Hello Chaps,
An update on progress.
The front and rear frames have had their dry assembly trial run and all is good for glue assembly. Please note; the joints will look much neater after glue assembly and cleaned up to a 400g finish.
Here are all 5 frames pretty much marked up, excluding the braces and narrow studs.
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This photo shows 4 splayed posts with a painted black joint divider which is 2.4mm oak construction veneer - the two with mortices are for the rear frame and the other two are for the porch.
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There are almost 200 mortice & tenon joints in just the 5 frames, with others to follow throughout the project. I shall also be using a 2mm hardwood dowel to replicate the draw-bore pins, although they will be more authentic than structural.
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Here is the front frame ready for dry assembly.
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Roof truss.
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And here is the complete frame excluding the braces and narrow studs.
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Stood in position on its base.
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And now the rear frame.
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Ground floor framing.
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Ground & first floor.
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I'm using a king post and split collar arrangement. In a full size project, this joint would normally include a loose spline connecting the split collar through the mortice of the king post with a series of draw-bore pins, but I am opting for a slightly easier method by using stub tenons on the connection of the king post and split collar.
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Dry assembled.
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And here is the complete frame excluding the braces and narrow studs.
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Amazingly, the frame stood unaided as a dry assembly.
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I am also pleased to share the installation of a new back drop for better photos during the various stages of the build, and of course, the final photos of Project Merlin standing in all its spendour.
The plan was to suspend the back drop from the beams of the dining room ceiling as and when I need it - and this is exactly what I've done. Here is the dining room with the adjoining workshop door of hats - The Man Cave.
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Here is one hook screwed into a beam.
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And the other.
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And here is the back drop in place, ready to pull down and dress over the dining table to form a photography studio.
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And finally, this is (more than likely) going to be the revised staircase instead of carving a naked lady with pert boobies - (I might put her somewhere else in the project). I have already bought the hand blown glass spheres for the light shades, and the column is going to be cocobolo.
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That's it folks!
Report back soon with the outline of the build and some decent photos from the new photography studio.
Cheers,
In my previous life, I was a tree.