Category Archives: Observatory

A last bit of frame building before I get onto other work. Probably getting the roof sorted so it can be made passably weatherproof. The internal warm room wall is now in place, with a door to get in and … Continue reading →

Tough day at the coal face, and I felt a bit “glow in the dark” as a result. The forecast was predicting 28C and I’d not be surprised if it didn’t go a bit higher than that. However, using a … Continue reading →

After validating my choice of wall height there wasn’t much time left, but I was determined to make some visible change no matter how small. I had a few bits of scrap 18mm ply that used to be part of … Continue reading →

Evidence-based design always being best, between showers I managed to get the tripod and NEQ6 set up, with a bit of malformed roofing batten as a pointer that I could set at the level of the top of the 1500mm … Continue reading →

Catching up with progress, another late evening saw all of the timbers in to support the floor. Everything that rests on the concrete blocks is wrapped in DPC material to try to prevent it drawing up any damp from the … Continue reading →

A little progress so far this week. On Monday evening I finished wrapping the timbers in DPC, then cut most of the joists to length. My intention is to have them at 400mm spacing, but quite how they’re arranged depends … Continue reading →

During this week I made up all the shuttering for the three pier foundations and put it in place, backfilling around the outside to support it when it was filled with concrete. I also made up jigs to hold the … Continue reading →

Little progress this weekend thanks to having quite a few things to do on Saturday and coaching at a swimming meet on Sunday. I did however manage to drill holes (in both ends) of the lower blocks for each pier: … Continue reading →

Before I can make much more progress with the observatory I need to work out exactly what I’m going to do with the piers. My initial plan had been to get a local steel fabrication company to make up the … Continue reading →

Not a lot of progress on Saturday. I mainly got the shuttering set up for the centre pads for the long sides, but whilst I had the digger there I also excavated the holes for the three pier foundations: On … Continue reading →