Behold, the frame!

Well, the basic frame is up. Apologies to the neighbours for the assorted drilling, sawing and banging that has accompanied the lovely weather at various points during the weekend.

I started, as planned, with the plank along the back wall....














Next I added two of the longitudinal beams. The location of the chimney breast meant that I had to do things in a slightly strange order.














After that, the rest of the beams went in without any trouble. Despite my less-than-meticulous measurements in places, the frame is pleasingly level!














The right-hand of the two bar stools in the above picture is in what will eventually be the operator space. I encroached into this space a bit to provide more baseboard area, but I can confirm that there is still enough room for two reasonably sized people to sit in there comfortably! I am toying with the idea of making a scenery "lid" which can be used to cover that space if the layout is running automatically (he said, breezily...).

Before the primary frame can be considered complete, I need to add two further things:

1. Legs to prop the frame in the middle (one of them is already in place, just visible in the above picture). The frame feels pretty solid but I would rather be safe than sorry.


2. Cross-bracing in each "square" of the main frame. This should help the frame stay in shape as well as providing a bit of extra support when the baseboards go down.

I have the wood for both of these things, but it may be a couple of weeks before I can resume construction because of upcoming commitments. Nevertheless I feel happy with the progress made so far.