Private studio in Slovakia

Document your build here: All about your walls, ceilings, doors, windows, HVAC, and (gasp!) floated floors...
User avatar
Starlight
Full Member
Posts: 459
Joined: Wed, 2019-Sep-25, 12:52
Location: Slovakia, Europe
Contact:

Private studio in Slovakia

#121

Postby Starlight » Tue, 2021-Jan-19, 12:42

Home-made ceiling tiles for the drop ceiling continue. Some include small holes to allow for hooks attached to the hard (plasterboard and OSB) ceiling to hold the hexagons (see post 111, above).
LP1186.jpg

There are two large holes for the two exhaust ducts.
LP1191.jpg

And here you can see 6 large square holes for where lights will go, plus the insulation above the tiles, which, incidentally, has changed the sound in the room quite dramatically.
LP1204.jpg

That means the remaining open section is where the cloud will hang. I need to plan precisely where hooks will drop from the ceiling to hold it up and make tiles to accommodate the hooks, as in the first of today's photos.
LP1208.jpg

In the meantime, I can have a jolly good clear up and clean up.



SoWhat
Full Member
Posts: 277
Joined: Tue, 2020-Jun-09, 12:13
Location: Philadelphia, USA...

Private studio in Slovakia

#122

Postby SoWhat » Tue, 2021-Jan-19, 13:30

Greetings Starlight,

As always, thanks for the update and pictures. Certainly looks good!

I need to plan precisely where hooks will drop from the ceiling to hold it up


A laser level here, I assume. Seems like a rather fussy bit of measuring.

All the best,

Paul



garethmetcalf
Full Member
Posts: 277
Joined: Sun, 2020-Jan-19, 14:35
Location: Derbyshire, Englad

Private studio in Slovakia

#123

Postby garethmetcalf » Tue, 2021-Jan-19, 17:10

Looking really good. I bet it was time consuming making those ceiling tiles, but worth it I’m sure.

Gareth



User avatar
Starlight
Full Member
Posts: 459
Joined: Wed, 2019-Sep-25, 12:52
Location: Slovakia, Europe
Contact:

Private studio in Slovakia

#124

Postby Starlight » Sat, 2021-Feb-13, 18:28

Something a little different but necessary all the same - we cleared the entire L-shaped corridor, filled, sanded and painted the ceiling, walls and baffle boxes.
LP1264.jpg

Only the big white wall was not painted because it was painted a while back. Oh yeah, and I put the lights up, ready for when the electrician comes to wire it all together.
LP1261.jpg



SoWhat
Full Member
Posts: 277
Joined: Tue, 2020-Jun-09, 12:13
Location: Philadelphia, USA...

Private studio in Slovakia

#125

Postby SoWhat » Sat, 2021-Feb-13, 18:40

Greetings Starlight,

Looks very nice indeed, although I was hoping for a more fanciful paint job on the silencers (some sort of trompe l'oeil or maybe the yellow that matches the fabric hiding the walls in the door jambs).

All the best,

Paul



User avatar
Starlight
Full Member
Posts: 459
Joined: Wed, 2019-Sep-25, 12:52
Location: Slovakia, Europe
Contact:

Private studio in Slovakia

#126

Postby Starlight » Tue, 2021-Mar-02, 07:12

Sorry for a long post but it mostly covers one job that has taken me 6 weeks.

Below the studio ceiling will hang a cloud towards the front part of the room, 2 space couplers beneath the cloud and 7 hexagons towards the rear of the room. The space couplers will be the most challenging from a woodworking perspective so I started with them.

At the start (in 2019) I bought a small table saw with a short rip fence that is neither parallel to the table nor rigid enough to not flex while cutting. The table is also light enough that I need to keep a foot on it to stop it sliding or tipping over while in use! I had given up on it ... until now.
SheppachHS100s.jpg

The table saw is not large enough to run full boards through it so I cut a pile of strips with the circular saw.
LP1219.jpg

YouTube videos have been useful and that has led to my making a handful of different sleds to help get some accurate cuts. The first sled was this one.
LP1256.jpg

At last, I can clamp and accurately cut wood and repeat it on the next batch. Hallelujah!
LP1281.jpg

The result being these.
LP1283.jpg

In one direction the slots face up and the other direction the slots face down and bingo, we have a grid, grille, trellis or lattice (whichever is the correct word).
LP1286.jpg

Six plain strips make a hexagonal border. The plans have two overlapping squares but as I have planned some hexagons towards the rear of the room - a deviation from my studio designer's plans - I decided to have a go at making hexagonal space couplers to match.
LP1259.jpg

In order to hold the 120 degree corners while the glue dried I had to come up with some clamping devices from scrap wood.
LP1225.jpg

Two hexagons, two grids. I just need to trim the excess to allow each frame to slide down over its grid.
LP1292.jpg

More sleds required. I started by making a simple rip fence to replace to unusable factory one.
LP1252.jpg

Then a simple sled which allows me to cut the wood strips with the table saw blade angled at 30 degres.
LP1298.jpg

Then I made some additions that could be temporarily mounted to the simple sled so that I can make 60 degree cuts.
LP1295.jpg

So now I have the ability to accurately make cuts like these.
LP1302.jpg

With every joint glued the two space couplers now feel solid. I am glad to have completed this job. It forced me to improve my woodworking skills. If the teenage me in the school wordwork classroom could see me now he wouldn't believe the transformation was possible!
LP1318.jpg

As if I hadn't had enough of working on the space couplers for 6 weeks, I had to laugh when my wife bought a new bag of biscuits that look like small space couplers.
4644biscuits.jpg

The next job will be the hexagons toward the rear of the room. Yesterday I cut out seven plywood hexagons.
LP1321.jpg

They will all have their centres cut out, like the sample I made earlier. The plan is to have a light in the centre of each of the outer six and these will provide a circle of light over what will be the area for band rehearsals, behind the listening position and in front of the couch at the back of the room.
LP1320.jpg

Today I will be having a driving lesson with my router on scrap pieces of wood before using it on the hexagons.



User avatar
endorka
Senior Member
Posts: 666
Joined: Mon, 2019-Sep-23, 06:36
Location: Scotland
Contact:

Private studio in Slovakia

#127

Postby endorka » Tue, 2021-Mar-02, 07:49

This is so good!

It made me think of something I read in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Tom said something like "It is insufficient merely to do something well; to be truly worthwhile, it must also be done with style"

Cheers!
Jennifer



User avatar
Starlight
Full Member
Posts: 459
Joined: Wed, 2019-Sep-25, 12:52
Location: Slovakia, Europe
Contact:

Private studio in Slovakia

#128

Postby Starlight » Tue, 2021-Mar-02, 08:14

Thank you, Jennifer, I thought there would be a wise saying somewhere; you got it!



garethmetcalf
Full Member
Posts: 277
Joined: Sun, 2020-Jan-19, 14:35
Location: Derbyshire, Englad

Private studio in Slovakia

#129

Postby garethmetcalf » Tue, 2021-Mar-02, 12:25

Wow that's fantastic work! Very neat.

Gareth



Dr Space
Full Member
Posts: 162
Joined: Wed, 2019-Sep-25, 05:47
Location: Portugal
Contact:

Private studio in Slovakia

#130

Postby Dr Space » Tue, 2021-Mar-02, 15:38

Fantastic work..



SoWhat
Full Member
Posts: 277
Joined: Tue, 2020-Jun-09, 12:13
Location: Philadelphia, USA...

Private studio in Slovakia

#131

Postby SoWhat » Tue, 2021-Mar-02, 21:54

Greetings Starlight,

Truly amazing! Wonderful work indeed!

It's a shame those biscuits don't come bigger...

All the best,

Paul



JasonFoi
New Member
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon, 2019-Sep-23, 16:17
Location: San Antonio, Texas USA

Private studio in Slovakia

#132

Postby JasonFoi » Thu, 2021-Apr-15, 12:16

:yahoo:

Wow, such an awesome build diary. Everything is looking fantastic! I cant wait to see the end results!



User avatar
Starlight
Full Member
Posts: 459
Joined: Wed, 2019-Sep-25, 12:52
Location: Slovakia, Europe
Contact:

Private studio in Slovakia

#133

Postby Starlight » Thu, 2021-Apr-15, 16:37

Thank you, Jason. I feel honoured that your first post is to compliment my studio after all I have learned from you.



User avatar
Starlight
Full Member
Posts: 459
Joined: Wed, 2019-Sep-25, 12:52
Location: Slovakia, Europe
Contact:

Private studio in Slovakia

#134

Postby Starlight » Sun, 2021-Apr-25, 05:07

Part 2 of 3 things that will hang from the ceiling: first was the space couplers, above. Second is the hexagonal lamp shades which, as you will see, are finished but not yet in place. Third will be the cloud.

The last photo above is of the 7 hexagons I had cut out. I then routed round what will be the inner edge.
LP1322.jpg

I discovered that the edge was not perfectly straight. This is because the supplied guide slides along the outer edge of the hexagon and the router bit reaches over to where I want to rout. I was not happy with my work.
LP1336.jpg

I am learning that tools need guides to not only help them run the right course but also to not allow them to deviate. More studying of YouTube videos and I discovered that I would be better off using a flush trim bit. Lockdown means ordering online (in this instance from Germany) and waiting 10 days for delivery. Time for a new homemade jig for the router, allowing for the 120 degree corners.
LP1334.jpg

That's better! Now I am happy.
LP1346.jpg

All 7 cut out.
LP1347.jpg

Apply linseed oil.
LP1355.jpg

Practice makes perfect. 20 holes for 10 lamps, 6 in the hexagons and 4 in the cloud.
LP1357.jpg

So I have the hexagons and the lamp mounts but I need to make something to keep the holes dead centre and floating above the hexagons - the top of the hexagons need to be level with the bottom of the lamp mounts.
LP1352.jpg

Before fixing what look like little ladders that hold the lamp mounts we had to wait a few weeks until lockdown eased so that we could go and select the breathable textile. The shop didn't have enough in stock so there was a further wait while the shop ordered more. We will use this on the cloud and the traps so we bought 70 metres in all. I added the steel tracks as a way of mounting the hexagons to the ceiling hooks they will hang from and keeping them evenly spaced. They will be put in place in 3 parts: the centre 3 and then a pair on either side, for which the plasterboard lift will come in handy.
LP1386.jpg

I decided to have the lamps independent of the hexagons as a safety measure - I would not want the weight of 7 hexagons (35kg) pulling on the mains cables during fitting or lowering of the hexagons, should that ever be necessary. The mounts glued to the lamps slot into the top of the ladder and determine how far each lamp will poke through. I chose ceiling lamps because these are designed to not require an opening at the top for heat dispersion and I wanted to be able to use E27 (ie. ordinary) bulbs, not (recessed) GU10.
LP1360.jpg

The lamps have small connectors (on the left in the photo below) which are so small I can only insert one cable but I need two (mains in and mains out). Lockdown means I cannot simply pop round to the electrical shop so I ordered the Wago connectors online from Lithuania and waited 10 days for them. It turns out that braided wire, which we are using, is not strong enough to insert into the connectors. I tinned the ends to make the cables stronger but that didn't do the trick. So I have now ordered larger connectors (from the UK) like the ones on the lamps and am now waiting for them to arrive.

I was going to wait until I had the hexagons up on the ceiling before posting my report but lockdown lag (as I call it) has managed to stretch what I thought would be a 2-3 week job into 9 weeks so far so I decided not to wait any longer.
LP1387.jpg

In closing, to add to comments made in others' topics, here are two things. First, Jennifer recommends saw tables. I bought a pair and while I am not using them for sawing yet, they make a terrific mobile worktop where I can do so many things that I have done on the floor so far, such as measuring and marking wood for cutting, and a place to leave commonly used items. It is great to get good suggestions from others!
LP1391.jpg

The other thing was someone mentioned about blade depth when sawing. I showed somewhere near the top of this page how setting the depth of the blade on the table saw allowed me to cut half the depth of the wood for the space couplers. Here are two photos I took yesterday as I started sawing wood for the cloud. I was using lengths of 15mm OSB as a level base (on a tiled floor) for the plywood board and OSB offcuts as supports for the slats that are being cut. At worst they would fall 15mm to the floor but I get neater cuts when the sawn wood is supported and so does not pull down as the cut nears the end.
LP1397.jpg

With 15mm of OSB between the plywood and the floor, the blade on my circular saw protrudes apprimately half way, enough to ensure the plywood gets cut and little enough to ensure the blade never risks making contact with the floor. I like sawing boards on the floor as they are stable and level on the floor. Pallets were great supports, as I demonstrated when I cut MDF for my silencer boxes.
LP1396.jpg

While I am waiting for the lamp connectors to arrive I am preparing to make the cloud so there is always something to keep me occupied.



Jag94
Full Member
Posts: 107
Joined: Mon, 2020-Aug-03, 02:17
Location: Los Angeles, CA..

Private studio in Slovakia

#135

Postby Jag94 » Sun, 2021-Apr-25, 13:52

Wow, this is extremely impressive stuff, Les. Thank you for sharing with such detailed photos. You should make your own youtube channel!

Yeah, a flush trim router bit is an amazing little bit. It really helps keeps those cuts perfectly straight. Glad you found it.




  • Similar Topics
    Statistics
    Last post

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 38 guests