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Comments
Your lamp assemblies are excellent.
Respectfully,
John
I started adding lights. The first time I used these lights I couldn't help but wonder how to work with them. With trial and error this is what I have come up with...still a work in progress.
I started by putting a piece of tape above the spot where I thought lights should go. The wires were cut to length giving an extra foot or so. I tied a knot in one end. This turns out to be important when working with more than a couple of lights because when they are threaded to underneath the base the pairs of wire are attached so there is no confusion.
Then thread the untied end of the wire through the lamp from the top and solder the LED in place. TEST IT. Glue in the lamp. TEST IT AGAIN. Then drill a hole in the conduit and thread the wire from underneath. Once the fixture is near the hole put a drop of glue on the nut assembly added and pull the rod through the hole to seat the light. Add a drop of glue on the inside of the conduit. TEST IT AGAIN. Oh, by the way, I've added a room full of lights before and had one not work (couldn't tell right?). It's real hard to get back in there once they are installed.
From there I pull the wire to the end of the conduit and wrap the leftover to secure it and keep a tangled mess from developing. As I move down the conduit other lights are added. I put some glue on some scrap wood and used it to secure the wire as I moved down the conduit.
Once this exercise is done I will wire all of the lights up to the power pad and keep my fingers crossed. I'll add the top to the conduit and stack up some wood inside the maintenance shed to hide any wires that may be visible since this is where I put the hole to get under the base.
Welcome to the club.
Marty
Marty, I will be on the lookout for my belt. Please include the secret handshake instructions.
7 down 9 to go.
Great job your doing with the Mill.
Jerry
That is a GREAT description. Thank you! I'm with you entirely on test, test & retest! So far I haven't screwed up anything after installing it but I don't trust those tiny connections!
I slightly modified Ngineering's practice of inserting the .012 stainless wire inside the tubing when making U shaped bends. I eventually found I could just put the wires in while the tube was straight and then used the bending jig. The wires seemed to provide enough interior volume to keep the tubing from collapsing in my instances.
Please continue to post your experiences and suggestions.
John
The overhead shot shows a clean, wire-free structure. All of the wires funnel down the conduit and into a straw painted brown in the maintenance room. The underneath shot is where they all pop out. Last shot here shows how the conduit will look once the top is installed. This piece is not glued on. I will install the cap once all of the wires are soldered to the power panel.
To thread the wires I divided into 2 bundles and twisted a little. I taped them to a piece of brass wire and pushed each bundle down through the straw.
John
Ken, here you go....
I started by cutting some scrap wood to use as a riser to keep the board away from the mount I constructed out of very thin plywood. After glueing I epoxied it to the bottom of the layout then wired the LED's so the wire was on the side facing the bottom of the diorama for protection. I did my best to keep the tangles to a minimum. My next project will be to clean the mess underneath a little to keep the wires from catching on stuff. One set of red/white wires is for power and the other is to attach another one of these monsters to the same power source.
The pics with the lights on are in a dark room with an ipad so...
marty
Art
BTW, a bit OT but I was reading this thread on the weekend on my phone waiting for a coffee at our local market (in an old 1910 marine factory) when I looked up a noticed that not only are the trusses the same as the Sturgeon mill but, what is hard to see in the photo below, is that much of the wiring runs in metal 'C' channels between the trusses. So your idea has a prototype! (albeit in this case the wiring was done in the 1970s)
Respectfully,
John
FYI incase I didn't mention this before. If you are going to run your wires over the headboards like I did, build the trusses first and temporarily attach them. Run your conduit so it doesn't interfere with the placement of the trusses.
Karl.A
Jerry
Here's a quick update. The rafters are installed along with the rails. I've started rusting up the corrugated roofing. I started by spraying with light gray auto primer-a little darker on the underside-followed by Dulcote. From there I added light, med, then dark rust powders. The panel on the left was set with a coat of IA, middle mineral spirits and left mineral spirits followed by a thin black oil wash. All 3 had the powders applied the same so I could see the different results from setting. I think all will have their place on the roof. I'm not going for a uniform look on the panels but a random rusted roof where you see some panels completely rusted while others are in the early stages.
Marty
I MAY make the roof removable. With the walls open like it is it may not be necessary. Once I construct the roof panels I will see how much they weigh and determine from there to make it removable. I don't want to damage the roof just to get a better look.
By the way, a quick calculation says there is a scale 15,840 board feet of lumber in the roof. It's going to weigh quite a bit.
The sawmill is getting to be so big it must be difficult to decide what to photograph - perhaps just "today's" project.
John