Lampmans Hut

[adeshers]

Inspired by Don Henry and his Stonycombe railway I decided to stop prevaricating and actually do something. 8|

My (yet to be built) garden railway will have plastic electric cable conduit (with the snap on/off lid) running adjacent to the track carrying 2 x 12 core cables. Hopefully this will look similar to lineside concrete troughing that the big boys use in the 1:1 world.

There will be break-out points at several locations where the wires will be accessed for points, lighting etc. These will be 2 x 12 way 'chocolate blocks' mounted vertically or horizontally covered by a suitable weatherproof structure. I had read somewhere that cut up tin cans could be used for realistic looking corrugated iron so a lampmans hut built entirely of the stuff was an ideal (and hopefully easy) prototype.

First I built a wooden former out of scrap plywood (Picture 1) stuck together using waterproof wood glue.

I then cut up 4 cans using strong kitchen scissors (Picture 2) and straightened the resulting sheets as best I could.

Suitably sized pieces of tin were cut with the scissors as square as possible and stuck onto the plywood using silcone sealant, securing the pieces in place using cheap clamps (Picture 3 and 4).

Both sides were clad first and then left clamped overnight and then the front and back and again left clamped overnight resulting in a hut with no door or roof (Picture 5).

The roof panels were cut next using the natural curvature of the tins to advantage (Picture 6).

Another overnight wait for the sealant to dry left me with a roofed hut but no door (Picture 7 and 8).

The separate parts of the door including hinges were assembled and stuck together using superglue and activator (Pictures 9 and 10). The tin is thin enough to push a sharp point (in my case a phillips jewellers screwdriver) partly through from the rear to reproduce bolt heads.


Ade

 

[adeshers]

Finally the door and its hinges were stuck to the hut using superglue (Picture 11).

So, what to do now - paint it or let it weather naturally. If I paint it has anybody any recommendations regarding what sort of paint (makes, cost etc).

I've applied the ten foot rule throughout (what a great rule. thumbup. I admit this, first effort is a bit rough and ready but I've thoroughly enjoyed making it over the past few days.

Any suggestions or comments gratefully accepted.

Ade

photo moved by mike(mod)

 

[adeshers]

Now why have the ten photos in message 1 become displayed in the main body of text (when I didn't tell them to) and the photo in message 2 has stayed as a clickable thumbnail?? 8|

 

[Granitechops]

Two thoughts come to my mind Ade

1 watch for children & little fingers on sharp edges

2 I would leave it to weather naturally

BUT
I would paint the hinges & the frame work for the door, as if these were steel in real life, they would be painted, whereas corrugated was often left unpainted

What size tins did you use? you seem to have got quite a large area of corrugations

looks great

and if you can place it somewhere near encroaching vegitation, even more realistic

 

[adeshers]

Thanks for the comments, Don.

Never mind 'little' fingers, mine are very bloody - those tins are very sharp as I'm sure you know. :thumbdown: Hopefully the huts will be well away from little fingers (non-resident).

I used a mixture of standard sized baked bean and catfood tins (4"- 5" tall) which I found were corrugated from top to bottom apart from a 1cm margin top and bottom.

Ade

 

[korm kormsen]

I admit this, first effort is a bit rough and ready

your "rough and ready" is good. stay at it.
are you and the cat on a somewhat monotone diet now?

 

[peterbunce]

Hi Ade,

You will be getting into trouble using the kitchen scissors!

A better material is the aluminium from Fosters lager cans (The can is much better then its contnents and NO I don't drink it!); it is softer, and can be worked much easier; here os one roof I clad with the metal for you to look at. Even the soft aluminium needs to be annealed (have you in the kitchen a gas stove, that is what I use holding the pieces with a pair of long nose pliers, that is where the browwn colour come from.

the sheets are much better if overlapped as they will keep out the weather then. I glue them down with window framwe sealant, then paint them with masonry paint. finishing off with varnish after some weathering. There is another building being made that will have some more corrugated iron on it at the moment.

Yours Peter.

 

[adeshers]

your "rough and ready" is good. stay at it.
are you and the cat on a somewhat monotone diet now?

Hi korm, thanks for the comments. The cat hasn't complained about being fed baked beans.

Peter, I'll try the annealing trick. That roof of yours looks great, just the effect I'm after. The tins I'm using are thin enough (but not as thin as beer cans). The only problem with them is the curvature which is difficult to overcome but at least they come ready corrugated.

Ade

 

[mike]

great start, have you thought about the crinkler makers they sell in craft shops to make crinkled papper,? some are strong enough to do" aliumuinum...
mike

 

[Clive Elesmore]

When I was at the ECLSTS in 2006 I visited a display by a mature gentleman and his wife (might have been George) I am sure if I checked the MLS site I would find his name, any way he modelled exceptional buildings and shared his secrets. Using the beer cans and a paper corrigator(?) you can make all the corrogated sheets you like.
I forget the name of the store in Orlando North, may have been something like Tims and bought mine there. They work a treat and I imagine they must be available over here at an art or crafts store.

I like the lamp room, I am hoping to make a number of corrugated structures once I have got the track down on my "new" portable layout.

Clive

 

[adeshers]

great start, have you thought about the crinkler makers they sell in craft shops to make crinkled papper,? some are strong enough to do" aliumuinum...
mike

I've not seen specific crinkle makers but I have seen (locally) a device for getting as much artists paint out of a tube as possible comprised of a corrugated bed with a corrugated roller running in guides at a fixed distance above the bed (not sure if this is variable). I might give it a try.

Ade

 

[peterbunce]

Hi. That will be Lawrence (Yogi) Wallace at http://users.stratuswave.net/~wd8jik < Link To http://users.stratuswave.net/~wd8jik he is very good, I wish I knew where to get gear stock, though then it would need an engineer to build the base for adding that gear stock to it.

Yours Peter

 

[peterbunce]

Hi,
My crimper come from Fred Aldous in Manchester, it is meant for paper and has some trouble with annealed aluminium.

It MUST be fixed tight so you can operate both ends (to hopefully keep the sheet straight) and needs careful pressure on the top of the rollers, Do 3 corrugations at a time, go back on them to deepen them, then do some more. Finally a fast run through ensures some evenness to them.

If the above is NOT done the machine, which is being used well outside its 'working envelope' will I am certain break, and that in not intended, strong it ain't!

Here is what it looks like

I fix mine to my workmate bench, that has a Stanley right angled vice holding the crimper - just leave space at each end for your fingers to turn the rollers.

I expect about a 20% failure rate (crooked corrugations) the stuff is cheap - nothing - and thus the wastage is liveable with. Do anneal the metal, but watch the corners those will go first with too much heat, keep the piece of metal moving, and do half at a time, then turn it round, it is as usual practice makes perfect!

When finally you have the sheets in position, fill up the holes at the end of the corrugations with paint - yes there will be some - I use the tester pots from B&Q in Storm grey (which is is not - its too light for a storm!) Masonry paint.

Yours Peter.

 

[adeshers]

Thanks Peter, lots of practical info. Fred Aldous have their warehouse (prefab) near here so I might not need to go onto Manchester. I might also try the paint tube squeezer and report back.

Can you tell me - does the annealing make the metal softer is it just for the colouration?

Ade

 

[Clive Elesmore]

Hi Peter

Yes, that is correct, Yogi was the man and the paper crimper you picture is almost identical to my own.

Thank you for posting. Clive

 

[trammayo]

A man after my own heart! I used quite a few bean tins and the like for a couple of roofs but not for outside in the garden (yet).
One problem I had was straightening out the metal.
Eventualy I used a piece of 2x3 softwod, laid the tin pieces on a piece of ply with the convex side up and just applied pressure with the wood at an angle and just ran it along the tin several times until the piece was flattened. I used a nail gun to fix to roof timbers but I realise this would not be affective outside.
I think you might have problems with the silcone as it will normally pull off of non-porous surfaces.
I suggest you use something like Leadmate which will stick to non-porous surfaces.
Silicon sealant comes as either high modulous or low modulous - normal building silicone I think is the High type so is no good for sealing the likes of UPVc which is non-porous and smooth.
I'm gathering enough corrugated to make a Nissen hut next so won't need to flatten it!

Keep up the good work.

Mick

 

[korm kormsen]

adeshers,

if you stay with your building style (full wooden building beneath, clad with corrugated)
you could use other, less strong/resistant materials too.

look: http://kormsen.ko.funpic.de/forum/viewtopic.php?t=435 < Link To crimping

 

[peterbunce]

Hi,

Yes it is softer, and it will need to be, if the metal is too hard it is very difficult to get the corrugations - the centre of the rollers lift, which is why keeping them together with your fingers pressing down hard in the centre are needed, to keep things together properly.

The coloration I think is due to the internal coating burning off. It also gives you an indication as to what is happening. The sheet can and possibly will catch fire at the edges it is not serious just blow it out the flames are only small, again I supect the coating, the most important thing is to keep it moving to avoid hotspots, and get as even colour as you can.

That is the counsel of perfection - as you can see from the 'shed roof' photo I try to work towards it - again using a gas stove is not a very even overall sorce of heat but is does the job. My last sheets were about 70mm x 60mm which are quite easy to deal with, and longer (more than 70mm) can get difficult. The next will be the same.

Yours Peter.

 

[adeshers]

Many thanks to all those members who have taken an interest in this topic.
Seeing the hand crimper reminded of a paint tube squeezer I recently saw so spending a fortune for the benefit of research (99p) I bought one and here it is.

The makers name is not clear on the photo. It is 'Boldmere'. The only address details on the back is Midpoint Park B76 1RN (so that's Sutton Coldfield way).

I'll post some example crimps next.

Ade

 

[adeshers]

Here are the example crimps.

At the top are 2 pieces of foil take-away carton, in the middle is a piece of foil coated cardboard lid from a take-away carton (can you see a theme developing kiddies ) and at the bottom a piece of beer can. The best corrugations are on the cardboard with the foil carton next and the beer can last BUT I've yet to try annealed beer can as Peter has suggested - that will be my next experiment.

So far though, for looks and strength, nothing beats the cut up food tins.

Ade

Photo inserted into text by Peter Bunce - moderator.