Arrival of timber for rafters

At last the timber for the rafters arrived today. Finished moving and stacking by 4.45pm. A really great Christmas present.

The next step

All the purlins are now pegged but there are still a few pegs to make to fit to the main frame.

I have arranged for the lean to post supports to be made by Dean Forge. The posts will be galvanised and fitted in concrete - the oak post will be drilled at the base and sit on the plate and spigot - see drawing.

Fixing Purlins

Over the past two days (allowing time for other things) I have managed to fix the purlins on one side of the roof with hexagonal pegs. These pegs can be difficult to cut to the correct size to ensure a tight fit but not too tight to damage the peg but, as with most things, practice helps.

The last mortice and tenon

The lean to frame is now complete - having cut the last mortice and tenon yesterday. I spent some time today preparing the ground to lay some concrete to form the base for the lean to. I have pegs to cut and fit whilst waiting for the oak rafters but it seems rather strange (and slightly unreal) to have finished the frame.

View from the "lean to" end

There is a lot more work to do to finish the shed so I won't be looking for other things to do just yet.

The vertical posts of the lean to are
temporarily supported

The Last Purlin

I managed to get the fourth purlin on to the roof frames exactly one week later! However I have started the "lean to" frame (storage for Barbara's bee keeping equipment) and have fitted two small braces to the rear purlins. I have just two more to fit. I was originally planning to use tanalised soft wood for the rafters but have now ordered some oak from http://www.anton-coaker.co.uk    

One of the roof braces fitted between the
two rear purlins

The First Purlin

 
Managed to fit the first purlin yesterday. They will need to be pegged and some additional braces for the roof may be required. If the weather stays fine this week I am hoping to have all four in place (we shall see). 

Lifting and moving

The final roof frame in position

Quite an occasion yesterday - after a small amount of woodwork the last roof frame was lifted into position. The rest of the day was spent moving scaffolding and then the timber for the four purlins from the storage space in the garden to the shed. These are the last four heavy timbers that I will have to move. Not a great deal of work needs to be done to prepare these - just cut to length and then four cut-outs on each one to sit over the roof frames.

Wall and roof frames with scaffolding
positioned to hoist purlins

Peg making

Rectangular blanks

Oak log with Froe

Cutting rectangular blanks

   

Cutting square blanks

 

Square blanks

Shaping pegs from
square blanks

Shaping pegs from
square blanks

Testing the diameter of
the peg

Finished pegs

I managed to work for a few hours on the shed this morning (before the rain started) and now there is only about 30 minutes work and the final end frame will be complete. Still for once I don't mind it raining as I have a lot of pegs to make. I have been making pegs throughout the construction of the shed - usually when the weather is not so good. However, I still need to make a lot and before I can lift the final frame I need to peg the joints to ensure it is secure.

I make the pegs using a Froe (to cut the square blanks) and a draw knife to shape the pegs from the blanks. I hold the timber in my Workmate (in a rather non-traditional way) when shaping the pegs.

Fitting the last end frame

Cutting the last mortice

All the roof frames are now virtually finished and the first end roof frame is now in place. I was expecting it to be rather difficult to lift and position the end frames as they have additional braces and therefore slightly heavier than the two internal frames. The roof frame was lifted on the outside of the building with the pulleys positioned so the frame hung over the tenons - some manoeuvring was required but the process worked well. 

There is a small amount of work to finish on the final end frame so hopefully it will not be too long before this is also in place (weather permitting).

Lifting the frame into position

Three frames now in position

Fitting the second roof frame

The weather forecast was for rain this afternoon so I was expecting to work most of the day in the garage. In fact there were spells of sunshine (despite quite a lot of cloud) and only a very few spots of rain. Consequently I was able to work outside all day which has enable me to finish the second middle roof frame and fit to the tie bar. 

The two centre roof frames in position

Fitting the first roof frame.

A week of glorious weather has enabled progress to be made and the first roof frame is now fitted.

One of the challenges with building the shed has been the weight of the timber and manoeuvring beams and frames into position. For some time I have been thinking about getting the roof frames up onto the wall plates and whether this is something I could manage on my own. The height of the scaffolding is just clear of the roof apex and because I am using two double pulleys to increase the mechanical advantage the working height is very restricted. 

I calculated that if I attached the pulley to the tie beam (and fixed a loop to the top of the frame to prevent it tipping as it was lifted) I may just be able to get the frame into position.

I finished one of the central roof frames today and, as the inside frames are slightly lighter than the end frames I thought this was a good opportunity to see if I could get the frame up onto the wall plates and positioned on the tenons.

The frame pegged and ropes attached ready to be lifted into position

The frame lifted on to the tenons

The first roof frame in position

I have one end frame to finish off (two short braces to be cut and fitted) and one more central frame to make and the roof will be ready to fit the four purlins.

Finishing the First Roof Frame

The first roof frame is now completed this will be used as a template for the other three frames. The two central frames may not require the additional braces - which will make the construction of those a little quicker.

The first A frame completed

Quite good progress today with two more of the roof trusses cut to length and the top  tenon cut. Hopefully the weather will stay dry for tomorrow.

Starting the roof frames

With wet weather, a week and half holiday and then an injured back (not whilst working on the shed) Progress has been slow. However, September is now here and the weather is glorious so work has at last begun on the roof frames. 

8 tenons cut for the roof frames

So far I have cut the tenons for the base fixing of the frames and cut two mortices on one of the tie bars. The next job was to mark the top of the timbers for length and this was slightly difficult as I was not able to lay the frame out horizontally. I worked around this with the use of pulleys clamps and wall posts. So I am now ready to cut the first two beams to length and cut the joint for the top. This will then be used as a template for the other three frames.

Positioning the A frame to mark the length
of the frame timbers

A temporary roof

Rather optimistically I was hoping to start cutting the frame for the roof this week. Rain on most days has prevented this - however I have changed the orientation of the scaffolding to make it easier to lift the roof timbers.

Yesterday I decide to put a temporary "roof" on the structure hoping that it will mean I can continue to work even if the showers persist into August. 

Scaffolding now running parallel to front
and rear frames

Temporary "roof"

More Tie Beams

A week of fine weather has meant that some progress has been made at last.
The tie beams were cut to shape and fitted and the last end frame assembled. The next job will be to begin work on the roof.

One of two middle tie beams cut ready for fitting

Wall plate rebated to accept tie beam

The middle two tie beams are cut at an angle to help tie the wall plates together. They fit into a corresponding shape on the wall plates as well locating over a tenon on each end.

Fitting  an end tie beam

Sash clamps were useful to pull the frame into position

The wall frames complete with tie beams in position

Lifting the Tie Beams

Lifting the tie beams

This June has been one of the wettest for many years which has meant that work has alternated between the garage and the shed site often two or three times in the same day. 

The four tie beams were cut to length fairly early on in June and I hoisted these into position ready to mark the mortices and rebates that need to be cut - one of these is now completed. 

End wall posts in place

Because of the uncertainty of the weather, rather than continue working on the tie beams, I started cutting the wall posts and transoms for one of the end frames. These are now finally in position. The next job (weather permitting) will be to mark and cut to shape the three remaining tie bars and begin work on the other end frame.

Finishing the front frame

Front and rear frames in position

The front frame is now finished. After cutting the final brace to shape and fitting the two corner braces the next job will be to start on the end/roof frames. In preparation for this I moved the timber for the four wall posts and four tie beams from the pile in the garden to the site of the shed. Hard work, but seeing the pile of wood diminish was very encouraging.

Wall posts and tie beams ready to begin cutting

Sunshine and Braces

A week of glorious weather and - although I was not able to spend as much time as I would have liked working on the shed I do feel progress has been made. Both wall braces are now fitted to one corner of the front frame leaving me having to cut one more brace to shape and then the joints for the final two braces.

The Front Frame

It has rained most days this week and so I was only able to work on  Friday and Saturday when I managed to cut the mortices in both the wall and sole plates. The joints have been cleaned up and  all of the wall posts fit. The next job will be to make four "tie beam supports" that will enable the principle rafters to be fitted to the wall plates. See diagram. The design was simplified to have just one long, rather than two short, tenons as this makes it easier to get a good fit with the mortice.

Tie beam support

Sole plate corner square and pegged

Fortunately it was possible to make these in the garage as the weather continued to be wet, cold and miserable through a second week. However, by 21.05.12 I was ready to temporarily assemble the front frame. 


The first job was to square the base and peg all four corners, as once the front braces are fitted it will be very difficult to alter the position of the sole plates. 




All the wall posts were located in the sole plate and and the wall plate hoisted on to the tenons on  top of the wall posts.

Locating a wall post in the sole plate

Hoisting the wall plate

Using pulleys to lift the wall plate into position

Front frame in position

Slow progress

Progress has been frustratingly slow this week. Really bad weather at the weekend with heavy rain and very strong winds left the "site" looking very sorry for itself - the tarpaulin waving like a flag and everything wet. Still I got that sorted and moved the timber around to make it easier to work on the front frame.  

By Friday I had only managed to cut the tenons on the four wall posts for the front frame - this was mostly due to the weather and time spent making a solar wax extractor for Barbara. (This is a large box with a perspex sloping roof with two tin trays inside. The extractor uses heat from the sun to melt the wax from used hive frames so the frames can be re-used with new foundation).

Solar wax extractor

The extractor is painted black to absorb the heat and the interior is covered in tin foil to reflect the heat. The top tray slopes to allow the melted wax drip through on to the lower tray which is removed through the door at the front.