Posted by Jerry on January 4th, 2005 — Posted in History, Journal, Travel
Continuing my series of photos from the band’s tour to Beijing Nov/Dec 2004, I thought I’d post these…
On 4 December it dawned foggy in Beijing. We took the opportunity to visit the Ancient Observatory. It resides on part of the Beijing City Wall and is topped by several armillary spheres and azimuth instruments in bronze, built by the Jesuits in the 17th century.
A surreal sight in modern Beijing
The observatory dates back to Kublai Khan’s days when it was situated north of its present location. The Chinese have a long tradition of astrology and consequently have long been keen observers of the heavens.
Ancient carving depicting a comet
The present observatory was built in 1442 (the 7th year of the Zhengtong reign of the Ming dynasty) to facilitate both astrological purposes and seafaring navigation (the book 1421 discusses the remarkable accuracy of Chinese navigation of the period.)
Armillary sphere – 1439
The Jesuits were present in the capital from 1601 when Fr Matteo Ricci’s group was allowed to work with Chinese scientists. But the most remarkable of the Jesuits was a Flemish priest called Fr Ferdinand Verbiest (1623-1688) who arrived in Beijing in 1659 as a special advisor to the Qing court to assist in the delicate task of correcting the Chinese calendar.
Shortly after Verbiest arrived in Peking the Jesuits were accused of teaching a false religion and were imprisoned and tortured, pending execution. But in a dramatic reversal of fortune, an earthquake destroyed the part of the palace chosen for the execution, and seen as an omen, the sentence was not carried out and the Jesuits were released. The emperor Kang Hsi later ordered a public debate to ascertain the relative merits of Christian and Moslem astronomy. The debate involved three tests: to determine the shadow of a fixed gnomon, to predict the position of the planets at a fixed time and to predict the exact time of a lunar eclipse which had been expected about that time. The challenge was between the Chinese Moslem, Yang, and the Christian, Verbiest. The Heavens would be the judge. Verbiest had the superior astronomical data and won convincingly – securing him the immediate appointment as chair of the Board of Mathematics.
Of the eight bronze instruments on display six were designed and constructed under Verbiest’s supervision. They were built between 1669 and 1673.
Azimuth theodolite (1715) for measuring azimuth and altitude of celestial bodies
Sextant (1673) for measuring angular distance between stars and angular diameter of the sun and moon – one of Verbiest’s instruments.
Altazimuth (1673) for measuring azimuths of celestial bodies – Verbiest
Ecliptic Armilla (1673) – another of Verbiest’s instruments – for measuring ecliptic longitude differences and latitude of celestial bodies.
Each of the instruments are supported on fantastic bronze dragons and delicate traceries:
And here is a view of the observatory museum situated at the base of the observatory. Inside are bronze and brass navigation instruments, model clypsedra (water clocks) and some ancient pottery depicting celestial events.
The museum also houses the ancient seismograph for registering the occurrence and direction of earthquakes. It was invented in 132AD by Zheng Heng of the Bast Han dynasty.
All in all this was one of the best museums we visited in Beijing – a real gem and well worth a visit!
cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on January 3rd, 2005 — Posted in DIY, Journal, Woodwork
Well, I reckon it’s pretty much done now – today I painted the cupboard doors white and added matched wooden handles throughout. Someone said to me “why white? – won’t it get dirty very quickly?”
I guess there are three reasons I chose white – the first is that it lightens up an otherwise fairly dark shed, the second is that most woodworking tasks produce dust, rather than dirt, so after the dust has been swept clear there is not much to stain the benches. And I have a formica bench top where I’m most likely to make a greasy mess – and that can just be wiped down with meths. The third reason is that it’s easier to see stuff – like that washer I just dropped.
Anyhow, after the cupboards were painted (five coats – I’m not a good painter) and the handles fitted, I finished adding the tools to the pegboard, added some clips near the door to hold firestaffs and stilts and other circus stuff, and generally put stuff away. I really like the feel of the shed now – it is a good place to work – plenty of room and easy access to the most-used tools. So my goal has been accomplished – in seven days rather than the ten I had planned on!
And for comparison – here is the before photo!
Quite a difference eh? And the total cost was around AU$200.00 – yup two hundred dollars 🙂
That’s around US$150.00. The main cost was the pegboard and the large cupboard which I bought secondhand. I did have some white melamine chipboard I had bought quite a while ago – the remnants of shop fittings from a store that was closing down. The rest was a re-arrangement of existing shed furniture, some paint and some handles I picked up at a swapmeet/car boot sale a few years ago.
If you have any queries about the project or would like details of any specific item, leave a comment or send me an email.
Cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on January 2nd, 2005 — Posted in DIY, Journal, Woodwork
Once I had sourced some more pegboard (AU$46.50 for a half sheet) and about 8m of 42x19mm pine, I set about installing the second pegboard above the new cupboard unit for the automotive tools – socket set etc – it will certainly be the detail bits that will take the time, but that can be done in slow time. Anyhow the sheet fitted perfectly by standing it on the cupboard and it reached perfectly up to the top shed frame member. So I cut the pine to length and screwed through the pine and pegboard into the shed wall frame timber, making a strong hold for the pegboard. I also installed bolts at the halfway point on the vertical to help to reduce flexing of the pegboard. And here is the result:
Simple Cupboard
Now, remember I said I was going to add a cupboard? Well, I still had some melamine chipboard left so I set to work on the wall cupboard to extend the others at the end of the shed. I began by ripping the pegboard to width (about 350mm), then cut two identical pieces for the sides 550mm to give a height that would match the existing cupboards. Then I cut three identical width pieces for the top, bottom and shelf. The shelf I only made 300mm wide as I wanted it inset from the front, the top and bottom are 350mm x 500mm (the width of the cupboard).
Laying one side on its face edge, I mated the top to it holding it in place with a corner clamp while I doweled the side to the top, then added two screws. With the top and side forming an ‘L’ I mated the other side to the top and doweled an screwed it into place. Turning the U-shape structure onto the rear edges I lined up the shelf so that its top is 300mm from the bottom to give a pleasing proportion, not far off the Golden Section made famous by the renaissance artist Alberti. I attached the shelf the same way, and then put the structure back on its face to line up and attach the bottom.
Finally, I added a couple of pieces of 42x19mm pine beneath the top at the rear, to provide an attachment surface to hang the cupboard on the wall.
Moment of truth time and I hefted the thing into place and it fitted … er … almost! You see, there is a wall support running into where the back of the cupboard should meet the wall. So I de-hefted it gently to the floor where I measured and sawed a slot for the wall member.
This time it fitted perfectly. With the cupboard held against the wall, I used the cordless drill to make a dowel hole through the side into the adjacent cupboard, and then, still supporting the cupboard I reached up a dowel, and pressed it into place, then used a small hammer to drive it home. With the cupboard now stabilised, I screwed the top attachment surface to the wall beam, and added another dowel insert into the adjacent cupboard for added stability.
It still needs doors, but it is now in place:
And here is a closer view of the cupboard:
So that completes the work for Day six. Tomorrow I still need to make cupboard doors, and paint the brown cupboard doors to match. That should pull the whole thing together visually.
Getting there at last!
cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on January 1st, 2005 — Posted in DIY, Journal, Woodwork
Happy New Year folks!
Well most of the structural stuff is complete now, so it’s mainly the details left – and that is likely to take the rest of the ten days!
I didn’t want to disturb the neighbours too early, so I started to organise the pegboard – decide on which tools to hang up and how best to lay it out.
I still needed a cupboard catch (remember the corner cupboard I made a couple of days ago?) and I needed more pegboard – so I set off with a list and a purpose. Luckily, Bunnings was open and I was able to get the door catch, and more pegboard clips – but the pegboard itself seemed a bit expensive, so I have put that purchase off until tomorrow.
Back home I set to work organising the wood rack, clearing out the filing cabinet, ready to sell it, and moved the lathe hard up against the new drawer unit.
I fitted the cupboard door catch to the corner cabinet – now here’s a tip: The catch needed to screw into edge of the chipboard shelf – how to get the screws to hold? I drilled a couple of dowel holes perpendicular to the edge and in the path of where the crews would go to attach the catch. Then I screwed the catch into the dowels – a simple solution and one that means the catch won’t pull out as soon as the cupboard door is closed 🙂
I looked at how the cupboard situation was shaping up, when I had an idea – one of the shelf units could be made to serve as a cupboard if I turned it sideways and mounted it high on the wall -So I did – I’ll make some doors for it in a day or two. The small drawer unit is just the right height for the grinder, so that has moved in next to the lathe – it’ll need painting, so I won’t attach the grinder yet.
It may be a cheap Rhino Chinese lathe, but it is good to see it re-emerge from the sedimentation of family life!
And I mounted some hooks and hung up the four spare dining chairs so they are not taking up valuable workshop space..
So now the wood-rack end looks like this:
And the shed is now starting to look something like a decent woodworking space. Tomorrow should see a tip run done and me returning with more pegboard. I hope to get a small cupboard built and the doors painted.
Overall, progress seems ahead of schedule, but tomorrow is another day
Once again, Happy new Year folks!
cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on December 31st, 2004 — Posted in DIY, Journal, Woodwork
You know how I said I daren’t turn around? Well here is the rest of the shed!
hmmm time for some creative thinking here, oh and over there too!
Well I had planned to build a cupboard or two, but an early foray to the shops saw me return with a small drawer unit for AU$5.00 from the Salvos shop. And then i remembered there was a secondhand building supplier in Fyshwick. So I headed off in the trusty van and found a huge cupboard unit with a formica top for AU$88.00 which I duly brought home and then puzzled – it took two very big and burly blokes to lift the thing into the van, and now I’m home, there’s just weedy little me!
I emptied the contents of the two shelf units and removed everything out to the carport. Then I spotted my neighbour and asked for some assistance. He said ‘No worries mate…” and he promptly disappeared. Oh well. Then ten minutes later he returned having rounded up most of the brickies labourers in the district – who were only too happy to help and satisfy their curiosity at what I was up to in the shed.
I thanked them profusely and we stopped for a bit of a chat about what I was doing and how I was doing it, and then promised to get together later on for a beer.
Back to work, I sawed a cutout to enable the counter top to fit around one of the shed supports that was getting in the way, and then transferred the contents of the shelf units into the new cupboard. Now we’re making progress…
And that was about it for Day four – it being New Years Eve – and my wife and I’s Anniversary, we went out for dinner, and on our return, joined the neighbours for a New Years get together – and that most refreshing ale!
The fireworks were good – we watched the Sydney display on TV – and there as considerable discussion about the the tragic Asian tsunami.
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