[Barry]

Cheers Terry, just interviewing canine security guards now mate.

Finally got the last of the heavy bows on the roof. I've been at it for roughly two hours every afternoon after work until I run out of light. I've even come home at lunch times to get 30 minutes of labour in at times. Time is so precious.

The next step is to roll-form some lighter intermediate bows. Flat sheet to cover the dome will bend nicely one way, but not two ways, so trying to bend it over the large area between these heavy bows is likely to warp and distort them too much. Putting in some intermediate bows will mean thinner strips of sheet, reducing the need to bend them two ways.

Full-story here

[Barry]

One of the hurdles I've had to overcome is that the old pier is not high enough to mount the telescope on, as the new floor level is now much higher.

To solve this, I have built another wooden box like the one underneath, to be filled with reinforcing mesh along with some conduit to run electrical cabling. It will then be filled with concrete.

Full story here

1. Constructing the form-work for the new pier.


2. Form-work in position on top of old pier.


3. New pier extension topside.


4. While I was at it, I skinned the door with thick steel sheet.

[millicat]

Re: ASIGN Observatory II is back on track!

Enjoying the update whichever forum I read it on lol.

You are one talented man and dedicated to the cause. Your family must be so proud. Hope that littl baby is growing well.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

[Barry]

Enjoying the update whichever forum I read it on lol.

You are one talented man and dedicated to the cause. Your family must be so proud. Hope that littl baby is growing well.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

To share the universe with the world, one must spread the word! Thanks Anna!

Bub is growing well and looking ever so cute!

Baz.

[Tatts]

Must be getting close to finished now mate, do you have a date you hope to have it done?

The course i was supposed to do in September was cut down to 4 days and held in Melbourne last week so I won't be up there anytime soon. My brother lives in Canberra though so I may still get the chance to come for a visit sometime.

[Barry]

Must be getting close to finished now mate, do you have a date you hope to have it done?

The course i was supposed to do in September was cut down to 4 days and held in Melbourne last week so I won't be up there anytime soon. My brother lives in Canberra though so I may still get the chance to come for a visit sometime.

I should have it to lock-up with the sheeting on the roof within the next 2 months if all goes well. I have the cash for that, it's just the time I lack now. After that, decking out the inside is the challenge.

[Barry]

The race was on today as the rolled steel arrived to build the dome's sliding doors and complete the intermediate dome ribs. I say, "race" because tomorrow afternoon I have a professional welder coming over to weld stuff together.

This afternoon I measured, cut and joined all the framing together for the sliding doors. I have used 20mm steel plate to join it all together with screws, that way the welder can just weld all the joints together, then I can remove the ugly plates and screws.

Below: Picture 1 - One side complete. Picture 2 - The two halves will split sideways to open the dome slot.

[Barry]

My welder friend gave his valuable time and skills tonight to weld up the door-frames as planned. They are extremely rigid and strong now. Great job mate.

[Barry]

Putting up all the intermediate dome ribs was so much quicker than the heavy ones. I got a couple done yesterday at lunchtime, a couple more in the afternoon, a couple more today at lunch time and the rest done this evening. I even had time to paint the door with primer.

Below: All bows up, ready to be welded in place and then the temporary joining brackets can be removed and the roofing can go on.

Full story here >>> http://www.asignobservatoryii.com/ob...nstruction.htm

[Barry]

I've been trying to work out how to get the doors on top of the dome to slide sideways, without leaving protrusions outside the dome when it is closed. My uncle came up with a solve consisting of four bearing-slide-rails from industrial sized photocopier paper trays. I now have them and they look and feel like they will do the job nicely. I'll put pictures on the website when I have them figured out.

Today I got my welder friend Jacob to come over and weld all the ribs on the dome, so I can take off the cumbersome steel plates holding them on. Now I can start getting some sheeting on the roof and seal it all up.

I've bought some cement and hopefully this week I can mix enough concrete to fill the central pier extension. With that in place, the telescope can be mounted as soon as the roof is on and operations can begin! All the prettying up on the inside will follow, but at least I can start to use it.

My next-door-neighbor is a carpenter and has volunteered to help me build the stairs inside. Actually, he is the expert, so I think it is me who will be helping him!

[Barkly]

You should line up Brian Schmidt to open it. Cut the ribbon.

[Barry]

You should line up Brian Schmidt to open it. Cut the ribbon.

I've been pondering your suggestion for the last hour.... I am thinking, why would I do that? What would it achieve? Thoughts Terry?

[Tatts]

What would it achieve?

Probably nothing but it would be a cool story

[Barry]

I don't know how many times I have leaned on the unattached pier up on the top floor and nearly toppled over, so today I filled it with concrete and mounted the mounting plates.

Solid now and good to lean on!

1. Reo about to go in, pouring in concrete, then embedding the mounting plates deep into the wet concrete via three long threaded rods.


2. Filled with concrete and mounting base plates seated.

[Barry]

The steel for the roofing arrived today. Thanks to a couple of good jobs with the chainsaw and a wonderful donation. Along with the roof sheeting, I also got the doors custom covered.

Thanks to the help of my next door neighbour and his friend, we got all the flooring in on the first floor today. Getting the first sheet in took a little work, but once we got a flow happening, the rest went in so quickly. Now I have something to stand on while I put the roof on.

As soon as we were done, it poured with rain, but I've had two test-pieces up there for months and they are not yet swelling or deteriorating from all the weather. Hopefully, I'll have the roofing on within the week and won't have to worry about that any more.

1. Colorbond sheeting cut to size and ready to clad the dome.


2. Dome doors covered with colorbond sheeting.


3. Flooring installed.