Dome build: Doors and shutters 2.

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Sunday: I have unclamped the doors after leaving them overnight to find them both bowed by only about 1/4". I can live with that. It will be interesting to see if they keep changing over time. They are remarkably heavy now compared with the original single skin 12mm ply. I'll plane the edges first before finishing off with a trimming router bit with a guide bearing.

Later I fitted the first, plywood shutter cover in 4mm birch. The 5'x5' boards were only just big enough to reach from top to bottom.

It needed the internal stepladders, outside ladder, veranda and six feet long arms to reach all the screw points on the cross battens. It is blowing a gale which makes handling the ply rather entertaining. I'll do the other shutter after lunch.

And did, but with the wind now blowing the ply onto the dome. It took only a quarter of an hour to fit the second shutter cover after the practice on the first. The shutters match each other quite nicely and don't look too bad against the angular panels of the dome itself. I'll need to add a weather strip to stop wind blown rain and snow getting in between the shutters.

Now I need lights inside the dome! It's suddenly gone very dark in there. A torch is a nuisance when I'm climbing or descending the ladder with an arm full of tools. I'll have to look at strings of red LEDs. Which are increasingly popular with observatory owners. Being so small they can be hidden from direct view yet provide a wash of useful light.

Monday: Spent a couple of hours sanding the dome.  First with an orbital sander and then with the oscillating multi-tool. Now I can add pins and needles to my aches and pains. I bought a tin of white primer while out on a cycle ride to recover. Plus a test pot of paint in sage green. We'll paint a large piece of card and fold it over the dome to see how it might look.

My wife enjoys painting far more than I do so has taken over responsibility for test cards and colour choices. The tiers of panels will hopefully, each take on a different hew as the light strikes it differently. As is very evident from the way each plywood panel look very different to the camera. I'm hoping for a lot of variation across the dome rather than a uniform colour. This will help it to blend in against the background trees.

Click on any image for an enlargement. 

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