With all pressed metal sheets in place, we must now manufacture curved timber mouldings to cover the joint where the main roof sheets and the end vertical sheets meet.
The art of bending and re-shaping timber is rather specialised and typically utilises purpose built machinery. We’ve got the next best thing – an 1880s railway workshop!
This is how its done:
Step 1: Take some timber that is either green or poorly seasoned. Machine your chosen profile.
Step 2: Cut timber to the correct dimensions, then soak each length in boiling hot water. We used this piece of conduit, which is strapped to a piece of timber to avoid the pipe bending due to the heat of the water (we learnt the hard way!). Allow to soak for 15 mins, top up water as it is absorbed by timber.
Step 3: Form timber by laying on bench and forcing a round template, ensuring to support the timber all the way. Not enough support, and you’ve got (another) broken piece of timber for the firebox.
Step 4: Installation is a 2 stage process. First we install the base strip, which is then followed by the dressed strip. This provides sufficient coverage of the join.
Step 5: A light sand and a coat of undercoat sees us out for the day.
Voilà!
Its time to call the painters again to apply the final coats.