-
Siding finishing
 |
| Space templated |
Yesterday, we finished off cutting and trimming the siding to fit into the space above the 8 foot pieces making up the end wall of our workshop extension. Cynthia devised a nifty templating method using an old cardboard box we used to replicate the space needing filling and which we then transferred to the concrete wallboard siding. We were even able to line up our scrap wallboard lines with the existing wallboard below it using this method. We needed to add a few more pieces of scrap 2x4 into the wall for nailers for the wallboard, which we did. We're giving the construction adhesive 24 hours to set up.
 |
| Space with siding |
Today, we'll wipe clean the wood with bleach and then fill it with fibreglass and nail the siding in place. There isn't room to get in from the inside to install insulation due to the roof rafter, so we're insulating this section right now. We'll be making window covers to close up the windows temporarily until we fabricate windows once we've completed closing up and insulating.
At the current rate of progress - and based on the weather forecast - we should have enough decent weather days to begin moving stuff into our extension - close to one year after we started.
-
Christmas gifts
Perhaps the biggest gift that Christmas provides is some time away from work to spend at home with family and recharge the batteries. It has also provided some uninterrupted daylight hours to tackle projects at home - and get a step closer to the point when I'll be able to get closer to using my workshop again and resume work on my Corvair engine conversion for aircraft use.
Last year, in the New Year, Cynthia and I started the workshop extension project and have made steady progress. This Christmas, we have had the time to make another big push towards making the space useful. We've added the doorlatches, doorhandles, and will be adding the hasp today. Over the course of the next few days, the detail work around completing the exterior wallboard around the protruding roofbeams will be templated, wallboard cut out and the exterior walls closed in. We also have a temporary solution to closing in the window apertures until we are able to fabricate windows. Closing up the windows spaces will allow us to seal off the space and begin moving things into there like gardening gear and the like and allow access to much more room inside my workshop.
 |
| Note the shipping address! |
Space in the workshop is what we've been steadily working towards this past year, and with room to walk around my workbench looming in the near future, another Christmas gift appeared when the rustling of wrapping paper finally fell silent - a DVD by William Wynne on how to dissassemble a Corvair engine in readiness for conversion into a flight engine. It seems Cynthia conspired with Santa's elf - (Grace, to be more precise) at WW's shop to get the DVD shipped in time for Christmas.
 |
| A screengrab from the WW disassembly video |
|
We spent part of Christmas day viewing the disassembly DVD together and sipping tea. It didn't take long before I had my Build Wiki up on my laptop and started poring over pictures I'd uploaded previously while watching the DVD. It certainly makes disassembly a lot less mysterious and gives me a lot more confidence about undertaking the process. Being able to see the disassembly in sequence, and the tools involved, is going to be a big help. And it has certainly incentivised getting the workshop extension done as soon as possible so that I can start pulling the engine apart.
-
Thanksgiving Weekend - workshop progress
 |
| Hanging the first door |
Nothing like a four-day weekend to make some progress on the workshop project and the pictures tell the tale. (Even if part of the long weekend must be interrupted with eating a feast and then trying to recover from it! ) Cynthia and I spent the first day discussing the implications of starting a company at our home and considering ideas for switching rooms around in the house to accommodate office space and looking at the price implications. We also needed to pick up some additional screws, bolts and nuts to hang the doors, so that meant a trip to Home Depot and Lowes. We never seem to be able to simply go in and leave - instead we wander around looking at materials for future projects and it's always fun. Cynthia and I also got the paint mixed up to paint the doors - a boxcar red. Eventually, the entire workshop will be this colour.
 |
| Next week - door handles! |
In a previous week, the doors had been primed. What remained was hanging them. Although the doors have been glued and nailed, in true belt and braces fashion, I added screws all the way around both. Then I began the process of measuring the hinges, drilling the bolt holes and then shimming the doors to get them ready to hang, drilled the holes for the hinges and got the first one up. After a while, the second one went up, too, after refueling on left over turkey and trimmings. We even managed to get a first coat of red paint on the door before sunset. My measurements were sufficiently precise not to require any trimming anywhere, which was a huge relief.
 |
| Fit was nice and tight |
Next weekend, possibly, we'll attach door handles, bolts and a lock and cut off the excess length to the bolts inside. I have to make a trip to Harbor Freight for a secret santa gift for our EAA 506 Christmas party, anyway, so while I'm there, I'll pick up some metal grinder cutting wheels. The room inside feels very nice and all the more satisfying since we've done all the work ourselves.
-
Doors and Life
Since mid-October, although little has been written here, it's no reflection of a lack of activity. One weekend was taken up with gluing, nailing and clamping the cross-pieces that run across the middle of the doors, to which the latches will be bolted. Because they start four inches in due to the four inch cedar edge board, deep C-clamps had to be purchased for that part of the project, which meant a detour to Harbor Freight. Part of one weekend was taken up with a presentation I made to EAA506 on the possibilities around aviation biofuels as a replacement for 100LL and last weekend we replaced sinks and taps in our master bathroom suite in a classic case of bracket creep.
The company with which we've been hosting jacked up its prices, so as webmaster for EAA506, I cloned the site, migrated it to new, cheaper hosting, locked in a two-year rate, and got the cloned site working - mostly without anyone noticing, which is the ideal way to do it. That took a little time, too.
During this period, too, in conjunction with Cynthia, I made the decision I would be starting up my own company in 2012 and leaving my current employment. Cynthia and I have spent quite a bit of time talking about possibilities, which areas of endeavour might be most favorable, and where I might be able to add value and land contracts for work with the skills I have. In the evenings, I've built an intranet site and have been working on a sitemap for the new and improved Smit Industries website.
 |
| Reviewing code suggestions for an improved top menu. |
So the doors being built have been both metaphorical and physical. Over Thanksgiving, I should be able to hang the workshop doors and begin working on the finishing touches to closing up the gaps in the shop and sealing it up so that we can start moving stuff into the space. And Thanksgiving should be an appropriate time to reflect on progress during the past year, the blessings we have had and our hopes for the future.
This weekend, one side of the doors were primed and when they are dry, we'll flip them over and do the other side ahead of Thanksgiving so they are ready for their hardware. More progress.
-
Project creep - a leaking tap turns into a bathroom mini-renovation
For months, now, a tap in the bathroom has been dripping and finally, even the firmest of tightening left it leaking. So we had a box of assorted tap washers of all sizes and shapes and I figured that it would be a simple matter to turn off the water, undo the tap, swap out the washer and - voila! - problem solved. What transpired was a weekend renovation.
When I removed the tap, I discovered the extent to which the U.S. has taken the throwaway, built-in obsolescence approach, and also discovered something called a cartridge tap. Until now, I'd only had any experience with solid brass or metal taps, and the only thing needing replacing is the washer. I guess that reduces corporate profitability too much, so a cartridge costing more, which probably needs to be purchased from the manufacturer, is implemented. I tried taking it apart to take a look at the components, but the screw at the bottom disintegrated.
Which led to Plan B. Last year, we purchased matching sinks and taps for our master suite, but life got in the way, so we never installed them. This became the ideal time. Rather than replacing a crumbling tap, we headed to the workshop, took down the boxes and brought them into the house. The first basin, which has a fiddly, built-in plug thingy that opens and closes by moving a rod at the back took most of the first day and a redo for a leaking plug. The second one we knocked out in an hour in the morning, then gave it the day for the silicone to set and finished it off in an hour that afternoon; no leaks, thank you. Clearly, practice makes perfect.
So now we have our nice sinks and taps - that don't leak - and four fewer boxes in the workshop.
|
