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January 24 - 30
Fernando Oliveria arrived Monday morning for a couple of hours to help sort out problems, answer questions and get us heading in the right direction. It is decided to go ahead and have James Neal of North Coast Glass trim all the windows.
I start delivering the fifty three pieces of glass to Jim's shop. Here Jim is giving me his, what I take to be, "you got to be kidding" look, but no, soon the windows are being trimmed to size and the following day I start hauling them back,
and stack and store them in the Lighthouse. Moving right along... We had noted, a while ago, that the cap to the smoke cone was missing and has been for years.
Kevin Fletcher contacted a local sheet metal shop, gave them a copy of the original plans and soon we have a new one. They also made, and soldered on, nine new sleeve guides for the support rods that hang from the rosette. The cap and sleeves keep any possible rain or condensation from getting onto the Fresnel lens.
Reggie, owner of Woodie's Weld-All, is making new angle brackets and sheet steel liners for the Lantern door and Parapet.
On the left is the old door liner which was missing about two inches of it's bottom edge because of rust. On the right is the new replacement.
And here is one of the new Parapet liners. We have drilled and mounted the quarter inch thick steel trim along the top of the liner. The round hole is where the air regulator is located when assembled.
We started fitting up the Lantern door and discovered that the new door latch handle "interfered" with the door pull handle. Checking the original plans we noted that the new handle, made by Gene Parsons, was the correct length. We then discovered that the door pull handle had never been installed in the right location, according to the plans. It was about an inch and a half too close to the latch!
I drilled new holes through the cast iron and sheet metal and moved it to the right location. Yes, I will fill in the old holes.
And then three more problems arrived. The door doesn't fit the Lantern correctly. We knew the door had not shut right for years and now we think we know why. Once upon a time a new replacement for the upper hinge had been made (it is the more golden colored piece on the right of the upper hinge). The second problem is that the new brass screws, ordered for the door hinges are 1/2" - 13 threads per inch instead of 1/2" - 12 threads per inch. I mentioned this to my friend Doug Payne. He e-mailed back and wrote: "Screw threads didn't get standardized until this century, so it's no wonder your screws didn't fit." Thanks Doug! And I unpacked the new window for the door to check the fit and discovered
That it had been "bent" the wrong direction!!
I go back to doing something, anything, to ease my mind while the Architect and contractor figure it all out.
Stefan gets busy removing the linoleum and particle board covering the original wood floor of the "Watch room". This is the room just below the Lantern where the base of the Fresnel lens sits when it is reinstalled. We will refinish the floor to it's natural color.
Speaking of the Fresnel lens. The lens itself is completely cleaned and polished and now they are working on the support pieces of the lens. They too are being taken apart, cleaned and polished. Progress is being made although some of it in strange, unexpected, areas.
I am really beginning to look forward to returning to my chair in the desert, one way, or another! |
