7mm Pencarrow - Cornish BR(S)

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Pencarrow

Pencarrow

Western Thunderer
adrian said:
I presume the fault was that the sides were not straight because the mathematician in me wants to point out that if the sides were straight and the diametrically opposite corners are right angles then by the rules of geometry the parallel sides must be equal in length and the other corners must also be right angles. The only condition where the other corners cannot be right angles is where the sides are not straight. (apologies for the interruption it's one of the problems of both parents being teachers!):oops:
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Well I can confirm I don't have that problem. The only right angles in the house are in the extension (which we added)...as are the only verticals and the only flat bits.

The carpenter in the original build obviously came to work pi55ed, had no level, square or tape. He did have big chunks of timber (which is a good thing for stuff like floor joists etc) and certainly enjoyed wacking great big nails by the hundreds into the house.

Don't get me started on the plasterer. Amazing how vertical block and brick can be turned into non-vertical and non-square.

Most of the way through the referb, 'just' the upstairs rooms left now.
 
adrian

adrian

Flying Squad
Pencarrow said:
The carpenter in the original build obviously came to work pi55ed, had no level, square or tape. He did have big chunks of timber (which is a good thing for stuff like floor joists etc) and certainly enjoyed wacking great big nails by the hundreds into the house.
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I think you'll find that's called period charm and character. :))
 
simond

simond

Western Thunderer
adrian said:
I presume the fault was that the sides were not straight because the mathematician in me wants to point out that if the sides were straight and the diametrically opposite corners are right angles then by the rules of geometry the parallel sides must be equal in length and the other corners must also be right angles. The only condition where the other corners cannot be right angles is where the sides are not straight. (apologies for the interruption it's one of the problems of both parents being teachers!):oops:
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Adrian,

No. The sides were reasonably straight, but your assumption of “parallel” is a bridge too far! No two sides were parallel. Imagine a right angle, a lower corner, one side of which is close to, but not horizontal. Now imagine a further right angle, the opposite upper corner, one side of which is horizontal. The quadrilateral so formed will have unequal sides (well, one vertical may equal one horizontal, but not in my case!).

Happy to debate geometry any day!

Best
Simon
 
Yorkshire Dave

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
My house was built in the 1840's from Yorkshire stone (charm and character :) ?) and with 2' thick walls to boot. Although there's not a vertical interior wall the interior door jambs are square as are the exterior windows. Obviously the workmanship was better 175 years ago :rolleyes: .
 
Peter Cross

Peter Cross

Western Thunderer
I did a house a few years back where money was not a problem. I put grounds on the walls before plastering, the plasterer plastered flush to these and all the skirtings door linings etc fitted perfectly. It was also the quickest second fix I've done. First fix was a bit long winded though.
It was this job I nearly fell off the walls fixing the roof. I had an apprentice, supposedly educated to AS level. To keep him busy while I was doing something I gave him the roofing book open on the page with the angle we were working with. Told him to work out the length of two hip rafters. Well he came back with a measurement of 900 odd mm, they should of been nearly 5m long. In the book it's all there just add, subtract and multiples of 10. I asked how he came up to his result. He explained he didn't understand the book, and if he wanted to be a mathematician he would of stayed at school. At this point my near fall happened, due to me laughing too much. From then on I knew it was going to be hard work teaching him anything.
 
Paul Cambridge

Paul Cambridge

Western Thunderer
Reminds me of a story my late father, who was a carpenter and joiner, was fond of telling. He was told to help out on site by the boss. On arrival, he found there was a dispute between the mason and the chippy over the fitting of a window frame into a wall. There was a tapering gap between the two. Each was blaming the other for the fault. Dad got out his plumb line and showed they were both out equally either way!
 
Bob 81C

Bob 81C

Active Member
I've see that standard of work time and time again when I was Bob the builder, your doing the right thing by ripping it out
and starting again, just a tip which I think you would already know use glue and screws for all wood joints and check the top of the door it will tell you which way to hang it, I threw my SiL out when he walked through the front door with a nail gun, guns are for cowboys. ;)
 
simond

simond

Western Thunderer
A
Paul Cambridge said:
Reminds me of a story my late father, who was a carpenter and joiner, was fond of telling. He was told to help out on site by the boss. On arrival, he found there was a dispute between the mason and the chippy over the fitting of a window frame into a wall. There was a tapering gap between the two. Each was blaming the other for the fault. Dad got out his plumb line and showed they were both out equally either way!
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Ah, now that reminds me...

As undergraduate Engineers, I and several other lads gained work experience at Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead. One particular day, there was a ship move of some sort going on so we all wandered down to the big shed to watch. It is big. Immense. Enormous. The one they’re building the Attenborough in. Google it. There was a bit of string hanging from the top of the door track, roughly in the middle, with a whopping great nut on the end. Couple of inch Whit at a guess. One of the lads says “I wonder what that’s for?” I says, “ah, don’t touch, it’s the calibrated plumb bob, they set all the others in the yard to that one”. He wanders off satisfied with the answer, he gets about 10 yards before the light came on. Happy days.

Best
Simon
 
Pencarrow

Pencarrow

Western Thunderer
Bob 81C said:
I've see that standard of work time and time again when I was Bob the builder, your doing the right thing by ripping it out
and starting again, just a tip which I think you would already know use glue and screws for all wood joints and check the top of the door it will tell you which way to hang it, I threw my SiL out when he walked through the front door with a nail gun, guns are for cowboys. ;)
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Bit late to change my mind now...

IMAG6120.jpg

IMAG6121.jpg

Not too much damage to the surrounding walls and ceiling which is good.

Interestingly, to get the frame well out of plumb took packing in all the wrong places! Almost like it was deliberate.

I'm collecting 40m of 100x38 (95x35) from the wood merchant on Monday. It will have a standard door rebate taken out of one side. I'll then be making up a batch of frames (glued and screwed) and having the joy of getting them in straight. I may be a while...
 
Pencarrow

Pencarrow

Western Thunderer
Peter Cross said:
Did you not say you had been decorating? Hopefully not where the doors are.
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Elsewhere. Upstairs will be done after the doors and frames are fitted. Been trying to explain to SWMBO why I haven't decorated upstairs for a while. Think it's now become clear.
 
Pencarrow

Pencarrow

Western Thunderer
Lots done on the household DIY front (won't bore with anymore photos), so the time I can get back to working on Pencarrow edges closer.

In the meantime, I understand from a certain Jerry Clifford that the next MRJ (266) should have a couple of photos of a 4mm exhibition layout I built over 15 years ago with friends - Treneglos.

The layout was sold on last Christmas, something I still feel quite sad about, but we got a lot of joy out of building it and attending about 40 shows all over the country. The new owner hoped to take it back out on the road but domestic situations have delayed that idea.

Looking forward to seeing what Jerry has done with the photos (excellent leftovers from a BRM article, superbly shot by Andy York).
 
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