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Wednesday and it is far more comfortable in the mid 60s F. I decided to fix the braces around the octagon for reinforcing the cladding plywood. By increasing the nailing area the triangulation is greatly improved because the plywood cannot buckle or flex under compression loads. The plywood fixing 'nails' will actually be screws in this case of course. I soon ran out of 80mm fixing screws so will have to go back to the timber yard before I can finish the 2"x4" braces. The "doorway" to the building is still wide open for easy access.
A heavy duty, aluminium warehouse ladder has been ordered. With 4" deep treads and an extended handrail on each side it should be ideal but rather expensive.Shopping around online produced a price reduction of over 1/3 compared with some other dealers.
I was able to ascertain the width at 60cm [2'] and length but even the "manufacturer" could not tell me the lean angle. I rang several of their dealers because the "manufacturers" do not deal directly with private customers. None could tell me the slope angle in use. Best guess was 65°. We shall see [hopefully] tomorrow.
I was able to ascertain the width at 60cm [2'] and length but even the "manufacturer" could not tell me the lean angle. I rang several of their dealers because the "manufacturers" do not deal directly with private customers. None could tell me the slope angle in use. Best guess was 65°. We shall see [hopefully] tomorrow.
If the treads were simple ladder rungs then it wouldn't matter. But who would set up a set of steps with the treads at anything but horizontal? It was like banging my head against a brick wall trying to get the "manufacturer's" idiot on the phone to agree to this basic principle. So I hung up in the end. Why do they employ such people?
Provisionally I have plans to point the top of the ladder towards the south. This is the least trafficked area of an observatory floor housing a refractor. The ladder will probably lean against the doubled 8" beam. With the handrail extension reaching towards the obs. wall out of the way. Providing a secure transition from climbing to actually standing in the observatory. I still can't clad the top of the pier with plywood until I have the ladder here and set up. Otherwise I have no idea of the headroom clearance under the pier.
Thursday: Showers while I wait for the ladder to be delivered. I've measured and don't think the ladder will go between the pyramid legs to the south. So it looks like West is the only sensible direction. Though that means the trapdoor is on [probably] the busiest side of the observatory. I have spent years waiting for planets to rise in the East behind the high hedge.
Once the rain stopped I set my double ladder to 3.8 meters in length and tried to get it into the building. Not with any great ease! Even with the much narrower ladder, than that I ordered, it was a real struggle to thread it through the woodwork. Then I received a call to say that the ladder had been damaged in transport and wouldn't arrive until tomorrow. I was advised to check it carefully in case of damage to that one in transit.
After careful measurement of the few product images online I have settled on 70°. Assuming this lean angle of 70° I can set the ladder up for the extended top to almost touch the inside of the eastern observatory wall. The problem is clearing the joist which crosses through the ladder's likely path. I shall have to move the joist nearer the support posts so that the ladder can rest safely against it. At the moment it is tied to the far side of the joist. Which makes climbing slightly tricky. The handrail extension could be a real nuisance if it juts out very far into the observatory. So it would be best to push the ladder right towards the obs. wall. That will minimizes any obstruction to eyepieces and cameras on the long refractor.
Trying lengths of joist under the pyramid pier showed that fitting new joists increases the headroom problems at certain points of the climb. I shall have to be rather creative if all the floorboards are to be adequately supported. I still haven't been able to imagine a safe trapdoor arrangement because I don't know where it will need to be or how much headroom it needs. Most loft ladders stow away either it above or all below the ceiling involved. My ladder will permanently pierce the aperture where the trapdoor will be situated. The southerly orientation was impossible due to the structural beam getting in the way. I could hardly squeeze my shoulders though the pyramid by the time I reached near obs. floor level.
I had another look at the potential joist spacing and it would actual improve. i.e Become more equally spaced if I moved two whole joists. Quite easily done thanks to my using Torx screws to fix it all together. Had I known the pier base would expand so dramatically I could have saved myself cutting the obstructive joists and simply moved them aside. The same with the ladder. The nearest joist need only have been moved a couple of inches. Until I have the real ladder in place, at the correct angle, I cannot move anything.
The self-compacting sand and gravel is ideal for its purpose [compacting] but is neither a pretty sight nor particularly user-friendly. The dark sand 'travels' with contacting footwear. I shall have to fetch some sharp chippings to tidy up the appearance of the whole site. Rounded gravel never beds down and is like wading through mud if accumulated to any useful depth.
While I was 'upstairs' I tensioned a red cord around the outer edges of the eight support posts of the octagon. This gave me a much clearer idea of the dividing line between the octagonal obs. floor and the outer veranda. It is odd how small the observatory floor seems compared with the ground floor.
Once the rain stopped I set my double ladder to 3.8 meters in length and tried to get it into the building. Not with any great ease! Even with the much narrower ladder, than that I ordered, it was a real struggle to thread it through the woodwork. Then I received a call to say that the ladder had been damaged in transport and wouldn't arrive until tomorrow. I was advised to check it carefully in case of damage to that one in transit.
After careful measurement of the few product images online I have settled on 70°. Assuming this lean angle of 70° I can set the ladder up for the extended top to almost touch the inside of the eastern observatory wall. The problem is clearing the joist which crosses through the ladder's likely path. I shall have to move the joist nearer the support posts so that the ladder can rest safely against it. At the moment it is tied to the far side of the joist. Which makes climbing slightly tricky. The handrail extension could be a real nuisance if it juts out very far into the observatory. So it would be best to push the ladder right towards the obs. wall. That will minimizes any obstruction to eyepieces and cameras on the long refractor.
Trying lengths of joist under the pyramid pier showed that fitting new joists increases the headroom problems at certain points of the climb. I shall have to be rather creative if all the floorboards are to be adequately supported. I still haven't been able to imagine a safe trapdoor arrangement because I don't know where it will need to be or how much headroom it needs. Most loft ladders stow away either it above or all below the ceiling involved. My ladder will permanently pierce the aperture where the trapdoor will be situated. The southerly orientation was impossible due to the structural beam getting in the way. I could hardly squeeze my shoulders though the pyramid by the time I reached near obs. floor level.
I had another look at the potential joist spacing and it would actual improve. i.e Become more equally spaced if I moved two whole joists. Quite easily done thanks to my using Torx screws to fix it all together. Had I known the pier base would expand so dramatically I could have saved myself cutting the obstructive joists and simply moved them aside. The same with the ladder. The nearest joist need only have been moved a couple of inches. Until I have the real ladder in place, at the correct angle, I cannot move anything.The self-compacting sand and gravel is ideal for its purpose [compacting] but is neither a pretty sight nor particularly user-friendly. The dark sand 'travels' with contacting footwear. I shall have to fetch some sharp chippings to tidy up the appearance of the whole site. Rounded gravel never beds down and is like wading through mud if accumulated to any useful depth.
While I was 'upstairs' I tensioned a red cord around the outer edges of the eight support posts of the octagon. This gave me a much clearer idea of the dividing line between the octagonal obs. floor and the outer veranda. It is odd how small the observatory floor seems compared with the ground floor.
Click on any image for an enlargement.
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