#010 01 Dr. Bank's Office - Building Walls - The Sequel

Greetings!  (cough, cough).  I'm sick as a dog and staying home again trying to get well.  Bronchitis is brutal.  I've been sick for over a week and decided I just need to be down 100%.  So, I'm sitting here at the computer desk taking cold medicine and working on my structure.  It is about all I can do.  The medicine is making my vision go bad and I have intermittent coughing fits.  But look what I got done!

For those of you that are reading for the first time...I've already done all of this.  It was destroyed in a silicone casting accident, and I'm getting a do-over.  Luckily it was just cheap stripwood and all I really lost was time.  In 3.5 hours I have it all rebuilt and at a better quality level than before.

I have a long glass work surface and I cut out each of the drawings and taped them on.  Its nice outside so I've opened the window.  Start time is 11:30 am.

There are five sections:  right and left walls, front and back walls and a front sign board.

Using scale 2x4 lumber, we'll start on one of the long walls.  On my computer the Neil Boortz show is blasting Obamacare. 

I took this photo to remind me to replenish my stock of 2x4's next time I'm at the hobby shop.

The next step is to cut the vertical studs.  There are several dozen of these so I set up the Chopper II and mass produce them.  Looks like the blade is starting to break the boards instead of cutting them.

The Chopper makes quick work of the studs.

Yup, the boards are breaking and are fuzzy on the ends.  How are you fixed for blades?

Here are the studs.  I'll put them in a plastic tray that is meant for cut lumber (and not raw lumbers which is kept elsewhere).  I don't want to chop these up accidentally.

 The blade is mounted under the handle by a small Phillips head screw.  I just so happen to have a screwdriver here at the computer desk.

The new blade is swapped out quickly.  It had already been turned once, so time for a new one.

Next I'll cut out about 30 fire blocks using the same format.

Nearby I keep a little metal condiment cup for storing scrap pieces.  NOTHING is wasted here!!! I'll use these for something.

The cut fire boards are put into this little cup.

I'm switching to Aleen's Tacky Glue for construction.  My friends swear by it, but I'm not that enthused yet.  It is much thicker than Elmer's and appears to bond quicker.  So I'll give it a try.  The little paper souffle cup came from Captain D's, A Great Little Seafood Place.  They are free as long as no one is looking.  I always leave a big tip.  They are for ketchup, mostly.  I just put glue and paint in them.

We'll start by cutting the base and top plates out of 2x4 stock.

Then we'll put in the studs and the fireblocks, per the diagram.  Want to build your own?  The drawings can be found on the blog.

Here is side one already framed out.  I decided that instead of using the same windows on both sides that I would use a smaller window on this side to give the office some space for a desk.

I marked this window to be the larger one.

Next, on the first wall I built I wanted to add some extra length boards so that I put the right length of siding on the building.  These are temporary and I don't want to glue anything to them, so I just mark them with a red Sharpee pen.

You can now see the red extra boards on either side where the clapboard will be a little bit longer than the wall.

The tacky glue is very tacky and everytime I pick up some glue I pick up the souffle cup.  So I started putting it back on the glass again.  I like to try new things, but when they don't work I will not hesitate to go back to the old stand by.

Here is side 2 with the larger window.  I'm using Grandt Line Castings as placeholders, but I will in all likelihood scratch build the windows.  In the deep South they would be wide open with curtains blowing in and out.

Now I've added red boards to this side as well.

Here I've finished the back door assembly.

Here is the front door assembly with its small window.

Here are the four wall panels which will dry overnight.

The last item is the masthead for the front.  It looks easy but the 45 degree cuts took me a which to do.

All of this will dry and maybe tonight I'll start working on it some more.  Next steps will be the siding, which I've already painted and is sitting downstairs.