13 July 2008:
The big project for me this week has been completing a lot of parts for the log construction set. Included in the mix were new types of parts, some modifications to old part types, and a lot of duplicates of some of the old part types.
Last year we simply placed square acrylic sheets on the roof and did not secure them. This bothered both me and the children. The solution we agreed to was to frame each of the sheets making panels and to secure each of the framed panels to the roof with removable dowels. I prepared narrow
(1 cm by 6 cm strips) of cedar of the appropriate lengths. Of course, the source of the cedar again was old wood that I had previously "rescued" and stockpiled. In this picture:
[attachthumb=#1]
the 1 cm edges of 20 strips are being gang-sanded with a Festool Rotex 150. The strips are wedged between a stopped strip and the end vise on my woodworking bench.
Then I sanded both 6 cm sides of each strip with the Rotex and the ends with a Festool linear sander:
[attachthumb=#2]
Observant folks will notice that there is no hose attached to the sanders in the above pictures. Unfortunately, my Festool CT22 vacuum is at Pellow's Camp.
Fortunately I could work with the door open.
There is a very good chance that my next Festool purchase will be a CT Mini.
I did not attempt to gang-sand the sides or the ends. Each panel required eight strips and I made enough for five panels. I have four acrylic sheets and cut a square of 6mm thick plywood for the fifth panel. Later on I will make at least three more panels using plywood.
The strips are applied with screws and glue along all four edges of both sides of the acrylic (or plywood) squares and they are overlapped at the corners. Here is photo of one partly completed panel:
[attachthumb=#3]
As you can see, the strips were painted red before they we used.
I have tried to avoid making special parts but it appeared that a special rafter was need along each edge of the roof. They, too, were painted red in order to make them easy to identify:
[attachthumb=#4]
Observe the four holes in the top of the rafter. Small sections of dowel
(yet again red) can be loosely fitted into these rafters:
[attachthumb=#5]
Then the panels
(each of which has two holes slightly larger than the diameter of the dowels on one edge) can be positioned over the dowels:
[attachthumb=#6]
I hasten to add that the roof is not intended to be leak proof.
Isla, in particular, did not like the fact that the kit had a door frame but no door. This week, I finally got around to making a door. As with all the other parts, it had to be light enough for a child to lift and to place into position. I have attempted to have no parts that an active and intelligent child of age 6 cannot manage. All the cedar wood for the door is 12 mm thick. The construction was very simple as can be seen in this picture:
[attachthumb=#7]
The door hinges were somewhat more complicated. I remembered from my summers working on a farm as a teenager that there was some type of hinge that allowed us to simply lift some of the barn doors off their frames, but could not remember any details. Research led me to an ancient type of hinge called a 'rat tail hinge' Such hinges are still available today but they are usually hand forged and quite expensive. Further research led me to rat tail hinges machine made in Italy and sold by Lee Valley for A much less expensive $8 a pair. Here is picture of me experimenting with one of the hinges:
[attachthumb=#8]
The trick is to mount the hinges so that you can:
(1) align the lower flag (the part on the door) over the lower rat tail (the part on the frame) first,
(2) lower the door a little bit,
(3) align the upper flag over the upper tat tail,
(4) lower the door the rest of the way.
Here are pictures of the door beside the frame then mounted on the frame:
[attachthumb=#9]
[attachthumb=#10]
Ethan requested some way of building a platform into his structures when he builds things such as forts, ships, and rockets out of the construction kit. I came up with the idea of placing three adjacent notches on the logs on opposite walls and then bridging those notches with three regular half logs used as crosspieces:
[attachthumb=#11]
A simple platform part can then be snuggly fitted over the crosspieces:
[attachthumb=#12]
I tested the platform by standing on it and attempting to tip it off the crosspieces. I could not do so.
In the photo below, the platform is being used in conjunction with the crane:
[attachthumb=#13]
I'm sure that we will thing of additional uses of the three adjacent notches and plan to cut them into many of the older parts.
We welcome suggestions about such parts or any other new parts!
Here are three different views of a structure that we built yesterday incorporating the new parts described above as well as a lot of duplicates of some of the older parts:
[attachthumb=#14] [attachthumb=#15] [attachthumb=#16]
I still need to complete many parts built this week with auto body filler, sanding, and then either spar urethane or paint. I hope to have that all done in the next couple of days.
