Brafferton Update - 7. Baseboards Pt i

Ain't no cure for the summertime blues, eh? It's been a bit quiet here, there and everywhere of late hasn't it? I suspect we're all taking advantage of the great British Summer; that or we've blown the last of our credit card limit on a holiday to warmer climes. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago we had a week's holiday and went to stay with the sister-in-law in Dewsbury; hardly Rhodes or Antigua I know, but it was a break. It also enabled me to get some work done on the layout - on the first Saturday of the holiday Edward Sissling kindly offered to help get the baseboards assembled. So we did:


First job was to smooth all the rough edges off the CNC cut board pieces; tedious but necessary. We also finalised the connection method between boards. This is exactly the same as on Pool-in-Wharfedale, Edward's layout. C&L dowels ensure accurate alignment whilst plastic headed bolts and captive nuts (ouch) secure the join; two of each item at every baseboard join.

The holes machined for the dowels were slightly tight and even when persuaded in with a builder's screwdriver they sat proud of the wood. Edward carefully opened the holes out with a drill and T-bit whilst I sorted the captive nuts out.

All enthused I set to hammering the captive nuts in, being very careful to put them on the inner face of the boards; the bolt will then pull them into the wood when in used and ensure a strong connection. Finished I admired my handiwork; I'd hammered nuts into every single face! Of course we only need them on alternate faces; on the other half the bolt needs to be a clearance fit through the wood. Time for a coffee and then carefully remove the nuts from half of the faces...

Edward also thoughtfully made up two cheek boards. These will enable the boards to be safely held whilst working on wiring etc.:

After lunch we actually did some gluing!...