Astrokev

Back from  Kelling Heath.  Great time had by all. 

Sunny weather today so the covers are off and time to crack-on with the observatory cladding!

15 hours ago, Kev M said:

Wasn't going to mention it.....

Looking good though Kev, professional looking job...will have to get my humble attempt updated and some more pics posted.

Thanks Kev for your kind words. Looking forward to getting it finished now. It's taken far too long!

3 hours ago, lguise said:

A very high quality build! All the attention to detail will pay off, this Observatory will last for decades. Well done Kevin, looking forward to seeing the finished structure.

All the best,

Linton 

Thanks Linton. It may well outlast my ability to keep doing astronomy! You must come round when it's finished.

Look forward to seeing you at Kelling.

Kev

10 hours ago, wimvb said:

An air mattress at a building site? You like to live dangerously, don't you?

Seriously though, the build is coming along nicely.

Have fun & clear skies at Kelling.

Your probably right there!

Thanks Wim. Forecast for Kelling is looking cloudy and rainy at present sadly ?

Little bit more progress today. Grabbing bits of time between preparing for the trip to Kelling - hunting down the sleeping bag, inflatable mattress, etc . The observant will notice the corner of my mattress, being integrity tested before we leave for Kelling! ? 

Fence-facing (West) wall nearly complete, and a few more boards on the North and East walls. The last short board for the day (to fill the gap on the North wall) is still being dipped in preserver. In addition to running low on nails, me thinks I'm going to need more preserver! Feels more shed-like now. Slowly getting there...

Busy day today, trying to clear the decks of chores before we head off to Kelling Heath Star Party on Thursday, so only managed three boards this afternoon in a spare 45 minutes. The encouraging news is that the cladding is now half complete ? . Not worth posting a picture as it would be a case of "spot the difference"!

50 minutes ago, Bizibilder said:

Try the bay of fleas for SS nails in smaller quantities.  It is false economy not to! 50 x 50mm for £5 here: Here

Thanks Roger, I'll take a look ? 

Bit more progress this afternoon. Not shown are the fence-facing wall, which is nearly finished, and a couple of boards on the shed-facing wall.

Feels good to get the door lining up, minus the door sill which I still need to buy or make.

A quick count-up of the remaining nails tells me I'm going to be short by around 40-50 nails. I'm reluctant to buy more of the stainless variety as I can only find them sold by the kilo, which is WAY more than I need, and they're not cheap. I think I'm going to have to lower my standards and use non-stainless for a couple of the top boards ? 

Looks great. Look forward to seeing it welded up.

1 hour ago, Dave said:

It's coming on now mate. Nice one.

Yeah getting there. Missed my target of having it finished for Kelling, but as I can hardly take it there, I guess that doesn't matter ?  . So long as it's finished for the winter season I'll be happy!

7 hours ago, JamesF said:

Really feels like you're getting somewhere once the walls are there

I have a pencil and paper "spreadsheet" for all the steel I need to cut tomorrow to start making my roof

James

Add a pair of scissors and you'll be able to do a pivot table as well ?

The fabulous weather today helped the village fete be a big success. The usual mix of live music, bric-a-brac stalls, beer tent and burgers, fun games and quizzes, and a splendid collection of classic cars gleaming in the sunshine.

More importantly, I managed to squeeze in a couple of hours on the observatory and made a bit more progress on the cladding. Painting preservative on the back face of the boards is worth doing but sadly made for a low "boards nailed to the walls" hourly rate. Still, quite pleased with how it's turning out (the fence-facing wall is half complete also). Pleased I did my OCD spreadsheet plan, which is making it very easy to find the boards I need, and to keep track of all the off-cuts.

Car-boot sale day tomorrow with my daughter, but will hopefully be able to find another hour or two.

23 hours ago, yesyes said:

It's starting to look like an observatory!

Interesting way to do the corners. I don't think I've seen this method before. But may I just don't remember.

This seems to be the standard way commercial sheds are built, which helps keep rain off the end grain. The diagram shows more clearly the approach and dims.

I ended up going with 6 wheels and didn't have any trouble aligning them (I expected it to be more difficult than it was). The middle wheel was to provide more support, to prevent sagging of what I considered to be too big a timber span between the corner wheels, rather than to reduce the load. A steel frame may be more resistant to sagging with careful placed bracing.

Well, it's a start! ?

What you can't see is the 3 lengths I've also put up on the wall parallel to the fence. Took me a while to figure out the best method for getting the bottom board level. After cutting, I decided to dip each end in preserver for 10 minutes, and then gave the rear face a good dowsing also. Had to wait for this to soak in before nailing to the frame, so was rather a slow process waiting for them to dry off a bit. I think I've got the method down now, so hopefully will speed up tomorrow. Having said that, it's the local village fete tomorrow so no doubt I'll have to put in an appearance, using up valuable cladding time!

Brilliant. Man after my own heart ?  

And yes, I do have a pivot table to track my observatory build costs. What's not to like ?

1 minute ago, JamesF said:

Were you a Quantity Surveyor in a previous life?

James

No, just a humble scientist with a passion for detail, …..and spreadsheets ?

OCD - who, me? ?

This is my plan of which bits of cladding go where! The intention is to have the better bits on the more visible garden-facing walls, with the less good lengths hidden on the back walls.

To be honest, there's only a couple of really poor lengths - either horrendously bent or damaged along the edges, which I don't need to use due to buying slightly more than I need. Most are either straight without splits, or have minor splits at the ends which I can absorb in the off-cuts.

So, tomorrow I get my hammer out then. What could possibly go wrong....

I made my roof frame in-situ to avoid having to lift it onto the walls. This also helped ensure the dimensions were correct!

Is it possible to weld it in-situ?

Hope you get the adapter sorted Alex, must be very frustrating.

Good progress you're making otherwise ?

Following the Japanese philosophy of kaizen (small incremental improvements), I took another step to getting the cladding on this evening. Went out and bought timber for the vertical corner batons that will provide a nice straight edge to butt up against the ends of the cladding. Cut to size and gave them their first coat of preserver. Couple more coats tomorrow then I can put these up in readiness for the shiplap. Hooray!

Sorted the cladding out the other day as planned into piles of "good", "acceptable" and "rubbish". Fortunately there was only 2 lengths in the rubbish pile ? and as I'd bought excess, this is encouraging! The "acceptable" lengths will need minor trimming here and there due to slightly split ends or slight bowing, but I should have enough if I plan where to use them. Busy playing with my grandson tomorrow so hope to start cutting some 'lap on Thursday. And about time too....

Dig a hole to stand in (you're not thinking outside the box here!)

4 hours ago, JamesF said:

No sign of the steel arriving sadly, despite having an estimated delivery date of Thursday or Friday, so I've tried the track out for size and spent today sorting out the workshop to make room for my new cut off saw which is now sitting on a surprisingly decent stand that I got from Lidl for £40, and a belt sander that my Dad gave me which is on a rather more scabby stand scavenged from a couple of cheap table saws that gave up the ghost some years back.

James

They do that sort of kit in Lidl?  Never been in this store - perhaps I'm missing out!

11 hours ago, sloz1664 said:

Didn't realise you had retired Kev. I took the plunge 2 years ago. Never looked back.

Steve

Still finding it a bit scary - have I made the right decision etc, but slowly getting used to the idea.

An obvious big advantage is, once my observatory is finished, I won't need to worry too much about the odd sleep-in to recover from a long night!

Kev

5 hours ago, sloz1664 said:

Looking good Kev. With a bank holiday to help you progress.

Steve

Thanks Steve. Everyday is a bank holiday for me nowadays!

Makes me wonder what I do with my time though - I never seem to have enough to myself!

Monday is a big family BBQ day, so the weekend is largely being spent cleaning, tidying and getting stuff for this.  Hoping to start on the cladding next week unless the time-bandits steal it away from me. After that it's preparing and going to Kelling Heath for several days, so won't get much done that week. Soon be Christmas......