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Post by Dragon Man on Apr 5, 2016 16:38:16 GMT
I'm very anxious to see the next steps! Me too Rick I designed it but I'm still wondering how it is all going to look and how well it will work.
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Post by davy on Apr 5, 2016 16:44:06 GMT
Looking good ken,,cracking build photos
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Post by Dragon Man on Apr 5, 2016 17:37:38 GMT
Looking good ken,,cracking build photos Thanks davy. I'm trying to show every step
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Post by Dragon Man on Apr 7, 2016 12:43:48 GMT
Not a very interesting report for today. I Cement Sheeted, painted, and water-sealed the far end wall to completely close in the control room: Then added the Guttering and connected it to the downpipe:
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Post by Dragon Man on Apr 9, 2016 11:49:32 GMT
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Post by Dragon Man on Apr 9, 2016 12:27:47 GMT
OK, back after a short break Tim puts the Ridge caps on both sections: Due to the staggered profile of the wall sections of the large main shed it is hard to water-seal where the two building join, so we had some flashing made so any rain hitting the large main shed wall will simply run onto the roof of the control room and not down the main shed wall between the 2 buildings. This shows the shape we had the flashing made. It is 2.4 metres long and 400mm wide, bent 45 degrees at 300mm: The flashing gets lined up for trimming: and then fitting: Silcone the joints to keep water out: The finished flashing to complete all the waterproofing of the whole observatory: And a view from inside the roll-away shed showing the gap around the fixed end wall so the roll away shed can easily fit over it as it rolls shut: Well, that's it for today. Darkness arrived as we packed up: and this was waiting for us
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Post by Rick in NWArk on Apr 11, 2016 3:15:31 GMT
Looks great, Ken!!
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Post by Dragon Man on Apr 13, 2016 14:21:47 GMT
Thanks Rick Today was another quiet one with not much done. Just a few small jobs. Picked up the steel for the frame inside the roll-away section. It is 50mm x 25mm x 2mm RHS steel rectangular tube. Then I finished off water-sealing around the bottom of the Control Room with Concrete sealing Silicone while Jake climbed up on the roof and finished off the painting by doing the flashing on the wall between the main shed and the Control Room roof.
A little each day is gradually knocking it over. The frame will be welded together on the weekend, add the wheels, then sort out the track
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Post by Dragon Man on Apr 17, 2016 12:01:58 GMT
The weekend is here so we are back into it today, in terrific weather. Time to build the frame inside the roll-away shed section: RHS 50mm x 25mm box Steel for the frame A cut-off wheel makes life a bit easier: Preparation for the Welds for the wheel blocks: Wheel block in place: Welding wheel block on: Wheels fitted: Tim and jake going for a test drive LOL!!!! Checking the fit, then measuring for the uprights to be cut: Time to Weld the uprights to the wheel frame: I better inspect it first OK Tim, weld it: Fit the whole section into the shed (both sides have been done): and set up the cross frame ready to weld in place: and that's it for today. You can see the temperature has plummeted as night approaches by Barry putting on his Polar jacket
Back into it tomorrow
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Post by Dragon Man on Apr 18, 2016 11:00:30 GMT
A new day and back at it. Today was spent with Jake and I getting the floor done in the control room. Because we laid the concrete ourselves it isn't quite level so when we placed the floor joists they needed a bit of packing to get them all level: Then I measured and made a hardwood Door Sill slightly angled down for rain run-off: Laying the 19mm thick Tongue & Groove flooring sheets: The finished floor and door sill Back at it tomorrow to do more
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Post by davy on Apr 18, 2016 17:29:46 GMT
Coming together nicely ken,what kit is going to be housed in the observatory,
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Post by Dragon Man on Apr 18, 2016 17:55:16 GMT
Coming together nicely ken,what kit is going to be housed in the observatory, Thanks Davy. This Observatory will house my Video Astronomy gear to one side, and the control room will house my broadcasting desk. The other side of the Obs will have another members setup and he will share the desk. When we build the other observatory at the other end of the main building it will probably house some Dobs for the public to use or maybe more members gear. It's up to the members what happens with it. We have made this control room large enough to fit some public in to watch Broadcasting and Live Video, plus there will be a projector showing the feed on a large screen in the main room for more people to watch.
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Post by davy on Apr 18, 2016 18:01:06 GMT
Sounds brilliant ken,,this will set you up nicely for broadcasting through the winter and a great asset to the club.
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Post by ChrisV on Apr 19, 2016 23:33:03 GMT
This is not a progressive build !
This looks like one of those home reno shows with the clock ticking ! Awesome progress Ken.
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Post by Dragon Man on Apr 20, 2016 12:53:42 GMT
Jake and I didn't get much done today due to having to 'learn before we do' Most of the day was taken up by working out how to fit door knobs and striker plate to a door and door frame. I've never fitted a door knob/lock into a new door before. I've only replaced door knobs in existing doors that have all the holes already drilled So, all we got done today was painted and fit one door, added door knob/lock, and added a weather strip across the bottom, and it had to be completely finished today because the forecast is for rain tonight and tomorrow. Without the door fitted there was no way to keep the rain out This part, adding the locking door, now completes the exterior construction of the Control Room: Next job is to finish the rolling frame inside the roll-away shed, set up the track, and then start doing the inside of the control room. Getting closer to it being usable A busy weekend coming up!
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Post by Rick in NWArk on Apr 20, 2016 14:34:13 GMT
*crossing fingers* for good weather this weekend for you.
My spring so far has pretty much been a wash-out.
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Post by Dragon Man on Apr 23, 2016 13:48:41 GMT
Thanks Rick. Well, the weekend is here and the weather is great! Cool but no wind or rain. The day started with bringing out the parts of the roll-away frame so they could be undercoated in Killrust anti-rust paint then painted dark Blue. It will be too hard to paint the whole frame once it is welded together inside the shed. We left the spots where the frame will be welded together unpainted. They will be painted inside the shed after being welded. The painted frame goes back inside and squared up ready to be welded: After Tim welds the corner together, a thick steel plate is added to keep the frame square: Then repeated in the other corner: ______________________________________________ Now to support the open ended roof.Here you can see how the roll-away shed rolls over top of the small part of the control room: Because want to get as much as possible done this weekend we continued working tonight. After measuring our next frame parts it was time to cut, grind, and weld, supporting the open end of the Roll-Away shed. Tim cutting the steel by the light of his headlamp Me grinding in the light of Barry's Headlamp Parts in place to check angle cuts are correct: Welding it into place: Both sides done and waiting for the support gusset to be welded in tomorrow. Time to call it a night, We are all tired Back to it tomorrow
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Post by Dragon Man on Apr 24, 2016 14:42:16 GMT
Tomorrow is here It's now Sunday, time to keep going. The support Gusset cut to shape and ready to go in to prevent the open end of the Roll-away shed from sagging: . . . and welded in place. The other side of it will be welded when we roll the shed out so we can get to it: Tim welds support braces into the corners of the open end to give more support from sagging: Track Brackets welded into place and bolted down: Now the track gets set up outside: I dig the holes for the track support Stirrups: Barry attaches the stirrups: All set into the holes and levelled: Here you can see how the track is laid on its side. The hold-down brackets will run inside the channel to prevent the wind from lifting the shed and the wall from moving outwards: Now to concrete the whole lot in. Here's the concreting party made up of me, Tim, Glenn and Barry: Concreting done: That's one track done: Sunset arrives and it's time to call it a day. Now to get the scopes out again as we have lovely clear skies. Back to it tomorrow, which is a Public Holiday here for Anzac Day
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Post by ChrisV on Apr 25, 2016 3:36:43 GMT
The concrete slab looks like a good spot for two up.
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Post by Dragon Man on Apr 25, 2016 16:36:49 GMT
Back to it today Monday, a public holiday here in Australia called 'ANZAC DAY'. More members of our club, John and Anna, arrived today and lent a hand for a while. Here's John pulling a pose while we concrete the other set of track stirrups LOL! __________________________________ Construction of the Hold-down brackets so the Roll-Away shed doesn't blow away or the walls move outwards (this will explain why the track is laid on its side): 20mm x 20mm box tube steel slotted to take an angle bracket: 4mm thick Angle bracket inserted into slot: then welded together: Here you can see how the hold-down bracket slides into the track: Hold-down bracket welded into place inside the roll-away shed: This photo from the outside of the shed shows how the box tube fits inside the track when welded into place. The box tube is larger than the opening in the track: Now that yesterday's concreting has set it's time to bolt the wood into the stirrups: Tim welds brackets on to bolt the track down to the wood: A bracket goes on every 1 metre: So, this is where we are up to at the end of this weekend. One track completed. The other track will be done next weekend and then the roll-away shed can 'Roll-Away' During this week I will continue with other small jobs like finish the flooring, fit the interior door, etc.
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