Druidic exploits of a various nature!!

[Muz]

so are you finally getting a shed Sir ? About time

[v8druid]

so are you finally getting a shed Sir ? About time

Regrettably Muz it's "a shed" .... not the shed !

It's only a mower stable (an' 'praps the odd bike or two)
It'll keep 'er indoors 'appy though !! for now anyway !!!

The shed's gonna be 45'x40' and tall enough for a 'Drema, etc. - a proper 'boy's toys shed!! ( workshop and sanctuary/retreat)

[Muz]

Regrettably Muz it's "a shed" .... not the shed !

It's only a mower stable (an' 'praps the odd bike or two)
It'll keep 'er indoors 'appy though !! for now anyway !!!

The shed's gonna be 45'x40' and tall enough for a 'Drema, etc. - a proper 'boy's toys shed!! ( workshop and sanctuary/retreat)

Well thats good enough lad ? .. get a bench .. few drills .. wall boards .. spaces for cabinets ... and a beer fridge

[v8druid]

Well thats good enough lad ? .. get a bench .. few drills .. wall boards .. spaces for cabinets ... and a beer fridge

When you've got five Muz, ......... just pop down and explain to Pam why the bloody mowers,etc., are all still sat outside

[v8druid]

Druid gets all 'chippy' on yers!!

OK, bit of the aforementioned graft today and got truss no1 together.
Would’ve been two done, but having unwrapped the pile of ply, that got delivered with all the CLS engineered timber, a couple of weeks ago, I was missing the 12mm spruce for all the gusseting, so had to go get the bloody thing!!!

As I was also gonna be close to our local chainsaw/mower/general sort of small m/c place, I thought I’d nip in there too, for some replacement belts, that the mowers have chewed their way through, so far this year.
Left there 112 quid lighter in the wallet dept. for 5 belts and an auto feed strimmer head!!!
Picked up some motion lotion for the damned things and eventually got back just before lunch time!
Don’t know WTF the morning went !!

Anyways, quick bite and got everything back out and set up to assemble it, after chopping up all the gussets for the connections/intersection points.





Having sussed everything’s suitability, I assembled up the second lamination and got it all screwed and glued together.......



‘Til I ended up with this



Reasonably handle-able too, to my surprise.

It’s such a steep pitch, to match everything else around here, building-wise. Everything’s got a 45 deg pitch, to cope with the wind we get up here – flatter roofs wouldn’t stay together so well (and I dare say to cope with the snow when they were originally built, circa 1760s) !!


Certainly light enough to get tucked into a box for the night, amongst some of me siccles and various other ‘toys’ !!


Left all the various jig blocks, etc., clamped to the benches tonight, as by the time I’d got this ’un completed, my stomach thought my throat had been cut, my ribs were touching my backbone and was well happy to hear the bell ring to summon me for food, ‘bout seven o’clock. No chance of getting no 2 together tonight.

I’m hoping for a dry morning at least, to get no 2 done, then I’ve got the two pine ends to sort, cut and assemble, whilst the jig bocks are all still in the right places!

Progress though, all be it, not as much as I’d have liked today, courtesy of the timber/builders’ merchants!!

Wouldn’t care so much, if the weather’d just settle for a while!

http://s1275.photobucket.com/user/v8...lideshow/sheds for those with masochistic tendencies !!

[Stock]

Nice Dumpy....................... nice looking chainman as well.....................

[v8druid]

Well Sunday dawned sunny and dry ........ well ok ....... Dry!! The sunny bit was ‘poetic license’ So thought I’d get the second set of truss bits out and get it assembled





Drilled all the pilots and started to get it screwed together .......





Was that a spot of rain I felt? Nah surely not, cloud was high and there couldn’t be any left up there !! Could there?

So charged on, got it screwed up and was best part the way through glueing and screwing the gusset plates on when ........ down it bloody came !!
Fortunatley no 2 was sufficiently together enough to let me hide it away with no 1 in’t box



Poxy weather ......



......got everything away, but well wet in the process and disappeared indoors for a change of gear !!

Had some lunch and damn me if it didn’t dry up, so back out, drag out no 2 and get the gussets fitted to t’other side.



Looked well promising for a dry afternoon so dropped it back into the jig blocks and summoned the ‘apprentice’ to come and hang on to some ‘dull ends’ of some more lengths of CLS so’s I could cut the next truss panels for the pine ends.

Got half way into cutting and loose assembling the first one and the heavens opened again and pee-ed on me crosscut, so that was the end of play for today!!
Mrs D legged it - Mustn’t / can’t get the hair wet - , leaving me to pack it all away !!
Second wetting of the day and into my second change of gear.

Enough was enough – I give up ‘til I can actually see that big yellow thing in the sky!!

Unbeknownst to me, ‘the boss’ had been taking the odd sneaky pic yesterday, so there’re a few more in’t bucket, some of which actually show a Druid at work!!!!!!
All I can say is Jeez I’ve started to look old !! Don’t very often get caught on camera, so was a bit surprised when Pam mailed ‘em to me s’evenin’ !!
No sarcastic comments required!!

'Sposed to be dry tomorrow ......... I'll believe it when I see the sun !!

[v8druid]

Nice Dumpy....................... nice looking chainman as well.....................

I'll inform the "chainman" of one's opinion Stock !! ................. on Stanley, of course, .......... or she'll be intolerable

[Muz]

On the bright side .. the wet keeps all the sawdust down ... Certainly one of the most substantial Captain Birdseye levels I've seen ya wouldnt wan to drop it on ya toe anyway

[v8druid]

On the bright side .. the wet keeps all the sawdust down ... Certainly one of the most substantial Captain Birdseye levels I've seen ya wouldnt wan to drop it on ya toe anyway

IIRC it's ex-MOD Muz - I'll have a look next time I'm outside (peeing down, currently), but sure I recall the triple line/MOD arrow on the box somewhere!!
Nope - you deffo would not want it on yer trotter!

[v8druid]

Monday was a virtual write off with the exception of about two hours, late afternoon.

Took the opportunity to sort out me pile of CLS which was getting a bit precarious, with 20 sheets of ply sat on top of it, as I’ve been pulling length after length out the middle of it.

So pulled the tarps off and lifted the pile of ply off.



Restacked the CLS and shortened up the bands on it, with a couple of new crimps.



Re- sheeted it all and popped the ply up out the way ........





........ just in time to beat the next downpour.

The cage pallets are my wood drying cages – block it up, sheet it down and the air blows through a treat ..... and double up our storage capacity.


Today however was ....... wall to wall ....... blue sky !! So out came some of the bits of the pine end panels I’d managed to cut Sunday for assembly, cut a load more studs and got it all screwed up.





Cut some more bits for no 2 and started to assemble that one too, just before ........ I got piddled on !!!!! Blue sky didn’t last long !!!



Sun shining and persisting down!!

Went on like this for the rest of the day; sunshine & downpours and lost count of the number of times I had to put the chop saw away quick !!

Neighbour turned up in the middle of one downpour, for a nosey at what I was up to!
Said to me “do you ever actually buy anything?” ..... “Yeh – materials says I “.



Eventually got no 2 together ......



Just in time for.........



......The Boss’s return from a birthday lunch out, with one of her friends, after their Tuesday stroll ‘round the local mountains!!

“Stand it up then, ... let’s have a look .... I want some pix for FB, so Josh can see what you’re up to – stand still ” !!

So that’s why you’ve one of me tonight !!



TBH it ain’t a bad pic and a damned sight better than the others she snook the other day !!

Rain looked imminent so this ‘un got stuck in’t box with t’other three ready for skinning tomorrow, if it’s dry, plus it's treatment day and had to be packed up and ready for it by 18.00 ......... or else



Getting a bit crowded/tight for space in there now ......



.......So hopefully get the pine ends skinned in the a.m. and all of ‘em out and under a sheet, out the way, ‘til I can get all the wall panels made and stood up.

As usual, more in the usual place, for the brave amongst you !!

[ianoz]

Seems to be a big layer of dust on that poor motorbike .All work and no play makes for a very grumpy Druid .

[v8druid]

Seems to be a big layer of dust on that poor motorbike .All work and no play makes for a very grumpy Druid .

LOL ...... There's a "big layer of dust" on all my 'toys' Ian !!
Most of 'em ain't been played with in a long time!!
T'was the problem of self employment ....... all the toys an' no time to play with 'em

Got several 'winter's evening' projects stashed away there mate - strip, clean and sort jobs.

The Kawi thou' in the foreground's my favorite bike.
Been all over Europe on her and had her since she was 3 months old.
Now 35 years old with 36k on't clock, 34k of which I've put on her, mostly jollying around the continent, on the odd occasions I did get time for a holiday.
Put 983 miles on her in one day in '91 - my 'personal best', on a very long, hot day.

Got 3 more of them awaiting re-assembly in boxes and considering turning one into a trike for Pam - she'll never ride a bike, but might just have a go on 3 wheels and can drive it on a car license.

How's the digit this morning Boyo? Been back to wrap the chain around his neck?

[v8druid]

Wall to wall blue sky again this morning ........... lasted ‘til ‘bout 1 o’clock !!

Did manage to get both pine ends skinned though and back in under cover ‘fore it pee-ed down.

The triangular panels cut very nicely out of 1 sheet per end 6’ tapering to 2’ out of an 8’ x 4' sheet, gave two per sheet, as planned and then just some 2’ x 2’ triangles for the corners.



No 1 going together ....



....... and getting tucked away again.



No 2 getting assembled .....



Then it too got tucked away just before the deluge started. So annoying as had planned to get such a lot done today.

They’re still surprisingly handle-able, single handed, although getting ‘em on top of the panels will be a ’Drema job, for sure.

I’d hoped to get a substantial amount of the panel studwork cut up today, but not in this bloody weather!!!!

‘The Boss’ appears suitably impressed/happy with progress so far, considering the meteorological obstacles encountered to date!!!

[v8druid]

Well I knew what I wanted to do today, but wasn’t quite certain of just how, ‘til I got going.

Got 16 wall panels to produce and originally I’d considered jig building ‘em – used to make a lot of jigs and jig tables for the timber frame boys I did a lot for, so had the theory ‘off pat’ !!

However, having cut up a set of components for the first one, which was a ‘special’, it soon became obvious that, with the timber I’m working with, it wasn’t going to be an easy proposition to jig ‘em !

Although it’s CLS engineered section, the shape of some of it leaves a lot to be desired.
So having scratch built the special, I decided it’d probably be quicker and easier to do the same with the rest.
Here’s the framework of the ‘special’ assembled ..........



And then turned and skinned.....



Came out sweet and nicely true and square, held solid by the spruce ply skinning.
So, lopped up the components for the next panel, which is one of 14, all the same and assembled that by the same method. Came out equally spot on.



At which point it started to spit rain (you’ll notice I hadn’t mentioned the weather ‘til now-it was dry !!!!!!!).

So slid it into the box with the rest of the bits and hurriedly stuck all the leccy stuff away, followed by everything else. It’d been seriously black all morning and I thought that was gonna be it for the day, but damn me if it hadn’t stopped by the time everything was away !!
Hauled the chop saw out again and decided to lop up several sets of components, as I could chuck the saw and bits away reasonably PDQ and didn’t want to uncover the ply pile again, in case!!!



So, by the time the tea bell clanged out, I’d got a pile of bits, enough for 6 more panels – doesn’t sound a lot, said quickly, but every piece is mil perfect and I’d had to lug it all from the stack, mark it and lop it ...... and suss the cuts from the 4800mm lengths economically. (really is a crap length to work with, for what I’m doing)!!



Shot back out after tea and got it all away for the night. Getting pretty crowded in’t box ATM and going to get worse !!





16 panels is going to be quite a stack, so they’re gonna have to get sheeted down I think, once I get ‘into production’ ..... hopefully tomorrow............... weather permitting !!