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Thursday 13th September
2007
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A quick look at period photographs
revealed that the stepboard which we had removed from IVAN was a 1970s
replacement, and that the originals were some six inches shorter and were
rounded on the outer edges. Here Edward rounds the edges the hard way -
with a plane and sandpaper.
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Mark, calling in for a few hours,
applied some paint at the Larne end but was annoyed to discover there was
still much rust removal to be done.
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James, his exertions with the stepboards
interrupted by calls to "get the floor down" put two token floorboards
roughly in place, and then got back to . . .
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. . . preparing the stepboards
for fitting to the van.
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Tuesday 18th September
2007
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Stepboards bolted in place for a final
time - this time the edges were rounded the easy way . . .
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. . . using a routing table.
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Mark gontinued needlegunning. He soon
realised that corrosion was in fact worse at the end of the van which was
not touched by fire. This was because the wood here held moisture next
to the steelwork. As far as we know the wood contacting metal was not painted
at all, while the steelwork may have had one coat of red lead primer.
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Thursday 20th September
2007
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Old bolts need to be driven out before
new ones can be put through the same holes! Here James takes the last resort
and drills out a bolt at the Larne end.
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The Belfast end, however, is ready
for wood. Here James brings the first tongue and groove plank to the veranda.
The sides need to be partially complete before the floor bearers can go
down so as to get the spacing from the steel girders right.
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Sadly the steel frame is not as square
as it used to be. Each plank needs to be custom made. Here James carries
out some adjustments.
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The first side plank being fitted.
Each plank is bolted in place with four coach bolts. Ultimately these penetrate
both layers of planking, but for now will hold this layer temporarily in
place.
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Francis and James check the plank
fits properly.
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The holes in the wood are drilled
using the holes in the steelwork as a guide. Francis's air drill is used
to good effect.
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Second plank -
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Third plank -
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Six planks fitted, and time to go
home. A seventh plank will need to be crafted to fit the narrower gap at
the top.
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No, it's not a mistake. The reason
the chamfers are on the inside is because the wood on the outside only
had a chamfer on the top edge, so as not to lead water into the gap. When
this wood is removed for painting the router wil be used to chamfer the
top edge only.
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| Thursday 27th September
2007 |
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Yesterday Mark did a huge amount of
grinding on the Larne end of IVAN, and James applied a second coat of primer
to the floor girders at that end. Mark K, on his first IVAN working night,
expressed an interest in woodwork. Here he drills the holes for the screws
which hold each layer of T&G together.
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James drives in the screws with Francis's
new and very nice drill / screwdriver.
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The second, inner, layer of wood in
place. So that we do not end up with one ten foot plank made up of six
inch long offcuts much later on in the build, we have been incorporating
shorter pieces at this early stage. With toungue and groove wood these
shorter pieces can be staggered in so the strength of the structure is
not lost.
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