New Project On The Drawing Board VI

Well, I just could not wait any longer to do something substantive with this project … even though it’s still too cold to do anything outside. So, I dragged out the drafting table and started drawing templates … getting rid of alot of those numbers and lines that have been cluttering up the inside of my head for a few months. Having been using my cad system and more recently sketchup to do any drawings it was a pleasant exercise of unused skills. The results were promising: a side template of a single arch segment, a footprint of same, and a top view of the base the arch segments will rest on. So, here’s a couple pictures …. you can see some detail .. but, not alot.

This one is a little more detailed ….

Now, there’s more to do … But, with these I can very carefully cut them out and trace them on the plywood to be used as parts for the molds !! It’s a start at least. More drawings on tap for tomorrow.

A Centering Device … falseworks

I was recently asked how I got the pieces into place when building an arch … especially of five or more pieces. Yes, an extra set of hands would be a big help, however, using a centering device or falseworks is really the way to go. And, I just happened to have saved the device I constructed to use to install the center arch on the aquaduct. As it sits in the second picture it is almost in position … a small piece of plywood and a few cedar shingles are all that’s needed. The shingles, being tapered, are good for the last pieces … they slide out easily after the arch segments are all in place. If all the pieces are sitting flush with one another .. and you are reasonably sure the bases that the whole arch is sitting on won’t move … just take out one of the shingles and hope for the best !! Yes, this pretty much how the Romans did it !

A picture is worth a thousand words when trying to tell how something is done .. and, those plywood boxes just happen to be the molds I used for the blocks used for the first arch I constructed. There are a couple pictures of it in the ‘Flicker Photos’ section on the right.

A Fluted Column … drum … sketchup

The other day I saw that someone visited my site who had been searching for examples of how to draw a fluted column using sketchup. So, I here’s a couple pictures I did showing my results. The first two are a completed drum, at least that how the Greeks used to call it … the third is the lower part of the ‘flute’, which was for me more difficult than the rest, before moving it into position in the center of a ‘flat’ on a circle. I admit it took me more than a couple tries to get the ‘follow me’ tool to take one of the ‘cresant moon’ shapes around the half circle correctly to form the half-bowl. Then it was a matter of copying .. rotating .. and moving to the centers of the flats of the circle. To make the last part of the process easier and faster I got all the ‘half bowls’ positioned in a quarter circle … then copied, rotated, and moved them to form a complete circle. Then the push/pull tool to extend the whole surface to a desired height … It took a little time, but, there it is !

I will be glad to do sketchup designs … especially if it’s something that relates to the projects I work on.

New Project on the Drawing Board V

Yes, it’s been a while coming, but, I have some new renderings of my dome project. It is pretty much to scale and shows a completed base section also. These drawings were done with the ’sketchup’ program that Google gives away for free … and I like free. The program may not be as sophisticated as a professional modeling program, but, if you stick with it you can get an accurate to scale drawing made. Of course these drawings are at the fifth or sixth revision stage, but, here they are !

And one to show a little scale !

So, hopefully while I’m completing the pours for the coliseum I’ll have time to start cutting the mold pieces for this project. Come on spring !!

A Fallen Arch !! Amended !

A sad day yesterday …. Over the last several weeks I have been keeping a close eye on my Gateway Arch … I go through it each day a couple times with ‘the boys’, two border collies. I’ve been watching the center arch piece slowly move down along it’s corresponding surface with the ‘right’ arch piece. This could only mean one thing: the ‘right’ column was being heaved upward by good old Mom nature ! These forces also started to make the ‘right’ arch piece turn so it was not sitting square on the column. And, with all those forces going in every direction besides where they were supposed to the ‘right’ column broke just above the buttress. Fortunately, I have another one of those. Seems I’ll need to pour a footing for the whole thing like the aquaduct.
So, the next warm season is already stacked up to be a humdinger: finish pouring parts for the coliseum … and dig and pour a footing for it; start building molds for the dome / pantheon and hopefully start pouring parts for that; dig and pour a full footing for the gateway arch / and re-do the keystone because it broke in the fall … I think it landed on one of the other pieces.

It really does look like my back yard is resembling an area of ruins !

Mom Nature was at it again just making sure that arch came down. Not satisfied with making the earth pitch and roll to ensure it fell she decided to hit the area with a blanket of heavy, wet snow that birch trees for some reason just can’t stand up to. One came right down through the center of the archway ! I think I would have felt better about it had the arch fallen from this !

‘The Garden of Peace’ arch seems to be holding it’s own, so far !!

And the aquaduct just missed getting hit !

As did the birdfeeder !

Well, it’s only the middle of January … we’ll see what Mom nature has in store for the rest of the season !

An Old Project …

After having experimented and poured the first fluted column pieces it dawned on me that there really should be something that they support. A couple of columns with bases and capitols look nice … but, there was something missing. So, my first real project that involved making a mold from scratch came into being. To be perfectly honest I had no idea how it would turn out … in fact, looking back at the design from today’s vantage point of more experience, it was a fairly involved mold .. and was going to produce just a single piece … if it worked ! After two differently dimensioned layered insets, backwards carving of the year in Roman numerals, two carved three pointed stars, and a couple of loop-de-loops just for the heck of it, doing the pour by hand, ( this was pre mixer days ) there it was: a three foot long, heavy, lintel that looked just fine after some paint.

Surprisingly, I even took a picture of the mold pieces … just to show people that I really had made this thing !

Even one as it was right after coming out of the mold !

And, it even looked pretty darn good in the garden spot I dug and filled with crushed rock for it.

Of course one of the first reactions to it from a friend was ..”Ed, that’s great ! So, you’re building a cemetery in your back yard ?” Well, that thought hadn’t really occurred to me, but, to each his own. I just knew I built something I liked … and that’s the way it is ….

Oh yeah, here’s a picture of those two columns shortly after some Flecstone and before building the lintel.

And, you may have noticed that compared to pictures in previous posts of my work space in the basement .. the first picture here of the mold pieces shows a fairly uncluttered area ! Well, that didn’t take too long to remedy !!

New Projecton on the drawing board IV

I thought perhaps some may want to see the original drawings Anne did for ‘The Dome Project’. Having taken my drawings and using a more sophisticated cad program these are three of the drawings she made to get the 3d renderings in the previous post. I guess I’ll have to invest in something similar in the future.

I apologize that the dimensions do not show up … though, these drawings are to scale.

Very shortly I’ll be sending Anne more drawings for the structure the dome will sit on. I just hope she can decipher them.

New Project .. on the drawing board III

A friend at thegardenartforum.com , Anne, has made several 3d models of the dome I hope to build. She used my original cad drawings to come up with these beautiful models depicting what I hope to build this summer. I have been given permission to send more drawings of the base that the dome will sit on so a complete rendering can be done. Doing a search of the mausoleum of Theodoric will give you an idea of the whole project. Of course it will not be as large as that of Theodoric, but, will hopefully be as impressive. Thanks again to Anne for these great drawings.

The ‘oculus’ of the completed project may not be quite as ornate as depicted, but, as seen here it sure looks good !! I sure hope I can do these drawings justice !

New Project .. on the drawing board II

I’ve done some drawing for the dome I intend to build starting sometime next warm season. My simple cad system won’t let me actually model something in 3d, so, taking components from previous drawings I have made a drawing that I hope will allow someone to ’see’ how this thing will stand.

And, so it won’t look like a concrete igloo it will stand on columns of some sort that I haven’t fully visualized yet. In keeping with how The Pantheon is dimensioned the columns should be only about two feet tall, the same as the radius of the dome. Of course, I need to finish the coliseum first !!

The Peony Border III … at last !

I must admit pouring the peony bed border was much easier than putting the mold together. And it surely did come apart alot more quickly than putting it together. I was a little hesitant about removing it from the mold today only two days after pouring it … I usually wait till the third day … but, after removing a couple of the top aluminum pieces to take a peek I realized it was safe to proceed … carefully ! The whole process took about an hour and I have now replenished my supply of 1″ sheet rock screws. The insets on the ‘flowers’ look good and all the surfaces are nice and smooth for the most part … so, now we wait till warm weather to put it in its’ place. Here’s a couple pictures !

You may be wondering what the ‘back’ looks like .. well, it’s just flat .. what else can I say about it ? Now, with a few modifications to this mold I can make the other two sides of the triangle … and they won’t have flowers !