http://www.getwoodworking.com August 2019 The Woodworker & Good Woodworking 51
the bottom one edge down (photo 1). I cramped
and nailed the frames, but I screwed the batten
on. Probably in all woodwork, but especially in this
spontaneous seat-of-pants method of working,
I like as much as possible to be reversible.
The two roof frames rest against each other,
and are held there by screwed blocks (photos
4 & 9 ). This is not the finest solution, but it is
expedient. Now here’s a question: if you have
to cut a flat isosceles triangle from 50 × 75mm
stock, how are you going to do it? What you want
is a large adjustable jig running across a table saw,
but what you also want is to keep your fingers.
If you were making bomb-proof Wendy-houses
for a living, this would be the way to go. A one-off
is different. The blocks are too small to run over
a surfacer, which might have even less regard
for your fingers. Again, a jig could be made, but
only for a roomful of Wendies. I took it slowly
on the bandsaw but this wasn’t smooth enough.
I could have put it in a vice and planed it flat, but
I didn’t consider that. By my elbow was the Triton
oscillating sander. I didn’t ask too much of it but
I sanded away the high spots with ease, drilled
clearance holes for screws, and machine-gunned
the blocks into place. I used to think that impact
drivers were crude, but I don’t anymore.
6 Wendy has a slightly aghast look: ‘Oh! Really?’ I was surprised too. It wasn’t there last week, and now
it is. I’ve given up on the vacant gable; I don’t think it matters anymore, and anyway, I haven’t had any ideas.
The doorway’s rounded corners (photo 5) had to go. I didn’t see how to progress them, and they stopped any
door-lining, which now, together with the window lining, pulls the eye down away from the gable towards the
human detail. Actually I’m beginning to like the vacant gable. It is not pretentious like some Italian excesses.
More American Colonial7 Yes, it is part chicken coop. Sorry girls. That’s just how it happened. The annex on the left is the kitchen extension. There had to be somewhere for the cooker,
that was part of the brief. The fascias are fresh 4 × 1in (100 × 25mm) sawn tanalised, and I presume they will change colour but I don’t mind if they don’t.
Serendipity called. I’d deliberately configured the roof to take two rows of five tiles. That offered a convenient width of four tiles. Three ridge tiles capped the roof.
The gaps between them are bit large, but when this is installed in Bristol, I will bed the ridge in mortar and point it, so the gaps will matter less. Cutting concrete
tiles is a nasty business and I was grateful not to have to do it