Category Archives: Projects

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 →

What finer way could a blazing hot sunny day be spent than barrowing and shovelling a tonne of concrete? ???? This Sunday I started the day by cutting some of the outer floor timbers to length and digging the previously-mentioned … Continue reading →

Having decided that I can wrap the timber in DPC material to protect it from damp, this Saturday afternoon I lowered the shuttering for the two concrete blocks that I’d already put in place so that the highest one will … Continue reading →

Though I’m not 100% confident in my welding skills, I’m coming round to the idea of making the frame for the rolling roof section from a square section steel tube. I think in the end it will be lighter, less … Continue reading →

Once I’d mowed the grass in the planned area I wasn’t entirely happy about the steepness of the slope. The floor deck will be built off six concrete pads and the pad at the bottom of the slope would have … Continue reading →

I’ve been tinkering with Sketchup (version 8 — the latest one I can get to work under Wine) to create a design for the observatory. It’s quite a handy tool for setting things out to see how they’ll all work … Continue reading →

I’ve been promising myself that I’d build an observatory for years, but life has just got in the way a bit and I never managed to get started. I’ve now decided that I should really get on with it, so … Continue reading →