Door Hanging

Fiddly old job hanging doors, had the damn things up and down like a fiddlers elbow. Taken 'em off again now for a final tweak and some varnishing. Looks good, I've got to do a lot of fiddling about to create the window frames for two windows to the right of the doors, then I can order some perspex or polycarbonate, not sure which to go for.

Been an odd week, haven't got much done as Emily cat has been confined to indoors 'cos she's got a nasty wound on her drivers side rear leg ;-) , probably a scratch in a cat fight that turned into an abscess.
She was on antibiotics for 5 days and has had it stitched up today, that means another 10 days indoors driving us bonkers as she runs around like a loony.

I've packed up a bow for shipping, it was supposed to be collected end of September, but I'm now having to ship it. UPS seem to offer a reasonable price, so I'll prob' use them. I must admit I'm getting a tad tired of the summer house and wanting to get back to the bows. It's a pain shipping bows, I'll prob' insure it as I've heard horror stories of bows broken in transit. I'm getting more and more inclined to just make bows for people I know or who are close enough to visit, anyhow, certainly only bows that pique my interest, like the pair of primitives I'm hoping to pick up soon.

Great Day at Avalon

Sorry no pics, I had enough weight of water and chocolate to carry round. We went round in a group of 5 all shooting at a similar pace, an AFB a recurve a couple of longbows and my primitive.
there were no Zombies!!! Aaaarrrgh :-(   But there was a big Velociraptor 3D which I hadn't shot before, which made it tricky to judge the distance.
My shot of the day was bloomin' great Bison at about 50 yards on a V slight uphill, I watched everyone shoot short and a couple of arrows catch the overhead foliage. My philosophy all day had been to avoid trying to work anything out and not to think, just look at the target and shoot. It's tricky to apply this if you are shooting last or you are being held up by a slow group in front.
I knelt, pulled it to full draw put the tip of point of the arrow about on his shoulder, then just smoothly went up a bit until if felt right, the arrow sailed away and an I was rewarded with a satisfying thud as it struck home just above the kill zone.
We were behind a group who seemed to get slower and slower, they had a crossbow and a compound in the group, but they weren't the real problem. There was a lady shooting an AFB, I'll run you through her shot routine.
1. Stand on peg, feet together staring at target... 30 seconds
2. Raise right hand outstretched as if in a Nazi salute, waggle it up and down a bit 25 seconds.
3. Repeat 1 and 2 once more if the mood takes.
4. Adopt a sideways stance the wrong way round., and look at index finger a bit more 5 seconds.
5. Adjust stance, drop right arm and raise left arm which has the bow in it... why she couldn't do all the above using her shooting stance and bow arm, I have no idea. 15 seconds
6. S.l.o.w.l.y knock an arrow, and raise bow. 5 seconds.
7. Aim, loose 10 seconds.

To be fair she wasn't a bad shot, but on one relatively simple shot where we were waiting behind, she missed first arrow, took 3 paces forward to the white peg and started to repeat the entire procedure! At this point a very bad man in the following group shouted out "The target hasn't moved has it?"
I know that's bad etiquette and could "put her off" but she was putting off every member of her group and the two groups behind who had run up against them. They were warned twice by the marshals to get a move on.

I don't want anyone to rush a shot, but they could try and move round efficiently between shots. To me it shows a lack of consideration and is a reason why I don't shoot competitively, there are people who do that sort of thing a gamesmanship. If you do have an elaborate pre-shot routine, maybe get someone to video it and look at it to make it mere efficient in both time and effort.

It breaks up the rhythm of the shoot and you start to seize up at the end of the round having to stand around watching people go through over elaborate routines.
To indicate how slow the group was, after a tea stop, we gave them 15 minutes to get moving before we set off and we'd caught up after one target.

Sorry about the moaning, it was still a great day out, perfect weather, glorious Autumn colours with sweet chestnuts dropping around us and great company.
Thanks to all at Avalon, a great venue if you ever get a chance to shoot it.

Meanwhile I've been chiselling out the hinge rebates on the doors for the summer house... I had a cunning plan, a bit of lateral thinking. Use my workmate on it's side to hold the door up!

Shooting a Few Arrows

Suddenly realised I hadn't shot for a few weeks, and at last the garage was clear of summer house building materials,  so I picked up "Twister" and shot a few arrows into a cut out white pvc foam piglet. My shooting wasn't too bad and I'm shooting a dozen each day in preparation for a shoot at Avalon on Sunday. Seeing as how it will be almost Halloween, maybe the Zombie targets will be out, that should be fun.
I had a quick look at the Yew stave I've been working on, it barely flexes so there's a long way to go yet. I'm hoping to get the summer house doors done by the weekend so I can order some sheet acrylic or polycarbonate for the glazing. I'll then be able the get back to the bows.
The doors are a right pain, I decided to use some cheap timber so that I could do a try out. Just as well really as the design consultant (her indoors) said they looked a bit heavy (I agreed) and not enough glazed area. So I ran the verticals through the bandsaw taking off 1/2" each edge and made new horizontals an inch longer to maintain total width...
She said it didn't look much different (feel free to roll your eyes at this point) so I decided to press on regardless, as they look a reasonable proportion to me.
Note the distortion due to the camera angle... the door is parallel and square cornered really! It shows how a photo of a bow at full draw can often be distorted, (the bow being similar length to that door.)
I had been planning fancy mortice and tenon or dowelled construction, but on this cheap timber (studding from Wickes) I decided to just use long screws nicely recessed, two into each joint. This allows repeated assembly/disassembly (which is just as well really!) When it's finally got full approval and sign off from all relevant authorities (wife, cat etc) I can glue and screw.
It's now getting to the point where I'm having to remind myself that it is fun!
Looking forward to slaying some Zombies on Sunday.

Roof Skinned

It looks rather handsome with roof all covered with plywood. I added a strip of ply a couple of inches wide over the join between the two sheets as there isn't a continuous joist beneath the join. I glued it down with Resintite which did me a favour using most of it up, as Resintite has a limited shelf life and I was thinking I could probably due to buy some fresh. The strip has added to the rigidity considerably. I've also added a drip edge along the long edge.
I've got the rubber sheet draped over it now, I'm not sure if I'll glue it today or wait until tomorrow.
I could probably get it glued, but it would be good to get all the edges done too in one day.

I've realised what it reminds me of at last, a railway goods wagon!
Maybe I could paint it up to look like that.
I've started planning the doors and glazing for the open end, other windows will be added later as needed.

The garage has had a bit of a sort out and a load of wooden off-cuts taken to the council tip. My sheet material store has got a lot more in it now!
I'm starting to feel the need for working on bows again!

Starting on the Roof

 I've got onto the fun bit and it's going quite smoothly, I've put insulation between the inner and outer skin so that it doesn't get too hot with the summer sun on the black rubber roof.

Pic show nice torx head screw from Toolstation, they come with a drive bit in each box. They don't cam out like pozidrive heads and they drive back out easily too if necessary, pretty quick and effective.

Bit of a Cock Up on the Summer House

I was trying to use 6mm ply to skin the internal curve of the roof, but it was just too stiff, and even cut into narrower pieces I was struggling. It even started cracking as I forced it up into the curve using a prop. I was rather surprised, but one has to be pragmatic... no good saying "It should take that sort of curve easily". I'm sure it will be fine on the top of the roof as I'll be able to screw down one edge and then use my body weight on a board to hold it down and work along the curve.
Anyhow, I took down the two bits I'd screwed up (that shows the benefit of screws over nails). I went down to Wickes and looked at their 4mm ply, it still seemed stiff as hell, so I went for hardboard instead, vastly easier to work with on the awkward overhead curve.
It's a pig to transport 8'x4' sheets of hardboard, but my top tip is to tie a couple of ladders to you roof rack and strap the hardboard onto them, stops 'em flapping in the wind.
I've got the hardboard held up with flange head screw, all in neat rows, I think it gives it a hint of 50's sci fi space ship chic. Prob won't be allowed to paint it silver and add big control levers and flashing lights :-(
It's been rather showery of late which has had me working off and on, so I've got some plastic sheet over it.
It was funny the other day, the rain had accumulated on top of the plastic, Jackie pushed it up from inside while I held the plastic taut to make sure it didn't pull back into the summer house, I got soaked as it came down in a torrent in unpredictable direction, I had a good laugh as I was ready to quit and get changed anyway.
I'll soon have it basically finished, I'll probably make temporary doors and cover the end with thick polythene to keep the rain out. That will give me time to make decent doors.

I'm enjoying the break from bows but I'll be glad to get back them soon. Bit of a shame I've had a few people enquiring after bows, two for 'boo backed Yew and a couple of warbows. Problem is I don't have any decent warbow staves or clean Yew heartwood for backing. I need to review my stash to see if there's anything that might do.

Gusset Plate Sir?

I'm making some progress on the Summer house. It's all a bit ad hoc, I have been nailing the curved beams up temporarily to allow me to get measurement for the door etc. I've added some gusset plates at the corners to give it all more rigidity. Ideally I'd like the curved roof to jut out a bit, but that would then foul on the top edges of the doors as they swing open.
There was a good bit of rain last night and I was glad I'd put polythene over the floor, I swept the water out before getting to work this morning in between the showers. I have to keep packing away the extension lead and power tools every time I stop for a cuppa in case it rains.

The pic gives a good idea of how it will look when finished, it has a hint of the old fashioned Gypsy Caravan about it.