Counterbalanced trapdoor Pt.4.

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I'm going with pulleys and ropes. After an hour of searching online I finally found 100mm [4"] replacement, nylon pulleys for discontinued fitness machines. Absolute peanuts [£2 each] from a large discount chain here in Denmark. Duly ordered. I'll try using the white rope first and only change to steel stranded cable if it proves necessary. I shall notch and nicely radius the trapdoor edges to ensure there are no repeated bending stresses on the rope. I am assuming that low friction is good until proven otherwise.

Once I have the pulleys fixed I can fine tune the weights needed to lighten the trapdoor load. Until now it always meant going down on one knee to stretch to the far end of the trapdoor deep inside the "kennel" cutout in the huge, timber pier. Then to heave up on the massive, solid larch trapdoor. Lowering it again always meant avoiding getting my fingers trapped by the supporting toggles. Merely adding to the misery.

I can't believe I am finally going to do something serious about this heavy lifting problem. It should absolutely transform the safety and ease of use of the observatory. It was so heavy and awkward I would always avoid lowering the trapdoor. Even when I was hanging over the open void to look through the eyepiece! I could have moved the toggles forwards by two inches. To allow a slight trim in weight, but it would have meant major surgery on the obs. floor joists.There was no clearance from the isolated, pier timbers unless I literally moved the floor joists.

I quite like the look of the doors now they are grooved on the insides. [Despite the ugly patches from not having enough material] So I might get some more plywood and cover the inside of the observatory walls. The B-side of the ply was never meant to be seen but would eventually have been painted black. A slight problem is the height of the obs. walls is greater than half a sheet. Though I could use up my small reserve of larch as skirting boards to conceal the shortage on height.

This afternoon I tried setting up an external ladder to simulate how it might look and work. It would certainly be possible but there are too many downsides. Frozen treads, handrails and veranda crusted with snow in winter is but one example. Cats and vermin climbing up to the veranda is another. Birds perching and crapping on the ladder. An open invitation to two legged vermin would not be not the least of my worries. It is far better to have the inside stepladders kept constantly dry and safe to use. Access only available through the secure main doors. With added security features I shan't mention here.

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