Malcolm's Garden Workshop (The Side Doors)

[Malc2098]

Get yourself a diamond blade, not a fibre one - best investment I ever made for my angle grinder!

Good call! I was just using what was in the drawer.

 

[Malc2098]

Well, with a couple of dry days and help from a couple of mates over those days, I got the roof finished.

I got the guttering up in yesterday's rain, which was a good test to show where it leaked, but got it fixed eventually. Just got the guttering to fix the other side, now.

After that, it's landscaping.

 

[AndyP]

A Proper job well done.

 

[MY63]

Excellent work looks great.

 

[Coley]

Very very smart, looks fantastic [emoji106]

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

 

[RogerS]

You should be dead chuffed. I think your dry-run at ground level worked a treat.

 

[TrimTheKing]

Very nice indeed mate, well done.

 

[Malc2098]

Thank you gents all for your very kind words, and yes I am dead chuffed, chuffed to bits.

It's been a bit of a journey, not quite like Strictly's, (I didn't have any spray tan!), but I challenged myself to take on working with wood in a way that I hadn't ever before.

I am very pleased with the joints, even if they are a bit messy. I especially like the dowel locks. I bought some oak dowelling of the interweb, cut them all to joint thickness oversize, and then using a lovely old pencil sharpener that I liberated from a county council redundant drawing room, I gave them each a couple of turns with the sharpener. They look good protruding that bit.

I am also pleased, as is Mission Control and my two mate helpers, with the stopped chamfers I cut on the posts and the braces.

And I like the arc I cut on the braces on the band saw using the old three nails and steel rule trick for the chord mid-ordinate.

And it's been great to have your support during the project.

Cheers, Gents.

 

[Robert]

Got some padding to wrap round the bits you can bang your head on?

Seriously though it looks good and it looks strong and built to last...and I'm sure you'll learn to avoid hitting the braces with your head

 

[Phil]

(doing some catch up reading ......)

Malc, that really looks smart! Job well done. :eusa-clap: :eusa-clap:

Hope you sat back and enjoyed a couple of beers bscene-drinkingcheers:

What are you planning to do now that all that work is completed?

Phil

 

[Malc2098]

(doing some catch up reading ......)

Malc, that really looks smart! Job well done. :eusa-clap: :eusa-clap:

Hope you sat back and enjoyed a couple of beers bscene-drinkingcheers:

What are you planning to do now that all that work is completed?

Phil

Hi, Phil. Thanks. I've still got to make the balustrade around the deck and do a little landscaping and that'll be it!

 

[Phil]

(doing some catch up reading ......)

Malc, that really looks smart! Job well done. :eusa-clap: :eusa-clap:

Hope you sat back and enjoyed a couple of beers bscene-drinkingcheers:

What are you planning to do now that all that work is completed?

Phil

Hi, Phil. Thanks. I've still got to make the balustrade around the deck and do a little landscaping and that'll be it!

Dear Malcolm,

Regarding the above subject, there has been no activity since December 2019. Looks to be about 3 months?
Please provide an update to the support group.

Kindest regards
Phil - who invented the term and wrote the books on procrastination :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Malc2098]

(doing some catch up reading ......)

Malc, that really looks smart! Job well done. :eusa-clap: :eusa-clap:

Hope you sat back and enjoyed a couple of beers bscene-drinkingcheers:

What are you planning to do now that all that work is completed?

Phil

Hi, Phil. Thanks. I've still got to make the balustrade around the deck and do a little landscaping and that'll be it!

Dear Malcolm,

Regarding the above subject, there has been no activity since December 2019. Looks to be about 3 months?
Please provide an update to the support group.

Kindest regards
Phil - who invented the term and wrote the books on procrastination :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Not a lot of people know this, and this is one of the few things I remember from Latin at school, but the word procrastination comes from the Latin word, cras, meaning tomorrow. I remember heri, hodie, cras - you work out what the other two are!

I have left Grantland Timber with a cutting list, and I believe I am 3rd on their client list. The oak sawing on the video this morning is for their 1st client and as the weather has been dry, the oak has been accessible and I got pushed down the list.

The cutting list contains the raw bulk for the ballustrade for the deck and also for the doors, which will be the traditional framed ledge and brace design and I will mill all the timber from the bulk supply.

I've even bought a couple of bad-boy TGV router cutters for the vertical door battens! (Not bad-boy brand, you understand, bad-boy real rufty tufty cutters from CFT!)

 

[Malc2098]

Part of the delivery from Grantlands came a few days ago, so I started on the newel posts.

I shall be studding them through the deck and joists.















Seven Devon Larch newel posts ready for Osmo.

 

[Malc2098]

Three newel posts in place.



I'm quite chuffed with those bubbles.

 

[Malc2098]

Today's job was find a way to mould the balustrade handrail from the sawn timber.

First I cut 10 degree angles off either side, then turned it onto that angled cut and returned a 90 degree angle.



Then over to the router table and used a bearing guided rounder bit on that 90 degree angle on each side.







Next I needed to rout out the groove to accept the spindles and fillets.



This isn't a finished fillet, it's just and offcuts of the spindles to check for fitting.



Start milling spindles.



Next, tomorrow, I've got to start making 6 metres of the handrail, not forgetting to flatten that little peak on top of the handrail. I sanded it on the test piece and received approval from Mission Control to go ahead!

 

[DaveL]

That's a very neat rail you have machined, well done.

 

[Mike G]

Looking good Malcolm. Are you going to soak those cut ends (newels) in preservative? They're pretty vulnerable.

 

[Malc2098]

That's a very neat rail you have machined, well done.

Thanks, Dave.

 

[Malc2098]

Looking good Malcolm. Are you going to soak those cut ends (newels) in preservative? They're pretty vulnerable.

Thanks, Mike. The newel posts tops have been soaked in osmo wood protector left over from my kitchen project. The posts have been wiped with it and the bottoms soaked, too. I've also taped the bottoms with a wide aggressive tape left over from the geo textile jointing of the soakaway crates because the posts are studded down through the deck beams, but bear on top of the decking profile which is ribbed and carries rainwater till it dries.

I've also ordered another tin.

 

[bluebirdnick]

Malcolm, where did you get those castors for your workbench? They look to be exactly what I need. Thanks!

 

[Malc2098]

Malcolm, where did you get those castors for your workbench? They look to be exactly what I need. Thanks!

Hi Nick,

When I got these, the only others available were Rockler, and the Powertecs were considerably cheaper.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/POWERTEC-17000-Workbench-Caster-Pack/dp/B00SX3T2LO

Although I think there are other alternatives now.

I wouldn't be with out them. Everything in my workshop is on wheels because of the limited space, and my workbench is the one that gets moved around the most.

 

[bluebirdnick]

Thanks Malcolm!

 

[Malc2098]

Handrail, lower rail, infills and spindles all moulded for the the first panel of balustrade.

Now I'v just got to sand this lot.

 

[Malc2098]

First panel dry fit.

I find that spreadsheets help me to calculate the gaps!

BTW, there's a newel post behind that roofing post.

 

[fiveeyes]

https://woodgears.ca/shop-tricks/spacing.html
Hey Malc...try this

 

[Malc2098]

https://woodgears.ca/shop-tricks/spacing.html
Hey Malc...try this

I got a little lost reading that, but then I might be going stir-crazy.

I calculated a notional gap width of 100mm and spindles of 40mm to give me the number closest to the width between newels. Then I decreased the gap 1mm at a time to get the exact width of the gap. Where there were fractions of a mm over, then I added these on to the end two gaps.

Then I accurately cut all the infill pieces and marked their undersides with their sizes and position and fitted them and all the spindles starting at each end, working towards the middle

Worked for me, but then I suppose there are many ways to skin a cat!

 

[9fingers]

https://woodgears.ca/shop-tricks/spacing.html
Hey Malc...try this

I got a little lost reading that, but then I might be going stir-crazy.

I calculated a notional gap width of 100mm and spindles of 40mm to give me the number closest to the width between newels. Then I decreased the gap 1mm at a time to get the exact width of the gap. Where there were fractions of a mm over, then I added these on to the end two gaps.

Then I accurately cut all the infill pieces and marked their undersides with their sizes and position and fitted them and all the spindles starting at each end, working towards the middle

Worked for me, but then I suppose there are many ways to skin a cat!

Malcolm, in your excel work, look for the "goal seek" function. It will adjust one parameter in order to set another one to a desired value. So in your case it would adjust your spacing given all the other constraints.
There are more complex solvers built in but I reach for goal seek most of all of them.

Bob

 

[Malc2098]

https://woodgears.ca/shop-tricks/spacing.html
Hey Malc...try this

I got a little lost reading that, but then I might be going stir-crazy.

I calculated a notional gap width of 100mm and spindles of 40mm to give me the number closest to the width between newels. Then I decreased the gap 1mm at a time to get the exact width of the gap. Where there were fractions of a mm over, then I added these on to the end two gaps.

Then I accurately cut all the infill pieces and marked their undersides with their sizes and position and fitted them and all the spindles starting at each end, working towards the middle

Worked for me, but then I suppose there are many ways to skin a cat!

Malcolm, in your excel work, look for the "goal seek" function. It will adjust one parameter in order to set another one to a desired value. So in your case it would adjust your spacing given all the other constraints.
There are more complex solvers built in but I reach for goal seek most of all of them.

Bob

Thanks Bob. I've not used Excel since I retired so I've not kept up with its functions. I've been using Libre Office at home, so I'll research if that has a similar function.

 

[Malc2098]

Bingo - I think?!

Applying Goal Seek

With the help of Goal Seek you can calculate a value that, as part of a formula, leads to the result you specify for the formula. You thus define the formula with several fixed values and one variable value and the result of the formula.

Goal Seek Example
To calculate annual interest (I), create a table with the values for the capital (C), number of years , and interest rate (i). The formula is:

I = C * n* i
Let us assume that the interest rate i of 7.5% and the number of years n (1) will remain constant. However, you want to know how much the investment capital C would have to be modified in order to attain a particular return I. For this example, calculate how much capital C would be required if you want an annual return of $15,000.

Enter each of the values for Capital C (an arbitrary value like $100,000), number of years n (1), and interest rate i (7.5%) in one cell each. Enter the formula to calculate the interest I in another cell. Instead of C, n, and i use the reference to the cell with the corresponding value.

Place the cursor in the cell containing the interest I, and choose Tools - Goal Seek. The Goal Seek dialog appears.
The correct cell is already entered in the field Formula Cell.
Place the cursor in the field Variable Cell. In the sheet, click in the cell that contains the value to be changed, in this example it is the cell with the capital value C.
Enter the expected result of the formula in the Target Value text box. In this example, the value is 15,000. Click OK.
A dialog appears informing you that the Goal Seek was successful. Click Yes to enter the result in the cell with the variable value.

 

[9fingers]

Yes that is the one.
in your case set up a formula for the total length
= n* spindle widths + (n+1)* spaces

Give spindle width a value and then use goal seek on "spaces" to make total length = the length that you have to fill.
If the gap is too big eg if you were doing stairs to meet the 100mm rule, then simple change the number of spindles, n and goal seek again.

All it is doing is your manual successive approximation approach but automatically possibly with newton raphson (sp?) methods. It does sometimes zoom off to infinity but tells you if it gets stuck.

good luck

Bob

 

[Malc2098]

Having had a better look at the function, it seems it is similar to what I was doing. I had variables (gaps) and fixed values (spindle and overall width) and changed the variable till I got closest to the goal (overall width).

During the last couple of years of my Police service, I applied for a role supporting the local performance manager. I had been doing front line shifts for 28 years. Anyway, MS office and Windows 95 was the software of the time. I was asked what experience/qualification's I had to show that I could use Excel proficiently.

I replied that I had A Level Woodwork. "What good is that?", they asked. "I'm good with tables", I said, and got the job.

 

[9fingers]

:lol: :lol:

In my work I had to estimate and quote for contract research/hardware build work.
I used to set up hourly rates, overheads profit etc in a formula.
I could then easily answer the commonest question from customers which was
"can we do x,y,z etc for £10k, £20k etc"
Goal seek would tell me how many hours on the bench with whatever material costs their budget would buy at the press of a few keys.

Bob

 

[Malc2098]

I set up a formula to calculate all the various teams/shifts/parties of the area how many duty days they had per month, so those on leave, course, sickness, court and other abstractions should not be counted for those days and to view the difference between those groups, and what the notional amount of duty days should be for any given group. For example, a shift of older bobbies were entitled to more annual leave that a shift of younger bobbies, so they were on duty less.

There were many other things added to the calculations for management to be able to view.

The formula was 3 lines long, and I ran it once a month and it worked. Management could compare groups against eachother. Middle management could compare their own shift performance against their previous month or previous year etc.

 

[Malc2098]

Second panel dry fitted.

 

[9fingers]

Nice! :lol:

Bob

 

[Malc2098]

Nice! :lol:

Bob

No need to go all effusive on me!!

 

[AndyP]

I was thinking about the spacing on the balustrade. If you have an odd number of spindle, you seem to have 9, then isn’t it a matter of placing one in the middle followed by one in the middle between the centre and the end then one in the middle of those and repeat until done.

Or should I stop thinking

You’ve made a good job of it anyway.

 

[9fingers]

Maybe you have too much on your mind Andy.
Your method works for 3,7,15, 31 etc but not for 9 I’m afraid.
The formula is 2^n-1
Bob

 

[AndyP]

Ah! I should have tested my theory first
I'll go back to my hole.