Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Progress on the roof and a new lathe

I have been really occupied during the last couple of weeks due to the project about getting a new roof on our house. This has left me with no time to do hobby woodworking, and very little time for the blog. Some days I have been working until 10:30 PM so I could be a little ahead of the carpenters when they arrived the next morning. Luckily the weather has been good all along. We had one day with a shower two weeks ago, but apart from that it has been dry. This is a huge advantage in such a project.
We have finished adding the sub roof (not sure if it is the correct term) and have added the laths on the front side roof of the house.

During the construction of the sub room, I even had use of the old circular sawmill to make some timber for repair purposes.

I have tried to salvage as many  of the original tiles as possible. I believe they date from when the house was built in 1924, and they are too good to be thrown away. Off course some of them broke and some were already cut to fit the chamfered part of the gable (valm in Danish).
Nevertheless, I think there is around 3000 pieces left, so I should be able to make a nice little shed at the summer house once I get to that project.

This constant working on the house has sadly left my workshop in a very messy condition. gave Last evening I tried to do a little tidying up and just removing the chips from the planer and the various small pieces of wood helped a lot. I plan to continue tonight as well.

My neighbour whom I gave my old workbench once told me that he had always dreamt of trying to do some wood turning. I gave him a set of turning gouges and skews etc. that I had once picked up for a song. It is some no-name Chinese tools, but OK to find out if he liked it.
The problem was that he needed a lathe. I knew that my father had once purchased a fine lathe at an auction, and I don't think that he has ever used it. So I called him and explained the case and asked if he wanted to sell it. He agreed, and I bought his lathe and sold my lathe to my neighbour for the same amount of money (very cheap).
So now I have a new lathe. The advantage to this lathe compared to my old on is that there are some more accessories to this one. E.g. a four jaw chuck and a copy attachment. Apart form that the two are almost identical.
The new lathe is a bit lower that my old lathe. So I guess that it was designed for school use. I will have to teach my children how to use it once the rood is finished.
The roof with new laths on the front side

The messy workshop

The new lathe before attaching the stand

12 comments:

  1. You have an interesting looking roof structure. I imagine you have to allow for a heavy snow load? Are the tiles you took off clay or ceramic?
    Your roof in the USA would look like it's getting wooden shingles. What's going on yours?

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    1. Hi Ralph.
      Our old tiles (and the new ones) are made out of burnt clay. That is a very traditional roof.
      The roof structure has been changed a little since I added the sub roof.
      Basically there is the normal structure with rafters etc. On top of these we have added some 4x2" boards to allow for additional insulation. Total there is 12" insulation all over the roof. On top of these 4x2" boards we have added tongue and grooved boards (4.5 x 7/8") These cover the entire roof and form the foundation for the sub roof.
      The sub roof is made by burning on bitumen paper / tarred paper which is not paper but some sort of fibre material.

      Next step is 1.75 x 1" strips that raise the laths from the sub roof and then the laths themselves. Our laths are 1.5 x 3".
      They will hold the new tiles.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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  2. A roof is a big job; good luck with it! I love the look of shingles but I'm not so sure how well they would hold up in my area. We get weather extremes here, though maybe you do as well. I've always been interested in turning. An electrician I know who is retired is also a fine turner. Unfortunately he had to have his back operated on and at his age the surgeon told him that woodworking is basically out of the question. He has a beautiful shop and has hinted to me that he would sell his lathe and tools to me very cheaply. The problem is I have no room for them in my garage. No matter how much I organize and pare away unused items I simply don't have the space for it.
    Like you, I spent part of my day yesterday cleaning out my garage/shop. I have to admit that I've been doing a decent job of keeping it organized and neat. Once I get my pantry cabinet installed it will really make it much better. I hope you find more time in the shop over the next few weeks. Good luck.
    Before I forget, I channeled your spirit and started making repairs on the battens of my shed door. I'll post some photos on my blog.
    Bill

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  3. Hi Bill.

    Could you perhaps purchase the lathe and then store it until you could make some room for it?
    I am OK at turning, but I would like to get better sometime I just don't know when.
    Our climate isn't particularly extreme, though we get some serious storms every fall with heavy winds. The biggest issue is the frosty snow combined with heavy winds. That will get between the tiles and end up on the insulation where it will melt and seep into the house unless you have a good sub roof like we do now.
    My problem with the workshop has been that every time I had to do something for the carpenters I had to quickly get back out to help so I never took the time to clean after working.
    I am looking forward to your batten repair post.
    Brgds
    Jonas

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    Replies
    1. I've thought about it but my garage space is bascially maxed out. I have an area about 10x15 set aside for woodworking and there is little I can do to improve it. So unless we move there won't be a lathe in the future. My space problem is the same reason I don't have a bandsaw, which is another tool I could have gotten at a good price last year from another woodworker had I the space for it. Right now the only power tool I have room for is the table saw. As you know, the table saw, a jig saw, and hand tools are really all I ever use to woodwork. I don't have room for anything else.

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  4. The "lathing" is known as skip sheathing. I work on older buildings such as yours and am currently putting a cedar shingle roof on an 1830s farm house. I look forward to seeing the progress on your house. Keep up the great posts!

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  5. Hi Dan.
    Thanks for the nice comment.
    Ship sheathing makes sense since it is what it looks like.
    Are the shingles from the 1830ies house the original type of roof? I remember reading in the Little house on the prairie series that Almanzos father planed shingles for roofing by hand. That must have been quite a big job.
    I like wooden shingles, but they are not common at all over here. In Sweden it used to be traditional with a wooden shingles roof but those shingles were normally made out of pine.
    I am sorry that I have been so occupied with the roof that I haven't blogged some more about it, the problem is also that while you are working on it, you doubt that anybody want to see pictures of the building without roof etc. So therefore I haven't even taken pictures during the process.
    Brgds
    Jonas

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  6. Jonas, I know that busy feeling... good luck with the roofing!

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  7. Whew, it sounded like a lot of work! Congrats on your new roof, Jona. It's nice to see the fruits of your labor completed right? Working till 10:30 PM would surely put some stress on you, just remember to have an ample amount of rest before you resume working. Are you considering to have your roof insulated?

    Leonore Lung @Professional Roofing Contrators

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  8. Hello Lenore.
    It is really nice to see the roof coming slowly together.
    We have added 4" of insulation to the roof in addition to the existing 8".
    So totally there is 12" of insulation which is the required minimum according to the Danish regulations.
    We have now started putting up the tiles so hopefully the project will be over in about a week. Then we still need to clear all the rubbish away.
    Brgds
    Jonas

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  9. It's always fascinating to look at these 'behind-the-scene' things. How's your roof been? Hope it's doing well for you. Stuff like this really take a lot of effort. But don't fret, though. These blueprint stages are fine reminders that you can always reinvent and overhaul.

    Paul @ Shelton Roof

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    Replies
    1. Hi Paul

      Actually the roof could be better.
      The carpenters did a great job, the bricklayers - not such a great job.
      The upper tiles (the very top ones) have dislocated themselves already last time we had some heavy winds. So I have called the company and told them that they have to correct the fault, and not just re-position the tiles. I had hoped there wouldn't be problems like this with a new roof since I used skilled workmen, but I guess that I was wrong. Luckily the roof is not leaking, so they got that right at least.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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