Workshop

And It Begins..

With the arrival of the plywood, as well as the successful purchase of some small bells for the pavilion, things are finally under way. It has been a stressful couple of days attempting to please everyone in the group with the fixings in the structure and the stability of the legs, however the first day of workshop is here use and they can finally begin manufacturing their beautiful design.

Final designs are being sent to the head of year, as well as to a structural engineer, both who have questioned the feasibility to fix the structure to the ground safely and securely. The legs are made up of 3 main struts and simple ladder frame construction; the struts are comprised of 2 layers of 25mm plywood sheet simply cut into sections of 4 as to achieve the curve with minimal construction time and economic cutting for the CNC machine. The noggins which are at 600c/s are fixed to the inner 25mm plywood before then attaching the outer piece hiding the screws. The 2 layers that comprise one strut are bolted together with the joining systems shown on the drawing in alternate spacing’s on each layer to give rigidity these will be visible on the outer layer. On the drawing the outer joint is the grey layer and the inner red, they have possibly thought about introducing a metal plate down the centre of these to give further structural capabilities.

The 3 struts are fixed down to a waterproofed 25mm sheet of ply with L- brackets that are sunk 150mm below ground level to give further stability and stop any problems with uplift from wind. The DPM then runs up under the cladding to stop any water penetration to the main structure.

The Workshop Team

he workshop team have been rigorously trying to source the needed materials for the Chime pavilion and organise CNC laser schedules. The morning of 31/01/12 was spent seeking advice from the Chatham workshop staff in order to find the most suitable type of wood and arrange appointments on CNC laser cutting machines. This progressed onto to contacting and meeting Timber companies that showed interest. Furthermore, after meeting the Workshop staff some issues where identified. At this stage Chatham's laser cutters may not be able to facilitate the demand of Chime and Serpents cavern, which both require 30 hours plus on CNC cutters. Due to this the workshop team are now working on sourcing an external and efficient CNC cutting service in order to resolve this issue as soon as possible. Steve Kirk: "We will be starting workshop on Monday following a delivery of wood. This will be split into two groups, one in MMU and one in UoM. We will be working on the legs as the body of the structure is going to be outsourced. I will send out more information regarding times and people required nearer to Monday so keep an eye out for updates and emails. " Visit the Chime Pavilion! When Monday arrived, the wood didn't, delaying the start of the build for another day.

Finalising Details

Both the site construction and the workshop teams have been working in close conjunction to try and discuss the details of the design which may not be structurally possible. After talking to structural engineers the Chime team have been advised to alter the foundations of the structure, as well as consider a new way of ringing the bells so that they only ring once. To do this the bell would need a muffler on one side which would silence the bell after the first ring. Metal pulleys are to be used within the structure, to avoid friction between the ropes and to allow the ropes to stay separate from each other. The cladding system has been altered slightly to reduce the weakening of the plywood, and that has been achieved by using screws instead of nails. An update from the funding group has seen an offer of sponsorship for £1500 from a local business called 'Your Exclusive Move', which means the project will have the initial funds to begin the build. An order of plywood to build the legs has been made and they move in to the workshop on Monday morning.