Obsy Progress...

[Vic&Al]

Hi all,

Progress has been a bit slow of late, as life has got in the way of my hobby. For now managed to partition the warm room and deal with some structural issues (wire & turnbuckles fixed the wobbly obsy effect).

Just need to fix the pier & work out a mount adapter, oh and fit a USB hub, should be nearly there fingers crossed XX

More pics soon......

[Vic&Al]

Finally got back to the build!

A double bereivment and work commitments put my obs on hold for a while but a quick update, to show how things are getting on.

Firstly, I have had a slight issue with the structure of my shed. The whole shed was leaning over when the roof was moved, I got round this by installing some 90 degree braces & wire and turnbuckles to tension the whole thing up.

Also the ro-ro tracks have moved slightly and I will need to retrofit a new rail system I am liking Freff's idea

Next onto the pier. I stripped my EQ6 tripod to utilise the mount plate. I have 2 6" blank plates and a scrapyard pier, the blank plates were a real task to drill as one of them was stainless. The pier is now cleaned up and ready for welding to my adapter.

Finally I have added a planter to the supports on the Ro-Ro this was initially for asthetics but is now a garden kitchen! More to follow

[Adamski]

Are you sure you didn't go to Glastonbury and enjoyed it so much you had to take the mud home with you.lol

[Adamski]

That's a good shed. where is it from?

[Vic&Al]

Missed Glastonbury lol

The shed is a 12X8 pent from a local firm using 3/4" Rolling roof added for cost of materials only!

[redfox1971]

Hi looks good,what materials did you use to make your sliding roof system any plans of it's build?

[Astrokev]

Good to follow the progress of this. It's interesting to hear that you had problems with the rigidity of the structure. From what I've read, this is a recognised risk with a commercially bought "standard" shed, since the rigidity of the walls rely heavily on the roof for support. Once you remove the roof.....

Hope your wire/turnbuckle system is improving things.

As others have said, some pics of the roof details would be good, particularly how you have done the seals when the roof is closed.

Cheers

[Gina]

Yes, without a roof you need diagonal bracing.

[malc-c]

Glad to hear you have managed to sort out the structure problems. This was one reason I opted for a self build rather than a conversion. Most commercial sheds use a non-standard pitch for the spacing of the uprights on the panels, mainly because the structure relies on all walls and roof to hold it together. You could add some 2" x 1" diagonal bracing between the uprights which would probably do a better job than turnbuckles and wire.

[Vic&Al]

Yes the roof has been a bit of a problem but the structure is pretty rigid now. The main problem has been the alignment of the roof on the runners as the timbers moved.

The design of the rollers are very basic which are 2 lengths of 4" x 2" attached to the outside of the shed at the top. To seal the roof is basically just overhangs. As the shed is bespoke its not a standard roof ie it is a couple of inches wider all the way around. I don't have any plans Im afraid but here are some photo's.

We have had plenty of wind and rain and no leaks as yet. I will be fitting 2 steel L shape tracks as for the castors to run on and have been thinking of installing heating wire underneath them to de-frost the tracks in the winter, has anybody tried this?

Finished work on the pier but with all the moving about it looks like the polar scope will need re-aligning in the mount.

Warm Roomish

[Gina]

Very interesting Thanks for posting the pics

[malc-c]

I used one length of aluminium U channel that was just wide enough for the wheels to run in. The other side runs on the top of the timber. The rail keeps the roof on track just fine. The reasons I didn't use two tracks was a) I had a drop down section so alignment between the joints was a problem, and the clearance of the wheels in the track and the tollorances of getting all the wheels in alignment was so tight that there was a lot of binding.

Adding a single length of ali tracking will help keep that roof tracking correctly

[Gina]

I used one length of aluminium U channel that was just wide enough for the wheels to run in. The other side runs on the top of the timber. The rail keeps the roof on track just fine. The reasons I didn't use two tracks was a) I had a drop down section so alignment between the joints was a problem, and the clearance of the wheels in the track and the tollorances of getting all the wheels in alignment was so tight that there was a lot of binding.

Adding a single length of ali tracking will help keep that roof tracking correctly

I'll be using ali channel too, also just wide enough for the wheels.

[Vic&Al]

Adding a single length of ali tracking will help keep that roof tracking correctly

Thanks for the tip malc, saves a few quid too! any thoughts on heating the tracks for winter? I have seen tracks icing up in the winter causing the roof to get stuck.

Ill throw another one out there. My pier sounds like a church bell I know sand is probably best but could I fill the pier with water? I would stick in a rust inhibitor too.

Putting my diy welding to the test:eek:

[malc-c]

I'm no expert, but I would probably use something like dried play sand to fill the pier.

[Helen]

I got some play sand from Argos for mine and it stopped the ringing.

Helen

[Vic&Al]

Thanks guys I think the play sand idea is the way, just need to find a way to get it in there! The reason I suggested water is for ease of putting it in / taking it out..

[Vic&Al]

Its been a busy couple of days, finished the electrics and computer control, as you can see in the picture the obsy can also double up as a garage!

Warm room is pretty much finished now just waiting for a break in the clouds to align the mount:icon_rolleyes:

Nearly there...

[FairviewSteve]

Thanks guys I think the play sand idea is the way, just need to find a way to get it in there! The reason I suggested water is for ease of putting it in / taking it out..

This is a great thread and an amazing build. Hope it's all goign well for you. I wouldn't think water would be good even with a rust inhibitor in, it won't entirely stop corrosion and it would be awful for it to rust from the inside out and collapse with your scope on the top. Have you though perhaps of aerosol expanding foam?

Will be follwoignt hsi thread closely. My plan is to build an observatory in the back of my garage eventually.

Steve

[Daniel-K]

thats a fantastic build im moving house this week with a garden double the size of my current garden so a build is deffo on the cards for early next year