Astrokev's ROR - The Build

[Astrokev]

2 hours ago, LeeRich said:

More wheels makes for a smoother glide ?

In theory maybe. In practice there are probably only 2 or 3 per side actually in contact with the rail. 

[Guest]

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Edited January 13, 2019 by Guest

[Gina]

Mine all take load because there's just the four of them and the roof is not rigid - it flexes - a benefit of timber.

[Astrokev]

Yes I think roof flexure would certainly help. Accuracy when working with timber is difficult to preserve since it's such a dynamic material, subject to change with time. 

[Guest]

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Edited January 13, 2019 by Guest

[Astrokev]

A not very exciting photo of more gutter brackets (just to show that I did do something today!), drying on the dining table after giving them a coat of paint just now.

Tomorrow, I'll attach these to the north edge of the warm room roof and put up the last length of guttering

 

[Astrokev]

As hoped, after doing some unexpected proof-reading of some of my daughters uni essays and the like (which needed to be handed in by 2PM today!), although brain-dead I managed to get the last of the guttering and down-pipes fitted. Hooray, another tick off the never ending list!

Next job is to cut and fit barge boards on the east and west edges of the ROR. Hopefully over the weekend if the weather holds up.

[Astrokev]

Cut the barge boards but then started raining so packed up again. Oh well, there's always tomorrow. 

[Astrokev]

Bit of a mixed day today. Busy doing other things this morning (but can't remember what exactly). Eventually made it outside mid afternoon. The plan was to paint the barge boards and then fix a length of EPDM along the inside face of the rolling roof north side. The hope is that this will form an effective barrier to stop wind blowing under the roof and into the scope room when the ROR is closed.

So, painting the barge boards went to plan (only the inside face, I'll paint the outer faces once they're up). Then I rolled back the roof to get access to the north side so I could attach some EPDM. This is when things went off-piste, and I was greeted with a loud crunch and the roof came to an abrupt halt.

Inspection soon revealed the problem. The guttering I'd installed a few days ago was sticking out too far at both ends (see picture a couple of posts above). The wrap-around sides of the roof clearly didn't like this! Why I didn't test this after installing the guttering escapes me - what's that phrase about measuring twice and cutting once? With hindsight it was blindingly obvious. Fortunately, no great damage was done, but it took me the rest of the daylight hours to remove, modify the re-attach the guttering. This time I tested it and can report that the roof rolls back all the way without problem. Phew.

By this time it was too dark to play with the EPDM so that was the end of the observatory build for today. So, instead of a nice pic of the new wind seal on the roof, here's another pic of some paint drying...

[JamesF]

Measuring twice is all very well, but you do have to be sure you're measuring the right thing

Mind you, the number of times during my build when I've set up a fence for the circular saw only to realise in the nick of time that I've forgotten to allow for the distance between the edge of the sole plate and the opposite face of the blade...

James

[mountainmadman]

Love the photo of the paint drying! That's made my morning! ?

Seriously though, congratulations on an impressive build!

[Astrokev]

45 minutes ago, mountainmadman said:

Love the photo of the paint drying! That's made my morning! ?

Seriously though, congratulations on an impressive build!

Haha. Thanks!

[Astrokev]

Productive hour this afternoon. Put up all the barge boards and gave them a couple of coats of paint. 

I then measured up and cut the EPDM to go along the north side of the rolling roof to form a seal with the warm room roof when it's closed. Ran out of light so didn't manage to attach it, so this is my next job. 

I'll post a couple of pics tomorrow. 

[Astrokev]

Here are the pics of the finished barge boards as promised.

Today was playing-with-grandson day, but I managed to find an hour this morning to attach the EPDM strip to the rolling roof. This forms a seal with the fixed warm-room roof as it closes and should prevent wind blowing rain under the north edge of the rolling roof, since the roof cross beam does not form an effective seal on it's own. The way this works is probably obvious but, as I'm at a loose end tonight, I've drawn a quick sketch to show the design in case I've not explained this well. It's tricky to take pictures of this in the fully closed position! As far as I can see, both roof's are now finished; on the outside at least. I'm still considering whether to put thin ply shuttering between the roof rafters on the inside of the roof where they rest on, and are attached to, the cross beams. I don't think rain can enter here, but the gaps do provide a means for bugs to get into the scope room, so shuttering will reduce this risk. On the upside, the gaps provide good ventilation, so I still need to decide whether to do this or not. If I do, it can be done from the inside so I'm now not dependant on good weather  

 

Edited January 15, 2019 by Astrokev

[Gina]

Very smart

[Kev M]

Looking good.....?

Will have to get mine back on plan after its delay....?

[Astrokev]

In my last post I mentioned the gaps between the roof rafters where they rest on the roof cross beams. Thought I'd just share a few pictures to show what I meant. The gaps are nestled quite high under the roof overhangs, so may not be subject to rain blowing in, but I think I'll cover them with thin ply none the less, just to be sure. If nothing more, covering these will help stop insects getting in, although I realise trying to keep bugs out completely is almost impossible. Even if I cover the roof gaps, there're still small gaps around the rails etc. which I'll probably leave open to allow some level of ventilation.

In the second image, the thin bright line is the gap between the wall and the roof cross beam on the south side. I've thought of a simple design to seal this which I'll share when I get round to making it.

[Rusted]

Even if the rain doesn't get blown in, fine snow almost certainly will.

Insects are impossible to exclude. Wasps like a roof over their nest.

[Astrokev]

Productive morning today.

I braved the freezing cold to potter in the observatory. I finally inserted the soffit vents in the warm room roof, after first of all super-gluing insect mesh to the inside face since I considered the gaps between the concentric plastic rings a little too large.

Next up, I attached the EPDM "seal" to the south side of the rolling roof as previously described. In the pics below, I've added another quick sketch to show how this will work (sorry if this is obvious, as I guess it's not rocket science). It seems to work OK. The only gaps I now have are at the ends of the rails. I've decided to leave these open for the moment and see how it goes. If these gaps do allow rain/snow to blow in, then I'll revisit it and could install brush-seals to try and help reduce the gap.

After this, my hands were frozen so I called it a morning and came in to warm up.

Back in the house, pleased to see that the turnbuckles I ordered had arrived. I went for nice shiny stainless steel. Just ordered eye-bolts and will install them as soon as the bolts arrive.

Also just ordered a window for the warm-room. Got a bit bogged down trawling Ebay so went local and following a recommendation from a family member in a related trade, managed to pick one up for £12 from a place a mile down the road. Well pleased with that.

Apart from the above, the next job is to get some thin ply and block-off the gaps above the rolling roof crossbeams - perhaps when the temp warms up a bit!

EDIT - I made an error in the diagram below. The "north wall" should say "south wall" - and in my attempt to correct my error, I've unintentionally posted the corrected picture in a new post. Oops. I really must learn how to use this forum ?

 

Edited January 18, 2019 by Astrokev

[Astrokev]

[Gina]

For my warm room window I just bought an acrylic sheet and made my own frame out of timber.  Silicone sealant keeps any wet out.

[Astrokev]

26 minutes ago, Gina said:

For my warm room window I just bought an acrylic sheet and made my own frame out of timber.  Silicone sealant keeps any wet out.

My window is internal, separating the warm and scope rooms, so doesn't need to be water-tight.

[RayD]

Great news with the window, Kev.  That's an absolute bargain.

Getting really close to a finish now (if that's even possible).

[Astrokev]

1 minute ago, RayD said:

Great news with the window, Kev.  That's an absolute bargain.

Getting really close to a finish now (if that's even possible).

Yes, at that price I'm wondering whether to turn the warm room into a conservatory  .

It feels like I'm getting close now, I must say. Apart from the internal door, and lining out, the only big job remaining is to do the electrics (with hindsight, I should've done this at the start). I must draw out what I think I need and give my local sparky a call.

[RayD]

3 minutes ago, Astrokev said:

Yes, at that price I'm wondering whether to turn the warm room into a conservatory  .

?

Given the opportunities to star gaze lately you'd probably get more use out of it if you did!