JamesF's observatory build

[JamesF]

Nuts and bolts ordered, and a little more welding done this evening.  Have one side complete now and started on the other.

James

[JamesF]

Just been out trying to get a bit more welding done.  I like to have the workshop door open when welding so there's plenty of ventilation.  Unfortunately it's rather breezy here today and it's not making life easy.

I might have another go later.

James

[JamesF]

Nearly there with the second side now.  Should finish that tomorrow.  Then it's a case of welding the sides to the roof, which is when we find out how square I've managed to keep everything.

James

[Alan White]

Nice progress James, even if it doesn't feel like it to you.
This roof is looking like it will be super when it comes together.

[JamesF]

Yay!  The sides are now complete.  And my stainless nuts and bolts have arrived, too.  Next bit is attaching the sides to the roof, which is going to be something of an adventure.  As that all has to be done outside and the next four or five days are forecast to be both windy and wet I'm not sure I'll going to get to that in a hurry unless I cover myself and the roof under a huge tarp to do the welding.  It's not like light is a huge priority, after all

James

[JamesF]

Beautiful clear blue skies and no wind here today, so I'm now setting everything up to weld the rest of the frame together.

James

[Gina]

I've been burning up rubbish in my garden taking advantage of the nice weather and very light breeze.

[JamesF]

It feels like I've really made progress today, though actually I think half the time was probably spent ensuring everything was square and spacings were all correct.  First I set up the sides I'd already welded up, getting them parallel and making sure the ends were square, with spare bits of timber to keep it all in the correct position.  Fortunately we're not short of clamps

The first roofing section fitted on quite nicely and I got that all welded in place at one end:

Then the same at the other end:

Then I just had to join the two in the middle.  I also put the wheels on to make it a bit easier to move around.

I also took the opportunity to clean up a couple of welds I wasn't entirely happy with once I saw them in the clear light of day.

Hopefully tomorrow I can get some bracing done and I have a bar to go between the sides at one end that will act as the stop to prevent the roof rolling past the closed position.

James

[Gina]

Great stuff James

[Astrokev]

Looking good James!

[JamesF]

Just debating whether I should try to get more done today.  By contrast with yesterday it's almost dark here at the moment.  Rain may well be imminent.

James

[JamesF]

I eventually decided that I'd start cutting the sheet up to make the bracing and see how the weather went.  That took somewhat longer than planned as the bits of sheet steel I had were too big to fit in the cut-off saw and I had to resort to cutting them with the angle grinder.  Then I got the roof back up on saw benches again so I didn't have to grovel on the floor too much whilst welding.

It's getting heavy now, but not so bad that I can't lift one end up into place with one hand.  I'd guess somewhere between 65kg and 70kg.

I got lucky and the rain held off, but there was a gusting breeze that made welding rather more tricky than I'd have liked.  In the end I got half the work done, though the bits on the roof are only welded on one side, whereas the ones on the walls are welded on both sides.

If things go well I reckon there's one more day of welding left to do the rest of the pieces I've cut and the end brace that will act as a stop to prevent the roof rolling past the closed position.  I'm very tempted to put in some additional horizontal supports across the middle of each of the roof bays though I'll need to get some more steel to be able to do that.  I can at least get it all cut and ready to go during an evening and it should be very quick to put in.  I don't want to take too much more time before getting it onto the observatory though.  I'd really like to have a complete roof on by the end of October.  Then I can put membrane on the walls and I'll have something that just needs the doorway and southern gable closing off to be fairly weatherproof.

James

Edited September 30, 2018 by JamesF

[Astrokev]

Very impressed James. Welding is something I've never tried. That's quite a steep slope on the roof - shouldn't have any problems there with accumulated snow in Winter !

[JamesF]

The pitch of the roof is 30 degrees.  I'd not thought of it as steep I have to admit, but our house and barns all have roof pitches around 45 degrees thanks to being designed to have a thatched roof so what I'm used to isn't "normal"

James

[Astrokev]

That sounds good. It looks steeper in the pic - it's probably just the contrast against the pathetic shallow roof line of my shed ?  I made mine shallow to keep below 2.5m total height limit. 

[Swoop1]

Enjoyed reading both yours and Astrokevs thread whilst stuck in hospital (7 busted ribs due to epic mtb fail) since last Tuesday. Nice thought provoking work sir!

[Beulah]

12 minutes ago, Swoop1 said:

Enjoyed reading both yours and Astrokevs thread whilst stuck in hospital (7 busted ribs due to epic mtb fail) since last Tuesday.

Stick to tricycles next time!

Seriously, that must hurt. Hope you have adequate pain relief and a fast recovery.

[JamesF]

25 minutes ago, Swoop1 said:

Enjoyed reading both yours and Astrokevs thread whilst stuck in hospital (7 busted ribs due to epic mtb fail) since last Tuesday. Nice thought provoking work sir!

Oh, that's really not nice :(  I was going to make a joke, but perhaps under the circumstances that's not a great idea.  When my brother had his rib cage chopped open earlier this year he said that any involuntary movement of his chest was exceptionally painful.  GWS.

James

[JamesF]

I decided that I am going to put some more horizontal sections in the roof to support the OSB that will go on top, so I bought a couple more lengths of steel.  Probably adds about 10kg to the total weight.

Actually I think I should stop worrying about the weight.  If I'd made the same shape roof in timber, even just in 3x2 I'm fairly sure it would weigh more.

James

Edited October 3, 2018 by JamesF

[JamesF]

I'm also thinking that I might just finish off the bracing, the remainder of which is easier to do on the ground anyhow, and the end stop, then get the roof into position and finish off the rest of the welding in situ.

James

[Astrokev]

It's looking great James. Can't wait to see it on the observatory.

Also like the amount of ground you seem to have there. Very spacious and attractive!

[JamesF]

There's room to breathe, certainly :)

It's about 3.5 acres in all -- the remains of a farm that was broken up in the mid 1980s.

James

[Astrokev]

11 minutes ago, JamesF said:

There's room to breathe, certainly

It's about 3.5 acres in all -- the remains of a farm that was broken up in the mid 1980s.

James

Wow, sounds great. I wish I had that sort of space!

[JamesF]

Well, the down-side (though not necessarily from an astronomy point of view) is that unless you have far more money than me, you do have to live in the middle of nowhere.  In the UK, at least.

James

[Astrokev]

.... and the problem is?