Gina's Mini Widefield Imaging Observatory

[Gina]

Cut completed

[Stu]

Great stuff Gina :-)

Do please be careful, I once introduced the tips of two of my fingers to the spinning blade of a router bit...... Messy [emoji16]

[Gina]

Thanks Stu   I always try to be careful.  Hope you weren't badly injured.

[Stu]

Thanks Stu I always try to be careful. Hope you weren't badly injured.

No, nothing too bad, just mashed the tips a bit but they healed very well.

It did mean I had to paint rather than varnish the thing I was working on. Blood stains don't look terribly attractive on a dressing table for your young daughter [emoji12]

In all seriousness, at the time I had fixed the router at a required depth, which naturally keeps the bit below the guard when it is spinning. This is a useful thing to do, but more risky than when you have it free so it retracts back behind the guard as soon as you release the pressure.

Not sure what 'standard practice' is, would be interested to know to avoid future issues

[Gina]

Glad you healed up well   Mine and many others need the power button held in and it switches off as soon as you release it.  This helps safety even it it makes your finger ache   But the main safety measure is to wait for the router to stop before lifting it off the work and hold it by both handles.  Maybe I shouldn't but I leave mine lowered between cuts ready for lowering a bit more for the next cut but I keep fingers away from the cutter bit except when changing it.  There is a safety button which you have to press to unlock the ON button before you can switch on.  Still advisable to unplug before changing bits though.

[Gina]

Note that I've edited my post above Stu.

[Gina]

Here's "one that got away" as t'were.  I had a fence of 6mm plywood clamped down and it moved   Fortunately it won't affect the operation of the roof   Just thought I'd show that I sometimes do things wrong    The small radius was done freehand   I've since gone for screwing the fence board to the work with wood screws.  That works

[Davey-T]

At least it's only a bit of plywood, really annoying if you do it on a £300.0 worktop 

Dave

[Davey-T]

Pictures Gina, we need pictures [emoji3]

Have you got any pictures of your fingers Stu',  I've got some nice ones of my thumb that I chopped the end off with a circular saw. 

Dave

[Gina]

Yikes!!! :eek:

[Gina]

At least it's only a bit of plywood, really annoying if you do it on a £300.0 worktop 

Dave

Yes, I doesn't matter too much what it looks like though I don't want it to look too much like a piece of rubbish

Anyway, this will give me useful practice with the router and then I should do better when I want to work on something more important.

[Tinker1947]

Here is a iffy way of working but i can't think how to alter the method, Router cutting half blind dove tails in a jig, the router cutter need to be set to a exact depth, the tightness of the joint is made by lowering or raising the cutter so once its set it needs locking in position, the dodgy bit is when its placed on a bench when finished with a cut, while the cutter remains in the jig until it stops the cutter its self is razer sharp.....

This how it looks when its cutting....

This is how it is when layed on a bench...

[Gina]

WOW!    That doesn't look like the safest operation

[Stu]

'Fraid not Dave. Yours sounds rather more gruesome!

[Davey-T]

Is that what they mean by "hand made dovetails" 

Dave

[Tinker1947]

Is that what they mean by "hand made dovetails" 

Dave

Dovetails i can do, Half Blind type would be pushing my patience a bit

[Gina]

Here are the 4 quadrant pieces that take the moving parts of the roof.  Far from perfect but adequate for the job.  I still have the hole to cut through for the axle.  I shall do that on my bench drill.

[Gonzo]

I'm sure with some elbow grease and patience you can smooth out the edges.

[Tinker1947]

Have you sorted out how to attach the sheet metal to the marine ply..

[Gina]

Have you sorted out how to attach the sheet metal to the marine ply..

Actually, I think I have.  Using either screws of nails in the edge of plywood is not such a good idea I've concluded.  But with the 1/2" polyether foam I received rather than the 1/4" I ordered, I now have the roof panels 15mm apart rather than 10mm.  That leaves plenty of room for angle brackets which I can 3D print.  With hindsight I could have bought 9mm marine ply instead of 12mm.  Or even 6mm perhaps.  But I've got the 12mm ply now so that's what I'm using

The radii of the roof sections are now 185mm, 300mm and 315mm so I could easily use 12mm wide curved angle to attach the aluminium panels to the plywood.  Thinking about this I guess the best idea would be to have the angle outside the panel holding it down onto the plywood.  The sections of angle could then be screwed of bolted to the plywood.  They could also be wider and 3mm thick would cause no problem though 2mm thickness of plastic would probably be sufficient.

[Tinker1947]

Don't forget the ali/metal corrosion, sealing the edge of the ply with Uni Bond will stop any wet/damp expanding the ply......you would get away with stainless screws with stainless cups to hold the Ali to the edge of the ply.......

[Gina]

More progress...  The top straight cuts on the roof fixed end sections.

This shows the 6mm plywood fence screwed to the work.  The two work pieces are also screwed together and to pieces of scrap underneath.  This photo is after cutting the second straight edge.

Plywood fence removed.

[Gina]

Think the routing is finished   Ohotos to follow   Umm...  I think I've broken the old dining table in as a work bench - went a little bit deep with one of the cuts   Am I bovvered - do I look bovvered?  Nope

[Gina]

That should be "Photos" and here they are :-

[Horwig]

As long as the scars are on the wood, and not on you, all is ok

Good going, its going to be a good looking obsy.

Huw