Up, Up and away

The time has come and that horrible feeling in my stomach has returned. Have my measurements been accurate enough has my routing beed steady can I glue and screw a perfect circle. Will the fibreglass peel away the second we start to lift. Anyway my two neighbours are here and it now or nothing. I am going to look and feel so stupid after all the banging and noise they have had to put up with.

1...............2...............3.............. lift.

 It fits perfectly.

I cannot believe how far this project has come along and how proud I am of my achievement. 

I still have not finished the main shutter so I have covered it till my next day off. I have also added a very temporary skirt to keep things water resistant. The small hinged door is also to be completed before I can say I am done. But for today I am one very happy chap.

Fibreglass.

The day had finally arrived. I was not looking foward to doing the fibreglass. Have read a great deal and so many contradicting statements had left me a little unsure as to whether I wanted to undertake the task myself. A good conversation at work with a colleague and I felt much better about doing it. The plan really was going to be a little at a time. So here we go. Started off a little shaky by trying to press out the air bubbles to hard and spreading the matting across the surface, I ripped that piece off and tried again. Once you get used to what you are trying to do it was plain sailing. Overall I am very happy with what I have done. I give my thanks to the guys at J.W Morris Mouldings for their help and supply of a few gallons of resin

It has taken me two and a half days to give a couple of coats of matting and to help with a smoother finish I have laid the tissue paper matting on top. This pic shows the first of two coats of gel coat with the missing part at the bottom as I have decided to add the skirt after the dome is in position. There are a few lumps and bumps that can be sanded back quite easily. Looking good I think?

Before I can get the dome raised I need to get the main roller wheels on and aligned. Quite a simple job. The not so easy job was to align the lateral guide rollers to exactly 1800mm end of wheel to wheel apart and aligning them centrally to the structure so when the dome turns all wheels are in contact with the inner part of the ring. With these in place I waited for my neighbour Mark to come home as he offered to help raise the roof.

Dome ready for Fibreglass

As you can see the dome is ready for the fibreglass. It has been a long slog to get to this part especially as I have done everything myself, the template making of the gores was sometimes difficult as I needed often more hands than I currently own. Clamps help but the size often required a little extra help to hold things in place. Still I am very happy with the result so far.

I have spent the day today making the shutter and the hinged door. The plan is to allow the door to close into position and the shutter slide down over the top.A will post a pic or two when its all in place as hard to descibe without seeing the finished item. I couldn't wait to see what it looked like ontop of the dome. As Rolph Harris would say "can you tell what is is yet"
Shame you can't see the grin on my face at this moment.

Slowly Slowly the work progresses

Managed to fit all my hours into 4 days of graft at work so I could have today off. Didn't start too well though having to take the cat to the vets. He has a scratched eyeball. 2 hours wasted, it's healing well nothing more they can do but I will charge you £38 for looking. As you can see I have managed to get the back panel on. Previous pics show some bracing pieces at intervals these provided excellent spacers to allow the curve to run smooth. I think it looks really good. Two gores also in place. These were much more difficult than I expected. I have studied other designs and they suggest using wall paper to make a template. Easy enough I thought until the wind took the first piece across the road. The second piece tore itself away from the pins holding it as another gust came along. Only to find when I did get a template piece and transferred it to the hardboard. Cut it out really carefully BINGO it doesn't fit. When you stretch the wall paper tight it stretches across the shortest distance not taking in curvature the that thicker more solid  hardboard needs. So I spent a great deal of time offering up and clamping a piece and trimming it until I have a good fit. Thankfully as the structure is square or round the template spun around has cut the gores for the opposite side. Before I picked the kids up I also managed to finish the corner gore. This one was really tricky as I can only clamp it from one side. Needed an extra set of hands to hold it in place against the rib so I could draw the angle directly on to the panel. Well I am happy with what I done today I think it looks really good. What do you think?

Miracle it hasn't rained today

I said yesterday I wont hold my breath for a good day. Maybe I did but didn't know it as despite all weather reports today we have not had a drop of rain. The wind is very strong though we are getting the tail end of Hurricane Katia. As you can see progress has been made today I have completed all the arc sections. Last piece to do is the shutter sections. There will be a hinged shutter piece at the bottom the will drop down when required, the sliding section will roll back to the backstop of the shutter opening there will be an overlap to stop the ingress of water.

You will see what I mean
when they are done.
But for now it is time to baton
down the hatches and try and
protect my work from the
unrelenting power of Katia.

Bloody weather

All I seem to do these last few days is dodge showers. As I have no workshop to work in I am constantly covering things up and unplugging extension leads. When I do get a few minutes I have managed to install a first of the arcs and hope to get them all done and finished tomorrow, amidst dodging yes more showers. I am not holding my breath for clear skies.

Taking Shape

 Hi everyone. Have been a little busy at work for the last week but this weekend is my weekend off. Spent the morning in Norwich buying curtains and insulating liners aswell as roman blinds for the doors and windows in the garden room. Getting ready for the winter. Which leads me back to the observatory. Had a few hours this afternoon and with a few extra helping hands, thank you Katie and Erin for your assistance in holding things steady. I have managed to get the two main arches in place and level and temporarily secured with some batons. Pic 2 gives a close up of the secondary arch that will be cover in hardboard ready for the fibreglass, and of course the upper arch will allow for the shutter to run on a smooth and true path backand forth. Hopefully tomorrow I can get the rest of the arcs cut and have myself a dome. If I say so myself  this is looking fantastic. First light will be a momentus occasion. I hope I am inspiring a few to have a go too. You can do it I am not an engineer and using just the normal domestic tools in my back garden. Give me a shout and send me a link to your ideas and constructions. ( I was going to say erections but I wont) Ha ha.

Polar Alignment

You know that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you you are about to do someting and you are not sure if it is going to work. I had that feeeling this evening. It was the first clear sky since the pier was installed and I wanted to get the mount fitted and do a polar alignment. From day one when I dug the hole I had been relying on the fact that I had found north accuratly. When I poured the concrete and set the bolts that hold the pier. The shape of the building was also set the the north alignment give allow an easy access when scopes are parked. So I cannot put it off any longer it was time to carry out the mount attatch to the new top plate and level it to the pier. It was an agonising 45 minute wait to see polaris. Finally the wait was over and I nervously I peered through the finder scope and wow there she was right there where it needed to be.Success I didnt have any doubts at all what was all the worrying about.Dont know what all the fuss was about.