Days 2, 3 & 4

The distractions of Life and Construction plague me.  For the last three days the roofers have invaded my house and my time, along with a rainstorm that they watched from their truck.  They finished today, but still have to cleanup.    Though the interruptions, I have continued to test equipment and sort my workshop.  I also think have exceeded a dozen visits to the hardware in the past three days, getting fasteners for tripods and support systems, extension cords and other items.   I also finally got a chance to go visit the lumber mill.  It is finally coming into focus.

Wood Sheds at Saunders Supply in Suffolk Virginia

I had been given a point of contact by by builder, Rick Stageberg of Lakewood Builders for the folks at Saunders Supply Company in Suffolk http://www.saunderssupplycosuffolk.net/ , where they actually mill some or their own wood.  I was excited to find out they had rough cut 6x6s in stock, but needed to go look at them to see if I could handle the natural camber and twists of rough cut wood.  Unfortunately this design is not very tolerant of dimension problems and I do not have the ability to plane timbers to deal with irregularities.  After discussions with Sam and Hayden and looking at the materials, I decided to go with grade 1 6x6s which they had in stock.  The 16 foot timbers they sell are Grade 1, and initially untreated which was my preference so that I don't have to breath in chemicals as I notch the timbers.  I'll post treat the timbers with a sealer after the preparation, and since none of the main frame touches the ground I will only use treated timbers for the foundation supports.  The great news is that I finalized the first order while there and they will be delivered Monday or Tuesday along with the first draw of other lumber and plywood that is used to make the prototype panels, floor joists, shoring, and the lifting tripods. I've made the commitment and stroked the check. No turning back now. 

By the way, the design is resolving itself in interesting ways.  I had an "ah ha" moment yesterday as I finally realized that I could solve the panel design issues having to fit in different size height and width modules by utilizing an asymmetric design.  One that rotates the panel 90 degrees to fit alternate layout modules.  I realize that this makes no sense to you the reader, but trust me, it has been driving me crazy.  All will be revealed as I show the final design in later blogs.