, otherwise a solid WiFi setup should be manageable, as the house isn’t too far away. Should be a fun summer!

Could upgrade to C24 grade timber for the roof....or even swap out for oak on select parts, giving more strength for the same dimensions ?

If you're thinking of tackling welding yourself, then maybe borrowing or hiring a gas axe if worth it? It'd make short work of the Owl's nest - and the larger bolt holes if you're careful

I’m planning to use a liquid applied roof coating, which is flexible enough to cover heat expansion and flex in structure as the roof moves. Plus, anything it touches it sticks to ?

Hiya Kev, I've been following your build with interest - very nice work! It's my plan to put a similar build together this year. One thing I'm struggling with, and you may have solved in your design - how are you weatherproofing the horizontal seam between the rolling roof and the southern end, when it is closed?