Dymented - the Serious stuff starts!

[JeffP]

Do you have a table saw, or thicknesser?

My table saw, despite being cheap, is one of my most used tools.

I've recently bought a thicknesser/ planer too, but my, haven't prices gone up?

When I started looking three years ago, the Metabo one on it's own stand, was €430 delivered. But no stock.

They now go for between €850 and €900!!!

I bought a Sheppach instead, which came with spare blades.

Edited July 6, 2023 by JeffP

[Philou]

AWWWWWW NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! (Dramatic stage effects.)

 

That was my reaction as I was putting my tools away and musing upon the next step in leg making. I had a good afternoon stripping the wood down into more useful dimensions. Some weren't as big in cross-section as I thought but nonetheless I cut them all to the same depth but the width will vary a little - keeping the same depth throughout means that I can make all the sockets the same. Are you with me? All good so far. The depth is 22mm.

 

Well? Why 'Oh no' Philou?

 

Stupid boy - who forgot until the moment he was putting everything away that he now has to drill with a 12mm wood bit vertically into the end of the legs to put in some T-nuts ready for the adjustable feet? 22mm is going to be a bit - err - not a lot on either side.

 

Having thought it through, the solution is simple - a bit more work will be involved - but hey! I never find the easy way of doing things!

 

As I now have 8 lengths 4m long and my legs are going to vary between 840mm and 1160mm in length, I am going to end up with left-over bits. I shall simply recycle the off-cuts by trimming them to a suitable length (say 100mm) and glueing and screwing them to the bottom of the legs. This will double the depth of the wood and I shall then be able to drill into the legs vertically without worrying about any perceived weakness.

 

I'm not going out today as it's going to be over 32° this afternoon, I have sore knees from being perched on a ladder yesterday gaining brownie points helping Mrs Philou doing some 'aerial' housecleaning and my bum has blown up like a cauliflower and I'm not at all comfortable - not quite soft cushion time but almost ;) . My fault as I didn't drink enough water over the last day or so :( .

 

There we have it - a day off today and hopefully a start on the legs tomorrow.

 

Cheers everybody - the weekend is here!

 

Philip

[lmsforever]

Have a good day off and maybe you will fee like the work on the layout tomorrow ,the sun is out here so maybe a gentle hour on the layout.

[Philou]

47 minutes ago, lmsforever said:

maybe a gentle hour on the layout

 

Aaaah @lmsforever. Lucky you - moi? Envious? I'm now anxious to get this next phase done and dusted as quickly as possible as once the modules have been legged, levelled and bolted together and the missing ones constructed, it means that the trackbed can be set up and perhaps the tiniest bit track laid - ok a few metres - just to test my stock! I haven't run anything on what I consider to be my own track since April 1976!

 

@JeffP No, I haven't a table saw nor rectifier. I know a man who does in the village but unfortunately due to a big load of work done to his house and now health issues, his machines are inaccessible. It's a bit of a shame as the one machine is a hundred year old double sided planer (his rectifier) that can cope with timber up to 300mm x 600mm in section and another is a Swiss made all-in-one machine that is a table saw, but capable of dealing with full-sized sheet materials and can do fancy milling/planing amongst another uses. Cost an absolute fortune a few years ago.

 

There you have it, I just have my cheapy jigsaw, not so cheap circular saw and quite expensive planer plus other non-expensive small power tools.

 

More tomorrow,

 

Philip

[Philou]

I'm sorry chums and chumesses,

 

I don't think there's going to be any updating for a few days as we're going through a heat wave and it's just too hot for me. 32° today, 34° tomorrow and Monday and then a balmy 36° on Tuesday before dropping to 28° on Wednesday with rain. I shall be outside asap and would have been there this afternoon as there was a breeze - except the breeze was warm air coming from the south! I can't do the morning as the frontage faces east and is in full sun that makes it no better. Oh well, I've done a couple of sketches and taken measurements for my legs so I'm ready for the off.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

[Philou]

Despite my gloomy forecast of yesterday, the sun decided to stay behind some clouds this morning, so after I helped Mrs Philou trim back some climbing roses and some Virginia creeper that were both needing 'air cuts, I decided to take advantage of the dull weather (hah! - as soon as I set up the sun came out). Nevertheless, I decided to fabricate some pockets into which the legs can sit under the modules.

 

I managed to cut some left over ply into 65mm strips and then re-cut them into 110mm lengths. I now have 40-odd to get me started.

 

As midday was a little way off, I made some of these:

 

 

These are the front faces to the pockets. I've only made the four as a trial and these will go under the very first corner unit. As seen, these are the 65 x 110mm pieces of ply in stages of manufacture (in reality I'm doing 5 at a time), the one piece marked out with a centre-point, then the 5 pre-drilled with a 6mm wood bit. Taking then a 10mm wood bit I drilled almost the full depth of the one piece, tapped in the T-nut with my hammer and then nipped it up in the vice. I can't then over hammer the nut and damage either it or the wood piece.

 

The threaded knob will go right through and tighten against the leg permitting some rough adjustment (that's about right) and then fine adjustment using the foot at the other end of the leg.

 

The pieces are yet to be finished by having a glue block screwed and glued at one end. The other end will be fixed to the glue block that is already on the module (what a bit of luck, eh?). At the club, they have this piece turned around so that the T-nut is on the inside face (leg side) and I had to think that through. Simples really - if the knob is screwed in on the side that's showing in the photo, any over-tightening into the leg may cause the T-nut to pull out. Hah! Turning it the other way, over-tightening will just pull the nut into the piece - so it won't be going anywhere! Might pull the fabricated piece off the module but it would have to be a heck of an overtightening to do that! I suspect the k,nob would fail first in any case.

 

Too much heat now, so more tomorrow.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

 

Edited July 9, 2023 by Philou
Brain faster than fingers - again!

[Philou]

It was another hot'un today, though the sky was slightly overcast. I decided I'd get on and before lunch I made this:

 

A leg! We have a leg with the additional bit glued and screwed, drilled, nutted and a foot in place:

 

 

Despite  it being overcast, I think the sun got to me in the afternoon as this happened:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes!!! The corner module (Module D) is in place and just to check that the landscaping fitted:

 

 

There is space between the top of the module and the ceiling. The next one to the left is 20mm higher so plenty of space for that too.

 

Some things have come to light though:

 

1) The legs ARE spindly, but support the module;

 

2) It's a tad wibbly-wobbly, but that will stop once the other units are bolted to it;

 

3) It's high! I might have a slight problem track laying on the module to the right (Module C) as the landscaping is fixed. This corner module comes apart as can be seen in the penultimate photo above. At best, I'll have to work off steps, at worst I'll have to consider making the landscaping removable. I could just remove the module and take the legs off temporarily to work off trestles, but that's a faff to me, OR I reduce the height all round, but then too much and I'll block off access to the wall plugs!

 

Anyway, I'm really pleased with the outcome. Mark 1 legs worked straight off the work-bench and so I have something quite workable.

 

I'm not sure at what rate I shall be working but I see no reason why I couldn't make 4 pairs of legs at a time and have 2 modules' worth ready. I'll take a photo tomorrow of the underside to show how the leg is attached to the module.

 

Cheers everyone,

 

Philip

 

PS: @Chimer The modules are on their way!

Edited July 10, 2023 by Philou
Nothing really

[lezz01]

If I were you Philip I would tie the legs together in pairs with a cross brace around 6" from the top and another 6" from the floor and maybe a diagonal between each pair. It will help stop the wobbling and make it all feel a lot more rigid.

Regards Lez.

[Philou]

41 minutes ago, lezz01 said:

maybe a diagonal between each pair

 

These were my exact thoughts this afternoon especially after moaning and being a tad sniffy (upper part of page 26 ^) about the club's arrangements - that I seem to have replicated! I shall only do the extra woodwork IF bolting the other modules together doesn't stop any slight wobbling. I do also have an option of putting securing screws through the modules here and there directly into the metal studwork of the plasterboard behind. I shall keep any extra timbers to the back and ends of the modules so I can have unencumbered storage underneath AND ease of access to the underside of each without it becoming a contortionist's act!! :)))

 

Roll on tomorrow - I'm getting really into the project at the moment!

 

Goes off humming 'I'm so excited ....... la la la..........'

 

Cheers everyone,

 

Philip

[JeffP]

I'm sorry, but your pic of your first module so reminded me of Homer's auto-dialler.

😁

[Philou]

@JeffP We have some more auto-diallers!

 

It's even hotter today - it was showing as 38° air temperature this lunchtime. I shut myself in the relative coolness of the barn, but it didn't stay that way for long. It became like a Turkish bath as the afternoon wore on - glad I'm out of there!

 

I did say that I would show the leg fixings to the modules, so there are some pictures to follow. I managed to make my 8 legs before lunch and thereafter I assembled the pockets for the legs. That all went quite well and here are the legs and part-assembled pockets:

 

 

This shot shows a corner with a glue-block that had been already fixed there when the module was being constructed. Why make more work when there's something already in place to start you off? :

 

 

Here is the part-assembled pocket. Before bringing them up to the railway room, one glue-block was glued and screwed to the fascia of the pocket. The pocket was then glued to the corner block and module side piece and then the screws driven into the corner block. Once the other end had been glued and screwed in the same manner, the frame was turned over and one screw then driven through the module side piece and into the new glue-block making everything nice and solid ready for the legs:

 

 

Here's a leg in position and the tightening knob in the T-nut:

 

 

It was a case of rinse and repeat for the all eight corners and then - voila! Two modules in position but nothing has yet been levelled or bolted together - but there is already far less wobble:

 

 

I did have an oo-er moment whilst I was fettling and fixing the last four legs (for some reason or other, they wouldn't go directly into the pockets and it took forever sanding the ends to fit). If you look to the left of the third module above, the Big Beam is lower than the module and for a moment I did think that it was going to interfere with today's work. But no, luckily. The beam will be melded into the landscaping of the infill module when I get there.

 

Again, I was quite pleased as to how it's coming along - it's still high though, but I don't think I'll gain more than about 50mm as that's all that's between the top of the wall socket and the bottom of the side piece of the middle module in the picture above. I'm sure I'll get around that issue when the time comes.

 

What's the plan for tomorrow, Philou? More legs and pockets, this time for the other module adjacent to the corner one, it should be Module C. I shall need to cut yet more glue blocks before tackling the fixing of the legs to Module C as I made it with one awkward shaped corner and there's no existing corner block there to get me started. I'll need a whole load of extra ones for the pockets in any case as I carry on.

 

Cheers everyone,

 

Philip

 

 

[Chimer]

Great to see, but - why so high?  The usual reason is to get the spotter's "trackside view" as opposed to the one from a helicopter, but, seeing this chunk properly in context for the first time, you can't get trackside views because of the height of the ground between you and the track.  You need the helicopter view to be able to appreciate what you've done / are doing through setting the railway in the landscape.  I would be sorely tempted to shorten the legs, or compromise by reducing the height of the .... er .... forescene?  Is that a word?

 

I can see this will be less of an issue elsewhere in the room due to the slope in the ceiling, but still .....

Edited July 12, 2023 by Chimer
Change forescreen to forescene!

[Philou]

@Chimer To re-quote someone else 'details, details, details'. You may well ask 'why so high?' At the time it seemed a good idea especially as there's a lot of banging on about 'prototype'. Well, there's yer prototype - and it's a proper 'train in the landscape' too. The height has somewhat been dictated by the wall sockets  - I wanted them at about waist height to avoid having to kneel down to use them but ..... but ..... I'm going to have to do that anyway once the modules are in place!!

 

However, for the moment, I'm going ahead with the demented plan 'as is' and if it's impractical, the legs can always be shortened - so nothing is lost except a little bit of time and wood.

 

Don't forget, the Malverns are about 700' above sea-level and I really wanted to convey that. In any case, the modules that are in the photos are the tunnel units and so there is nothing to see, hence the cut-outs. Module C, currently being legged, is the transition between the tunnel and the station throat of Ledbury. That will be the acid test and I'll wait to see how that pans out when it's in place tomorrow. If you hear a distant muffled scream, well, it won't have worked out ;).

 

I did think of one thing though - the ceiling above the units slopes down and is only about 1.5m (5') above floor level where it meets the wall, whereas the rail height is about 1.0m (3' 3") above the floor - so it's not that high - bit of a false perspective in the above shot.

 

So what happened today? Good intentions and all that ........... the legs and pockets for Module C were prepared and the pockets screwed and glued into place after lunch. The legs needed a little sanding to get them to slide into their seats but I was timed out as I had to go to the doctor's surgery to get my prescription renewed (2 day's worth of medication left) AND Mrs Philou's son and DiL arrived, so my schedule was somewhat disturbed.

 

Just as well that I went to the doctor's this afternoon as unknown to me, today was his last day for three weeks as he's off on holidays. Downside was that the world and his wife plus kids were there too (no appointments - just rock up and wait your turn). Just sooooooooooo many people! We were even waiting in the reception area - which I've never seen before. Having driven 15 miles to get there, I wasn't going to go back empty handed - a Special Medical Operation was now underway. Arrived there at 16.30 and didn't get back here until 20.15 - and no new medical supplies as all the chemists were now shut! Hey ho!

 

So, sanding of the legs first thing tomorrow, then fixed in place, unit up-ended and in position and then I'll see how it looks.

 

Cheers everyone, more tomorrow,

 

Philip

 

 

[JeffP]

At least in France every small town has at least one pharmacy.

But waiting to get served in them is another pita.

[Andy Hayter]

Which of course shows why they are necessary.

[Philou]

@JeffP  Our nearest large village (5 miles away) of now less than 1500 souls boasts two pharmarcies. There were three until about 5 years ago but he passed away due to colonic cancer (bit ironic really - heal thyself, doctor), in his 50s. The pharmacy I use has at least 4 people behind the counter, plus chief pharmacist. In a lot of small villages, the pharmacist is about the only person available to give advice on aches and pains and small injuries due to the lack of doctors.

 

I consider that we are really really lucky with the services this small town has to offer (that I may have listed before):

 

4 banks (except mine!), 4 supermarkets (within which are some very good butchers and fishmongers), two garages plus MOT garage, 3 filling stations, two vets, two doctors' surgeries, 3 unisex hairdressers, a real butcher, baker, two newsagents (one has a small caff/bar and a betting shop), wine merchant, estate agent, one 'restaurant', a bar, 2 clothes shops, one 'poodle' parlour, kebab, secondhand toy/children's wear shop, an optician, hardware shop, electrical appliance shop plus TV antennae installer, two timber/builders' merchants, toyshop (old fashioned, frankly rubbish, complete with cranky old dear), chocolatier/cake shop, 3 insurance agents, one funeral parlour, nursery, primary and secondary school, children's playground, solid/oil fuel merchant, solicitor, post office fully manned with all services including their bank (making 5), gendarmerie, brand new fire station with 5 assorted engines and pumps plus emergency ambulances co-located with the local highway maintenance depot (very well equipped), gymnasium, library for books, music and films, nurses HQ (where they can take bloods), Old Folk's Home, home help HQ (for us crumblies ;) - not needed - but were in attendance on Mrs Philou's brother), garden centre, supplier of motorised garden equipment (mowers through to chainsaws), the biggest coffin manufacturer you ever did see - and - drawing breath, we have a railway station acting as a bus node.

 

The station has no stoppers, but there have been several unscheduled stops recently due to major incidents (landslips, trees and the occasional cow. I think we also had a level crossing incident too). The station is kept in good repair as the yard is in use as a permanent way centre (new shed recently went up) and we often have visiting ballast trains and big maintenance machines similar to the Plasser ünd Theurer ones.

 

Not bad and they're talking of expanding the commercial side of things with a new supermarket and a DIY centre. There is to be soon a new health centre with all services available (dentist, doctor, osteo etc. all salaried, with cheap accommodation thrown in).

 

Back to model-land. Following @Chimer 's concerns regarding the height of the layout, when I finally assembled Module C yesterday morning and I took a picture, I also placed my folding measure alongside. The height from floor to formation (trackbed) at Ledbury station is 1010mm (approximately 3' 3 and 3/4") which is probably good viewing-wise. The final height is subject to levelling adjustments as necessary:

 

 

The rest of the day was spent doing the legs and some glueblocks for Module B. As this one is over 1.8m in length, I decided I ought to have 6 legs on it. These and the pockets were completed and in place this afternoon, and here is Module B in place:

 

 

Here's a view looking back from the station towards the yard area and the tunnel beyond. I'm chuffed to bits especially as I seem to be steaming along:

 

 

Now what? Well, Module A needs legs, but only 4 will be needed plus pockets. 2 legs will be at my 'standard' height but two will be shorter as Module A leads towards the the viaducts and there are two transition modules, A and A-1, dropping the ground from the station height to that of the Leadon River, 60 feet below. In reality, the Leadon sits in quite a wide plain, but foreshortening dictates that this will be just a narrow area of level-ish land. As soon as I've legged it, I'll need to get my thinking cap on as I need to make four 'stoppers' to prevent the cellar doors from opening back too far and hitting the legs of the modules. I'll also need to make some form of bridging unit to allow part of the viaduct corner module and the one next to it (Module Q (possibly)) to oversail the two cellar doors. It could well be once the units are bolted together, there won't be a need for a 'bridge' (but there's not much support for that idea).

 

All-in-all another profitable couple of days,

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

 

Edited July 14, 2023 by Philou

[Chimer]

I was spooked by the first shot last week which showed the module with that high foreground profile.  Looks much less of a worry seen in the wider context.  But I still think I might lower that highest profile by an inch or two and have the land rising away from the viewer.

[Philou]

1 hour ago, Chimer said:

But I still think I might lower that highest profile by an inch or two and have the land rising away from the viewer

 

.......... and you could well be right. I did think on similar lines in reviewing the pictures again before posting earlier. When you're in the railway room, the viewpoint isn't quite the same - I'm not 'seeing' what the camera is seeing.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

[Philou]

Hello chums and chumesses,

 

The weekend is already here - again! I hope you're having good weather wherever you are. We had a short thunderstorm at breakfast time that sent us scurrying inside with cups of coffee and toast (it was already 23° at eight this morning and it seemed a good idea - at the time- to eat outside for a change).

 

This afternoon turned sunny with high humidity that made things uncomfortable - but nonetheless, devotion to the church of modelling found me tackling the legs. Module A has now grown legs but due to a miscalculation on my part I shall need to cut two new legs for the module as I cut the 'odd' legs a little short. The cut ones will be recycled onto Module A-1 (Q possibly).

 

Here are some pictures of Module A. it was the first module of the series that I made and I looked at it closely - it's rubbish construction when compared to the later ones. It will do! Once tarted up and landscaped, no-one will notice:

 

 

I put a bubble on the top 'as is' and it's not far off meaning that there won't be an awful lot of adjusting to do. Here is the view down the station area looking from the Bromyard Road overbridge (nearest camera) towards the tunnel. The expanse of flat area is the whole of the station plus yard. The length is uncompressed but the yard has been - not by much - but two of the sidings have been foreshortened in the direction of the wall. Now that the modules are at the near-correct height and are adjoining each other, I can see the track alignment will be fine. The tracks will arrive on a straight alignment from the Hereford direction (behind the camera) but slightly angled in respect of the board edge. The platforms are generally straight but with the start of a transition curve over the last few metres of the platforms. This then followed by a long sweeping curve into the tunnel. The prototype tunnel is straight but compression means that the model one will be curved:

 

 

What will tomorrow bring? Not a lot seeing it's shhhhhh Sunday and during the allowed morning noisy period, I have some hacking of stonework to do to try and refit a door frame in the barn wall. For some reason the frame bowed and the door would no longer close. I don't know if there's been movement (the whole house moves due to no footings on a clay soil) or it's compression, but I've had to hack off all the cement work that I did when I put it in about 5 years ago. It must have been a good mix as it's like flint! The frame is now out and I have to tidy up where the frame is supposed to go to ensure there's enough free-board so as to prevent further bowing. As it's a composite plastic/steel frame and door there's absolutely no chance of doing any planing - that would normally have been a quick and dirty job!

 

On Monday, two sort-of A frames to be constructed to act as door-stops for the cellar doors and then more legs and glue blocks ;).

 

Cheers everyone and enjoy the rest of your weekend,

 

Philip

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by Philou
Misplaced photos

[lmsforever]

All coming on well you will soon be laying track but dont start running to many trains as it stops you doing the best bit  ,scenic modeling  thats when the fun starts . Your loacal village sounds amazing ,all those businesses you are lucky ,I suppose the surrounding  hamlets etc all converge on it.  You would find towns in the UK a real failure  we are losing shops services very fast plus those left are always out of stock.  I have to do a twenty mile round trip to get to my model railway store ,worth it once there  but we cope pity we cant follow the French model.   Like the way your legs are fitted  keep up the good work  enjoy seeing your progress.

[Philou]

14 hours ago, lmsforever said:

all those businesses you are lucky

 

At one time the town had far more businesses - it wouldn't be much of an exaggeration to suggest nearer 50% more. There were hotels and bars galore, shoe repairers (but that was a load of old cobblers), and not one of each but three or four bakers and butchers. It also had two stations at one time as there was the terminus of the 'tacot', the rural metre gauge rail network (the last of the lines were lifted in 1938 and some of the stock went to China) that adjoined the present standard gauge station.

 

@lmsforever, you are indeed correct in that the town does serve a very large rural population (in area) and as we touch two other departments, plenty of 'outsiders' shop here as well. I really do pity those of you in the UK that do have to go miles to buy the simplest of things, let alone model railways! Seeing as you live not far from Waddesdon, I would have thought that there should have been a shop in at least in Aylesbury. My 'local' is a 200mile round trip - so I don't go there.

 

I forewent any work on the door frame this morning as having had a good look with a long spirit level, I could see that I shall need my angle grinder, bolster and lump hammer. As it was Sunday, and though within the permitted 'noisy' period I thought better of it. It'll keep for tomorrow. Less noisy and dusty work ensued in making up my sort-of A frame as door-stop. This I have cut to size and shape (but my angles are rubbish) and needs fettling tomorrow afternoon. Once I have the parts shaped correctly, I'll use them to mark out a second one - and that'll be another little job jobbed.

 

Maybe a picture tomorrow.

 

Cheers everyone and enjoy what's left of the weekend,

 

Philip

[lezz01]

Do you intend to seal the modules to prevent warping Philip? I suggest that you do mate or they could  bow once you start ballasting and other scenic work. Either spray primer or clear varnish would do the job.

Regards Lez.

[Philou]

4 hours ago, lezz01 said:

Do you intend to seal the modules to prevent warping

 

I wasn't going to do any specific sealing, Lez. What I did before on two modules for the club was to wash the area under the trackbed with PVA and lay green wood fibre laminate flooring underlay (cut to shape, natch). Once dried, I painted the whole area (including areas intended for landscaping) with a good quality white vinyl paint (Dulux Tradesman quality). I had no issues regarding any warping as the paint, once dry, gave some protection to the ply. The paint allowed clear marking out of the trackwork and the wood fibre made it easy to pin the track. As the white was 'neutral' it needed little blocking out when putting on the coloured bases for flock, rivers and the like. This was the final result on a layout for the grandsons (ignore the trees - job lot of Noch and Faller that they insisted I use):

 

 

I had no issues with ballasting (bottom right). If anyone asks, the rock face is oak bark (I have loads of it every year as it falls off the wood ready for the burner), that was glued with neat PVA onto the polystyrene form. The whole lot was 'white-washed', including the polystyrene, with a thin coat of scrimming plaster, painted with white (not Brilliant) Dulux Tradesman vinyl and the 'rock' coloured accordingly. It's a technique that worked for me and I shall apply the same on the new layout.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by Philou

[Philou]

Hello chums and chumesses,

 

Today was slow but productive. The door frame has necessitated more thought and wedges - which turned out well as I knew wedges were to be cut in making my sort-of A-frames.

 

And speaking of A-frames, here was the model in place this afternoon:

 

 

At the end of the day, here they are placed both sides of the doors. I can't believe it took nearly four hours to make them up! I finished them off with a bit of dense self-adhesive foam to act as a buffer. The bonus is that I don't have to counter the weight of the doors as they drop backwards onto the floor, nor do I have to lift them from the floor to close them - win, win all round for me and my back:

 

 

So what shall we do in the afternoon tomorrow then? I know, how about some glue blocks for a change? Good idea! Once I've cut a few dozen, I shall get back to leg-making as I need the glue-blocks for making up the pockets. Next module to be 'legged' will be the corner one that will partly over-sail the left hand side of the opening in the picture above. The module to the right (also in the picture above) will over-sail the opening completely and here I shall be required to make a bridge of some sort - perhaps once bolted, it might be self-supporting, much as those at the club - we'll see =:/ .

 

Toodle pip - more tomorrow,

 

Philip

 

 

[JeffP]

Damn!

That looks quite professional and puts to shame the single sheet of 6mm ply, opening onto a "door banger" suspended from the rafters, that closes off my loft.

Only been meaning to do something better for twenty years😄