15.9.21

15.09.2021 Shutter rib straightening.

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Wednesday 15th 57F, breezy and cloudy. Pink sky in the east. All day rain forecast.

It started to rain just after 11am. By which time I had removed the sloping and curved, outer, shutter rib. First I used a trimming bit to even out the upper edge. Then tilted the router's adjustable, base plate. To put a lateral chamfer on the top, outer edge. This now matches the slope of the GRP shutter. 

There is considerable downward pressure, from the brackets and clamping bolts on the outer edge of the rib. This might have been fighting the inward slope on the shutter's underside surface. 

I sanded the rib and left it to sag against the unwanted curvature. There was plenty of room for the rib inside the dome. The rib is clamped horizontally onto a B&D workbench. Which will keep it out of the rain while I experiment with undoing the rib's distortion.

The image shows how I can notch the underside of the shutter ribs. This will allow the shutter to sink a little lower onto the dome. Present clearance is 50mm over the length of the shutter rib. I always planned to have very low profile shutters. This aim was missed somewhere along the way. The drawer slides just have to clear the undersides of the GRP shutters. I should be able to close the gap between the ribs and the dome a little more. The wind will then flow over the shutters without turbulence. The shutters being spherical, to match the dome, will continue the curve of the dome without the usual obstruction. 


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