Pine Truss

This week we've had to put a roof on to a large underground shed that houses the water tanks for the house I've been working on. For this roof we had to make two large pine trusses as the roof is to have Coraline sheeting on, so there will be no rafters only purlins.

Pine truss ready to go in

Made out of 9"x3" timber they are mortised and tenonned together with a large bridle joint for the top of the truss. They look really smart and should last many years.

Old Wooden Tree Pump

On Friday night I had a strange phone call quite late.

A man phoned about this blog, he'd found something he called a tree pump on his farm and tried searching for information on the Internet and came across this post.

Only one large lump of wood found this time

 He didn't live very far away (and knew my dad - although everyone round here does) and would I like to come and have a look. So on Saturday I popped by and I could see straight away that it was similar to the other one I had seen but not in as good condition, only the timber had survived and  this was only one piece.
I'd say it was older than the one I saw near Bishops Castle, not so much time had been spent on the outside of this pump or pipe as it was quite rough, just hewed square I'd guess. Also they'd picked a piece of wood that had loads of knots in it which seems an odd choice if your drilling it by hand as it would make it much harder work. That said there might have been a shortage of timber at the time and apparently there used to be monks living there so time might not have been an issue.




From what I can work out I'd say this was the base where the water was drawn from. It's set up from the bottom to prevent too much sediment getting pumped through

 As for it's usage I can only guess. There were a number of pools there where the monks would have farmed fish for eating (there wasn't many days in the week where you could eat meat compared to fish ion medieval times so freshwater fish were an important food stuff in those times). I think it was probably to pump water up to the pools if the brook feeding them ran dry.

roughly a 5" diameter hole all the way down it

This would be the top. Tapered to fit tightly into another length of pipe

A fragment of timber from it that looks like elm

The pool where it was taken from

The man who found it, Bob, was a right character and we hit it off straight away, we share a common interest in trees, wood and the countryside. He did say if the digger is around that area again then they will dig deeper to see if they can find anymore of it so maybe that would put more light on the subject.
If I ever have enough time I'd love to build a working wooden pump like this and make it the traditional way (although finding the elm might be difficult these days). I think that through building it you would learn how it works to a much greater level and what they must have done all those years ago to have water close at hand.

Shuttering Steps

Back on the swimming pool this weeks to build the form work for the steps into the pool.

The finished steps

Building the underside of the steps. There needs to be a void underneath for duct work

A side view of the shutters. I enjoyed putting this together as it's only the inside measurements that are critical



My work area was not great!  It was raining and the layer of sand we put down to protect the floor slab stuck to all my tools.

A picture showing some of the bracing for the strings and the two tie bars holding both sides to each other

The completed stutters. There is two layers of steel mesh tied together inside the form work

We mixed the concrete by hand. Here's Neil and Richard levelling off and vibrating the concrete

The completed stairs in the pools with the side shutters off

Finished job. We'll remove the underside shutters on Monday

Stripping the shutters off yesterday I was pleased with how these stairs turned out. I'm just looking forward to when we've got some water in the pool and I get to try them out for real!

Radiator Bench

I finished off a bench over a radiator today.

 made out of sapele with storage underneath, it finishes off the porch nicely. It's going to have a dark stain applied to it and a brass socket where I've left the plastic back box.

The end section slides up to allow access to the soil pipe behind and the wire to the socket

Storage at one end, ideal for shoes etc. The other side lifts up to allow access to the radiator

Testing it out. Complete with Cheesy grin!

Quite pleased with this little project. It goes well with the feel of the room (the expensive tiles on the floor and the limestone window sills) and it's one of the first things people will see when they walk into this grand house.

Shuttering For Footings

Had a good day today, something a little bit different from the final fitting we're doing in the house, building shuttering form work for the footings of the swimming pool.

 I can't take credit for all of this, as I've only worked on it one day, but it was good to be working out in the sunshine. I quite like shuttering, although I've not done much of it, I find it interesting to build the inverse of things to make the concrete look right when the shutters are removed.

We made sure we put in plenty of props as the weight of concrete can be surprising, I'm looking forward to seeing how it all stands up to the concrete pour we've got on Thursday.

I love the variety of work you have  to be able to do as a carpenter.

Fitting Brass Ironmongery

I won't say how much these door handles cost but lets just say they're expensive.

When fitting brass ironmongery like this you need to make sure you take your time and use the right tools for the job.

 All screw holes need to be marked then piloted with a twist bit slightly smaller than the screw (in this case 3mm), brass screws are generally pretty soft and have a habit of braking or rounding off. Your screw driver also needs to be the right size for the slot and they should be tighten by hand, a drill or impact driver is too unwieldy for this type of ironmongery as a single slip can scratch it or wreck the screw.

I normally spray the mechanism with a little silicone lubricant before putting it together, as I figure it will be probably be the last time anyone has it apart in a long while and it should make operation smoother.

When fitted and all tighten up it should work with a positive action and if it's solid brass like this one then it should also look rather good!

Oak Stair Gate

I fitted this oak stair gate for a customer a few weeks ago to stop their dogs from going upstairs.

 

I was really pleased with how it turned and it would be great for anyone with kids who wanted something more in keeping with a period property.

Can be made and fitted to order.

Wood Panelling An Arch

The last couple of days I've been panelling an archway to look like some of the other doorways in this old farm house. When I got given this job I knew I was going to enjoy it and the finished project was going to look good.

The bare arch. Here I've added the first piece of veneered MDF as the backing



The beginnings of the panelling. Sapele strips added to build up the look of panels and bendy ply added to the curve.

A tricky bit of wood here. This Curved piece had to be laminated out of thin strips then glued up in a jig and left over night



Attaching the beading to the inside of the panels

A thin architrave is added around the outside. I used a laminate trimmer in the router to make this flush with the arch. I then routed the moulding on the inside edge

Kerfing out the back of the beading then adding boiling water to get it to bend around the tight curve

The finished arch with another layer of architrave added around the outside

This curved beading was the hardest part of the whole project but it was worth it for how it looks now it's in!

The finished arch

 

At the end of today I was really pleased with how it all looked now it's finished. I'm also looking forward to seeing the customers reaction when they come up next week.

All that's needed now is for the painters to give it a coat of paint and hopefully people will think it's an original feature of the house.

I do love being a carpenter!

Restoring Shutters

On the large job we replaced the windows many months ago for new ones. In doing so we removed the old shutters and their surrounds that they sat in. These were a real feature of the house and the customer wanted us to make something similar to what was there before.

One of the windows with plastered reveals

 We reused the old shutters, but replaced all the ironmongery and the surrounds. First we refitted the shutters then built the surrounds around them as they were all individual sizes so each had to be built to suit.
We framed below the bay windows with 3x2 this meant they weren't quite so deep and could have a wider window board.

We cut a wide architrave and machined a rope bead on the front to match the other mouldings in the house (as well as machining a smaller architrave that sits on top). We then created a frame to bring out the architrave to give the shutters the clearance they needed before fitting it all.

 Once we had done that it was a matter of installing the window boards and plaster boarding the bay so the plasterer can get it finished next week.

Three windows finished and a lot of character added back into a large room.

Punching Nails

An oak floor at the house I'm currently working at needs refinishing and blending with the new oak floor I laid in the kitchen.

My tools for the day

 The customer also wants all the cut nails filling (personally I like the nails showing like this). This unfortunately means than another chippy and myself have spent the whole day punching nails into the floor. I think if prisoners were given this type of labour they'd probably complain about their human rights!

Nails punched below the surface

By the end of the day my hands were beginning to feel the punishment of driving these large cut nails into the oak floor, one after the other. Some went easy but many took a lot of effort to get in.
Now the floor can be filled and sanded before a new finish is applied.

Log Store

A friend has been asking me for weeks to come and help him build a log store against his fence. I finally found time this weekend so managed to get it done.

Frame work up

 It's a simple construction with three 4x4 posts concreted into the ground. They're notched to support the top rail then braced to stop it from moving. The back support is fixed into the rail for the fence on the other side, we also left this long and fixed it to two large fence posts to give it extra support.
For the roof I cut rafters then we clad it with ply before adding the battens to take the slates. Maybe a little over kill but at least we know its plenty strong enough and wont move.


Roof on and posts concreted

This is ideally suited infront of the house and when he clads the sides it will make a great a place to store his timber. He wanted it building at this time of year because he likes to buy firewood split but unseasoned and seasons it himself as it works out cheaper.

Slatted and looking quite smart

I know he was pleased with it becuase the next day he text me a picture of the store with the slates on looking rather smart!
I could do with something like this at my house!


Bench Hook

Some times a project doesn't have to be complicated to be really useful.

 This is a bench hook for cutting vinyl tiles that my sister uses in surface printing.

I made it years ago and it's nice to see her still using it, even though it was just made with some off cuts and a spare 5 minutes.