Complicated....

 

Castle Construction... 

As I am Sure you know, Dear Readers, I Love my Castle, even though it is not much more than half finished! I spend a great deal of time pondering the challenging parts that hinder completion, and one of the longest pondered is the steps to the Castle entrance. Ancient Castle builders did not want it to be easy to enter, (it was a fortress, after all!) so they made the steps narrow and steep, and sometimes just used a ladder that could be pulled inside from above. The entrance was rarely on the first floor (ground floor to you foreigners) but usually at the second floor level (you folks not from the USA would call this the first floor), and while it might have a fancier elegant door frame, there was no grand entrance the way later palaces would have. This is the model my Castle has for it's entrance, and I built the basic door and steps a long long time ago! But the steps have never been attached and fall down all the time. And the fact that they stick out on the outside of the Tower with no base to sit on makes them vulnerable to damage if they are not attached strongly enough to the main structure. The method of that strong attachment is the challenging part!

Here you can see the beginnings of the process of

 trying to design a sturdy stair-base unit

 to attach to the side of the Tower.

I had started on this way back in the Spring before I hurt my arm....

and I am finally getting back to work on it!

 

The idea is to build a framework attached to a separate narrow base

 which the stairs sit upon, and the framework screws into the Tower walls. 

 

 

This also creates a nice box in the bottom right corner

 that can house the electrical outlets for this part of the castle.

So far, the pieces you can see are temporary just to help get an idea of space.

 

And because this is squeezed into a really tight corner in my workroom,

 I decided I would need to turn the whole Tower so I could get better access.

 

As you can see, this side of the Tower has been left unpainted....

all the wiring needs to travel down this wall to the electrical box.

And all the windows still need their trims... 

and the stairs need to be finally constructed!

Here you can see the basic parts. 

The stairs are a glued together unit but not attached.

The landing outside the main door has been there 

(slightly uneven) for ages.

I am adding the base strip and the tall wall on the right

 which will form a "buttress" to the Tower.

Here I am testing sturdier vertical frame sections

 which will screw into the wall from inside the stables.

Figuring out which piece attaches to what

 and in what order is part of the complications!

I want this "extension" on the side of the Castle to be very sturdy!

 

 Here you can see I have cut part of the outer wall to the stairs.

This will all be "stonework" and arches over the entry to the Stables.

I have also cut the "door panel" for the "Electrical box" 

which will be hidden in the right corner.

There will be Hinges!

But that will be later.

First we need to actually construct this frame work.

 

It starts with drilling the screw-holes for the vertical post attachment,

after very very careful measurement (and testing again and again)

from the underside of the new narrow base plate.

 The screws need to be countersunk because they will sit under the base.

Here you can see I am screwing the pieces one at a time

 and testing the fit at the Castle wall to make sure

 it sits square and flush with the wall. 

(The wall is uneven in places!)

At this stage I am screwing together without glue.

Meanwhile I had marked where the vertical frame sits along the wall 

(The flash is too bright to see the pencil well)

This is so I could drill the holes for the attachment

 from the outside so they are positioned correctly.

Here you can see from the inside of the Stables 

where the screw holes have been countersunk.

This will be filled and repainted after the construction is complete.

Because I drilled first from the outside,

 I could be sure the holes are located exactly right.

 

But before I get carried away, Dear Readers,

 and start screwing this together,

 I need to assess the rest of the "buttress structure!

It rises on the right corner to above the door level,

 and needs to be able to "channel a whole lot 

of electrical wires down to the wires box!

 

As you can see from this shot, the "landing" by the door

 doesn't even go as far as the decorative framework.

 This will need to be extended.

And there will need to be another wall....

Here I am trying to hold the test wall in place

 and photograph at the same time!

The wires have room to channel through this buttress

 down to the outlet strip (still not shown).

 

Here I have screwed this wall in place (I will add glue later).

I have also extended the landing.... 

it needs one more piece glued in to reach the wall.

Here I am testing the look of the buttress... 

it will have a steeply slanted roof

 the better to hide all those wires!

And then I needed to test the screws for the vertical framework.... 

that go in from inside the Stable...

(Unbelievably challenging to reach in there with the screwdriver!)

The diagonal row of three screws at the front

 will go into the stairs themselves... later!

All that work, and this section is now screwed in place (temporarily!).

I gave it a good hefting test and it is very sturdy! Yay!

 

Still a long way to go, Dear Readers,

but, Oh my goodness it's progress at last

with this Complicated Castle Construction!