Arrival Time: 8:30am
I was highly motivated today despite starting to feel a bit exhausted. We went straight into it, and the first thing we put up was the A frame structure, literally lifting it onto the steeldecks that were roughly the right height then walking it up. It was then my job to stitch it to the main frame! Let's just say I was concentrating on not falling off.
Look at it! Isn't it exciting. We did really put these pieces up quickly. Here I am doing something up a ladder again, looking extremely serious. It is high up there.
Not before long we had all of the stage right right side up! We braced it off against the wall as we went along to keep it secure, but I think we will put more bracing in as it goes on.
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| Majestic. |
We managed to put everything up in one morning, which was great! Richard and I then got started on the rostra. The first job was to get the heigh right, taking into account that there is 18mm ply on top, as well as 20mm cladding. The total height needs to be 800mm. I cant remember what height the legs were, but we use 3 x 3 timber so we could get the legs just the right height. Once the steeldeck was the right height we drilled the 18mm ply on top. As the ply is 1220mm wide, we needed to cut it down to 610mm as dictated by the design. We did this with a tool called a Festool, or a Panel Saw.
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| Richard using the Festool |
We then made the structure to support the front of the ply and so we had something to attach the cladding to. The following pictures show how we put it together.
We made sure it was secure all round, and we also drilled it into the floor so it was really stable and definitely not going anywhere! We then started the cladding process.
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| Cladding the sides |
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| Draw-knifing the edges to give it a worn look. |
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| Looks quite lovely doesn't it?! |
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| Hard at work, cladding the front. |
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| All done! |
Once the cladding was complete, it was time to move onto the treads. Richard made one set, and I was determined to make my own set by myself! Here is my little step by step process I undertook.
Making the Treads
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| CNC Cut Former |
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| Pilot holes |
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| Pilot holes all the way round where the pieces of 3 x 1 will go against. |
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| In the treads, the pieces of 3 x 1 need to overlap so they can be drilled together for extra support. |
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| Stitching it together |
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| Both formers on. |
I'm going to add in here that we didn't use the supporting middle formers because Rhiannon didn't order PSE 3 x 1 so the rough sawn timber she ordered wouldn't actually fit. Right, back to the treads....
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| Where the rise and going come together for extra support. |
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| All the supports in! |
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| The rear of the treads. |
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| Just so you know... |
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| Putting the 18mm plywood cladding on. |
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| 18mm Cladding |
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| The two going pieces that Richard cut for me. |
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| Time to learn to use the Festool! |
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| Cut my own tread. |
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| cladding the treads, using two pieces of 6 x 1 and splitting the difference. |
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| All the goings done. |
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| The rise (one piece of 6 x 1 and one 2 x 1) |
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| Inside the treads |
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| Side elevation of the layers. |
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| Richard speeding me up by helping me clad the sides. |
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| Cladding the sides |
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| Draw-knifing the edges after we cut the diagonal on the Festool. |
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| A rather lovely set of stair treads! |
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| From the front |
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| Side |
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| Back |
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| You can even climb them! |
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| In place either side of the rostra. |
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End of Day Three
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By the end of day three I was definitely getting tired. We'd had a very productive day and we got a lot done. I even learned a new tool; the Panel Saw! I may have sawn into the rostra, but no one will notice so it's fine! Still eager to learn, and tomorrow we will start on the wheel!
