14.01.2022 Top, shutter bogie progress then whoops!

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Friday 43F, overcast start with drizzle. Later I managed to get some M10x60mm bolts. So I can fit the upper bogies this afternoon. Though it has become sunny now and I should be solar imaging.

The seeing was horrendous! Violent thermal agitation and mushy detail. This was before the sun was over the house. So I couldn't blame the roof.

After lunch I drilled the bogie channels for the socket head bolts. 10mm right through and then 16mm for head clearance. I shall have to look out for 16mm rubber stoppers to keep the rain out.

The shutter top boards are birch plywood laminated to 40mm thick. The channels are 5mm thick. The 60mm bolts may be slightly too long. The protruding axle nuts will require sink holes. Or matching packing on the fixing bolts. I will order stainless steel bolts as appropriate. 

That can wait until after a trial fitting. I don't think the drawer slides will get in the way. Which is why I placed the bolts so high up. To ensure clearance. The positioning of the bolts was very limited by the skate wheels. 

There was also the matter of overlapping channels. I wanted to match the bogie rolling height to match the drawer slides. I can still remove the drawer slides after the bogies are in place.  Not before. Or the shutters will be unsupported.

I managed to fit one bogie using 12mm galvanized nuts as spacers. However, the shutter would not move because of obstructions to the drawer slide. I removed the drawer slide, in the dark, by torchlight. The shutter promptly fell sideways as the rail channel tipped upwards at the far end! Fortunately the shutter remained hooked in place on the ladder. Which I had been using to extract the last of the screws.

A ratchet strap, hooked under the dome skirt, pulled the channel back down to level. Then I could close the shutters for the night. It should be sunny and dry again tomorrow. So I can continue work. First priority is making sturdy props for the top, rail channel!

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