The Build begins..part 1, The Pier.

[Freff]

Must say your pier / tower looks very professional , and made at a super price compared with a shop purchased unit

Well done

Thanks for the kind words. I was very lucky, I have managed to spend the princely sum of £37.50 so far.

With the piece of aluminium for the mount, the 18mm stainless threaded rod for the base and the paint, it will probably cost £60. I'm happy with that.

It's the price of the obsy that's scarring me. Having said that I have a load of 8' x 4"x4" timber given to me. About 20 lenghts. Apparently it's what lorry drivers use to separate the lengths of steel on their trailers.

I'm also hoping for a load of 8' x 3"x3". Unfortunately, it ony comes in 8' lengths, that's the width of the trailers. It's all buckshee so I wont be complaining.

[Freff]

I have managed to get a bit more done today on the mount plate. Unfortunately, I could only get a 6"x2" aluminium billet so instead of making loads of swarfe I left it about 1½".

I have to mill out a couple of adjustment/fixing slots to finish it (see insert). I have sat the EQ6 on it and it fits nice. I'll photo it when someone is home to hold it steady.

I have now sold the greenhouse so as soon as that is taken away I can start on the obsy.

[spaceboy]

Well I think it's a pier that could be considered future EQ9 proof.

[Freff]

Well I think it's a pier that could be considered future EQ9 proof.

Please don't make me laugh, I'm aching all over from trying to sort out the greenhouse.

[Gina]

Well, it's certainly a beautiful job!

[Astrokev]

Looking good......

[Freff]

Well the greenhouse has gone. Got a good deal for it so the money from that sale will be put towards the shiplap boards.

The feather edge fence at the rear will be moved back about 3', and the greenhouse base extended by 4'. This will give me an area of 14' x 8' for the structure.

The structure will be divided into a 8' x 8' obsy and 6' x 8' warm room.

The next job will be to move the fence back. Materials are arriving Friday for a start on Monday. With luck the base will also be extended next week and the bear pit dug ready for the concrete in a fortnight.

By then I should have scrounged the rest of the timber for the joists and framing.

Thing are moving along much quicker than I expected, I thought it would take months to sell the greenhouse.

[rabbithutch]

Well done, Tony!

I know some who claim to be professionals who couldn't have done it so well as you did.

[Astrokev]

Thing are moving along much quicker than I expected, I thought it would take months to sell the greenhouse.

Looking good. I guess it's a big help already having the greenhouse base available. Looking forward to more pics.

[malc-c]

Wow... looking good.

I'm looking forward to watching this build as it's very close to my build in size. Keep the pictures coming and we all hope the weather stays dry for you

[George]

That looks a bit of a beast and pretty much future proof, congrats on a great build.

[Freff]

Thanks all. I'm starting to get a little excited at the imminent start proper.

Wow... looking good.

I'm looking forward to watching this build as it's very close to my build in size. Keep the pictures coming and we all hope the weather stays dry for you

Malcolm my obsy wont be as sophisticated as yours. It will have a simple RoR running on two out riggers.

[Freff]

Well the weather is tipping it down here. Got so bored the last few days I photographed my home made CNC machine milling the adjuster slots on the mount head.

[yesyes]

your home made CNC machine?? Explain... ;-)

[Freff]

Basically it's just that, a home made CNC machine. Computer Numerical Controlled milling machine.

Made with aluminium off cuts, a few stepper motors and an old computer.

[malc-c]

Tony,

I can see you getting lots or PMs now asking you to make up their pier heads and other bits and bobs

[yesyes]

I really like that machine. It would make life so much easier...

I can imagine making the mechanics, but how do you get it to do things to a certain scale? Do you have to calibrate it somehow? Or do you just calculate that based on the stepper motor specs and gearing?

[Freff]

I really like that machine. It would make life so much easier...

I can imagine making the mechanics, but how do you get it to do things to a certain scale? Do you have to calibrate it somehow? Or do you just calculate that based on the stepper motor specs and gearing?

Everything is created in CAD programme. Then transferred to another programme which coverts the CAD drawing to G-code which the CNC machine can read.

Then 'hey presto' a pier head.

[Freff]

I had a bash at that Goggle sketchy thingy today, I thought it was supposed to be easy.

Anyway, I gave it a go to see what sort of design I should go for regarding doors and a window. I also got a good idea of how much material I would need.

I put in the pier dimensions to see where I could best utilies the space. Sketup was very accurate at showing what angles I could expect...cool.

Unfortunately, according to the details the pier is now about 6" short. I may have to stitch a bit back in.

The roof can wait until I have more patience.

I managed to fit the mount head to the pier today and sort out a centre bolt to attach the mount. I will leave drilling and tapping the 6mm holes in the mount head until I get it all in position.

At the moment the whole setup is free to turn around the centre bolt. I'll do a polar alignment, witness mark the mount head and remove the mount. I can then mark the mount head through the adjusting slots then drill and tap.

[malc-c]

I played about with that google sketch program and gave up... I couldn't get it to go the way I wanted and had bumps all over the lawn

You could either lower the height of the walls by 6", or (probably more practice given your machining skills) manufacture an extension to your pier, or raise the pier by making a concrete block

The mount looks nice on its pedestal

[martin_h]

Just make the concrete block higher...I had the same problem....after I made the block...oops.

[Freff]

Yes I know what you mean about the lawn.

I'll keep the walls the original height, I'm a 6 footer so I want as much as I can get.

I still have the piece of the pier I cut off. (picture) I can cut the pier near the base and reweld a section back in. I'll do this once the obsy is built.

With the pier in place I can get a much more realistic idea of how high I need to go to see over the obsy wall. Once that's established I can remove and modify it.

With a bit of luck I may not have to do anything, I'm going on what Sketchup is saying.

[Freff]

Just make the concrete block higher...I had the same problem....after I made the block...oops.

I have planned to keep the base 1" below the bottom of the joist. This will allow me to keep the joists at 14" centres. I bit close I know but they are 4"x 4" timbers.

[malc-c]

This was one advantage of using plastic drainage pipe... I concreted almost the entire 3m length in the ground and then once the frames were up used the tripod as a guide to get the approximate height at which to cut off the pipe... Still could of made it a few centimeter shorter, but then I could cut down the studs and lower the adapter, or grow an inch or two

[Freff]

This is exactly why I did not go down the permanent route. If something had to be altered then I had the option to do it.

If it needs altering it should not take more than hour or so. Quick cut through the tube with a 9" cutter, cut the offcut to size and weld together. Job done.