Astrokev's ROR - The Build

[Shibby]

Looking very nice. Always a good idea to over-engineer!

On 29/10/2017 at 23:16, Astrokev said:

...It took longer than expected...

Yeah, get used to that.

[Adam J]

You are a braver man than me taking this on over winter, i think I would have stopped and be waiting for warmer weather at this point. My 6x6 took me 4 months to finish and its tiny. 

[Astrokev]

5 hours ago, Adam J said:

You are a braver man than me taking this on over winter, i think I would have stopped and be waiting for warmer weather at this point. My 6x6 took me 4 months to finish and its tiny. 

Braver?  Not sure about that. More stupid perhaps ;-)

As you'll see from the first post, I started back in the summer, but the weather's been dreadful for most of the year after the mini-heatwave back in July/August. If I waited for warmer / drier weather I don't think I'd ever get it done. So, doing little bits as the weather allows. I don't mind the cold, it's the wet that I hate.

Thanks for following my thread

Kev

[Astrokev]

On ‎27‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 15:16, smudgeball said:

We're all rooting for you to get it finished !

Thanks smudgeball. So long as you don't hold your breath at the same time!

Kev

[Astrokev]

On ‎27‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 15:05, RayD said:

Looking really good, I feel your excitement 

Thanks Ray.  Feels great to be adding some height now that I've finished the base. Just hope I haven't made the walls too high!

Kev

[yesyes]

Hey Kev. This is looking really really good and very familiar. Brings back some good memories and some of an aching back. ;-)

And nice to see my build mentioned a few times

I'll be following the rest of this build with interest.

 

 

Edited April 18, 2018 by yesyes

[yesyes]

One more thing...

I see you are planning to make the roll-off roof very similar to mine. I'd recommend spending enough time aligning the rails and castors once the roof frame and the captive mechanism on the sides is done, but before you put the roof joists and sheets on. I haven't done than during my build and found it really hard to align it later when the roof was much more heavy. I'm still having some trouble with the alignment today.

[Astrokev]

Hi Chris

Thanks for the advice  - I'll take that on board.

Today I finally managed to get the tarp off. First time I'd seen the timber since November and the tarp seems to have done it's job.

So, off to the store and bought a load more timber studding and posts, and started building the side wall. Will finish this tomorrow.

Hopefully the build will now continue at a quicker pace. I've recently finished work which means I'm not restricted to wet weekends!

Thanks for checking out my thread

Kev

 

[Astrokev]

Second wall frame finished. :-)

 

[Astrokev]

Taking advantage of the dry weather I managed a few more hours today on the build.

Finished off the 3 outer walls to the scope room by adding corner bracing and noggins. Just started to build the inner wall which will separate the scope and warm rooms, but only managed to fix the top piece before the showers came, so back on went the tarp!

I hope to order the rolling-roof wheels and rails next. Not sure on delivery time but it would be nice to have them ready and waiting for when I've finished the warm room, and am ready to start on the rolling roof. F.H. Brundle seems to be the recommended supplier so will probably use them.

If anyone has any recommendations regarding the type of wheels that would work best I'd be very grateful (I think they do "V"  and "round" section designs. Is one better than the other?).

Thanks

 

[Astrokev]

Sun was shining this afternoon. Started sawing and got 2 pieces of studding added to the build before the clouds blew in and it started chucking it down  :-(

Nice Summer we had - looks like we're back to Winter.

[Astrokev]

Bit more work on the obsy today.

Completed the internal wall which will separate the scope room and warm room. In the image you can make out the frame of a small window in the middle of the internal wall, and the door frame giving access to the scope room.

Also started on the outside walls of the warm room. It took ages to get the top rail lined up with the rail on the scope room!  The plan is to get the rest of the walls completed this weekend.

Now that the scope room wall frames are up, I'm getting nervous about the height. Although my SketchUp plans suggested they would be OK, I'm a bit concerned that I won't be able to view lower altitudes to the East and South (West and North are pretty well obscured by hedging so I'm less worried about these directions).

An option I'm thinking about is to add a pier extension. This would help, and would also give a better eyepiece height, since the pier was designed for a Newtonian reflector and I've now got a refractor (and am considering getting an SCT)!

Another option is to add a hinged flap in the South wall - must think more on that before I clad the walls!

[Astrokev]

No action on the obsy build today, as it was house-cleaning day to make it half-decent for my daughters friends who'd been invited for a BBQ.

But, I did manage a few hours yesterday, which I forgot to post - so here's a quick update.

Outer wall frames are just about finished. Just a few studs to put up to mark-out the main entrance door, which I hope to finish tomorrow. This feels like a mini-milestone .

Next job is to put the roof joists over the warm-room and then start on the sliding roof rails. Exciting to be moving on to another part of the build instead of walls!

I may also Creocote the outer parts of the base to help weather-proof it before I install vapour barrier. I'm hoping to complete this before the rains return later in the week, but suspect I may not finish this in time, since everything seems to take twice as long as I think!

Anyway, here's the current state of the build....

 

 

[Astrokev]

Finally opted for Creocote as a preserver, so treated the outward facing wood frame and base (that will be in contact with moisture barrier membrane).

Completed the small wall to the right of the main door, so all the wall frames are finished. Yay!

I started on the fixed roof, but no images taken - I'll take some tomorrow. I also put up the lower strip of breathable membrane this evening. It was dark by the time I'd finished - not easy putting this stuff up with an iPhone held between your teeth to provide the light! Needless to say it took longer than expected (no surprise really) so couldn't get the upper layer on. Then grappled with my enormous tarp to cover the build for the overnight rain that's been forecast.

When inside, this gave my first impression of what it'll be like inside the obsy with the roof shut, so had to take a picture!

Edited May 9, 2018 by Astrokev

[valefor]

That is alot of thought and planning going into this. Its looking amazing. My ror is just a converted shed which i reinforced with fence posts and interior walls. My pier is a 150mm pipe sunk 70cm under and 1.3m above ground with a steel rod sunk a further 50cm under in the centre of the concrete. The only adivce id leave here is make sure you run your power and network cables early in the build. Its not easy getting them to where you want them when there is a whole building in the way. 

Dave

[Mick J]

Looking really good Kev, nice to be working in the sunshine.  

[Astrokev]

12 hours ago, Mick J said:

Looking really good Kev, nice to be working in the sunshine.  

Thanks Mick, kind of you to say. Absolutely great to be working in the sunshine!

Yesterday I was working with the sun beating down and a Spitfire flying around overhead. (I live near an historic aerodrome at Old Warden, Bedfordshire, so am lucky enough to see vintage planes flying over almost daily)

It don't get much better than that :-)

[Astrokev]

13 hours ago, valefor said:

That is alot of thought and planning going into this. Its looking amazing. My ror is just a converted shed which i reinforced with fence posts and interior walls. My pier is a 150mm pipe sunk 70cm under and 1.3m above ground with a steel rod sunk a further 50cm under in the centre of the concrete. The only adivce id leave here is make sure you run your power and network cables early in the build. Its not easy getting them to where you want them when there is a whole building in the way. 

Dave

Thanks Dave - very kind of you.

My build is rather over-engineered in some respects; far more so than is actually needed. I've thrown myself into this project, partly as a way of keeping focussed after a very traumatic time over the past 18 months. I'm also interested in seeing just how good a job I can do, plus it's fun!

At the end of the day, I guess it's whatever works for you and, as they say, the best observatory is the one that gets used! I'm certainly hoping mine will get used!!

Good advice about the cabling. That's the one bit I've given very little thought to so far!

Thanks for checking out the thread

Kev

[Astrokev]

No work on the observatory today other than taking a few photo's. Hoping to get out there tomorrow if it stays dry.

Here's a better internal view, plus an attractive photo of my tarp!

The diagram is a view of my SketchUp model - this shows the next stage in the build, making the fixed roof over the warm room (at least that's the plan!)

Edited May 10, 2018 by Astrokev

[smudgeball]

We've all got the champagne on ice waiting to see this roof finally appear Kev !

[Astrokev]

1 hour ago, smudgeball said:

We've all got the champagne on ice waiting to see this roof finally appear Kev !

I look forward to having a sip. Hic!

Well the good news is that the V groove wheels and track I ordered from FH Brundle were delivered today :-)

A few bits to finish off before I can start to play with these though - make the frame for the fixed roof (hopefully this afternoon), finish attaching the breathable membrane, clear the ground to the right of the obsy so I can put up some posts to support the rails which will support the sliding roof.......

 

[Astrokev]

Managed to get the fixed roof joists up this afternoon. Small tweak to the SketchUp plan - I extended the outer joists to give more support to the roof board, which will overhang by several inches to help keep the rain run-off from pouring down the wall.

Possible rain tonight so on went the tarp again!

 

[Astrokev]

The rails to support the rolling roof are ready to attach. Before I do this, I decided to clear the ground around the observatory to make space to erect the posts to support the rails where they extend beyond the right side of the obsy. The ground where I need to erect the posts has been a dumping ground for the spoil from digging the hole for the pier base, and all the other debris from the build so far. Much as though I want to press on with the main build, this had to go to make room!

Sadly this involved the purchase of a small skip, so more cost - this is getting expensive! Still, I'm pleased with how tidy the area around the obsy now looks. I levelled the ground all the way round the building. Eventually I'll put stone chippings around the obsy. Before and after pics below.

Tomorrows job is putting up the roof rails - yay!

[Astrokev]

Managed to spend a bit more time on the obsy today. Bits completed today -

Attached the rails that will support the steel V-track. These are 120x45mm timber, chosen to protrude at the sides, which will allow me to curve the sides of the roof underneath to help prevent it lifting in high winds. I think this is unlikely, but it also serves to reduce wind blown debris getting into the obsy when it's shut, and helping to keep bugs out.

The rails extend beyond the right end of the obsy next to the warm room to allow the roof to roll clear of the scope room.

All standard design stuff here, cribbed from numerous other builds (but mainly YesYes' excellent build).

Also dug the holes for the posts that will support the free ends of the rails (no pics of these). I'm hoping to fit these tomorrow, then I can get started on the exciting bit of building the rolling roof :-)

Collection of pics below from various angles to show the basic design for anyone unfamiliar with this approach. Also posting a general view of the obsy before I added the rails, as I haven't posted one yet that shows the membrane (upper layer still to add).

[Mick J]

Looking really good Kev,  surprising how much time and timber these things take,  you have loads of room under the floor for cable trunking before you put the floor down.