# New avatar



## Mike1950 (Oct 22, 2014)

Kevin asked what my new avatar was- no not the horses a.. kathie made take it down- she said it was too close a resemblance. 
So here it is- wood working- I will add pictures and hints until someone guess's

Reactions: Funny 1


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## SENC (Oct 22, 2014)

Its a roof (underside).


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## Mike1950 (Oct 22, 2014)

SENC said:


> Its a roof (underside).



Wow- that is pretty astute- But Not enough


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## SENC (Oct 22, 2014)

Not enough what?


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## Mike1950 (Oct 22, 2014)

It is a roof above but not what it is- Not enough info. I can see why @DKMD is always complainin about hospital admin!!!!!!

Reactions: Funny 1


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## SENC (Oct 22, 2014)

I answered the question originally asked, not the question you meant to ask or were thinking. This is like playing guess what I'm thinking with my wife! 

Gallows?

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 2


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## Mike1950 (Oct 22, 2014)

SENC said:


> I answered the question originally asked, not the question you meant to ask or were thinking. This is like playing guess what I'm thinking with my wife!
> 
> Gallows?




Gallows? It is a miracle that your wife puts up with you- I know I have one like that!!!
No it is not a gallows................

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Sprung (Oct 22, 2014)

A domed ceiling - and some crazy drywaller is probably going to cover all that beautiful woodwork up.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Mike1950 (Oct 22, 2014)

Dernit- back when I was a turner- I turned this 



 

Into this- probably the biggest bowl here

Reactions: Like 2 | Way Cool 1


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## Sprung (Oct 22, 2014)

Great work on that, Mike!


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## Mike1950 (Oct 22, 2014)

The framing was by far the hardest part.


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## Kevin (Oct 22, 2014)

Nice job Mike. For those who can't picture how those framing members are cut to make the concave I bet a classroom tutorial from you would be highly appreciated. 

Did you do the framing too?

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Mike1950 (Oct 22, 2014)

Kevin said:


> Nice job Mike. For those who can't picture how those framing members are cut to make the concave I bet a classroom tutorial from you would be highly appreciated.
> 
> Did you do the framing too?




i did the framing- absolutely not structural - there is a 4 x 10 glue lam at each end of dome-2 2 x 10's on each side between G-lams- that rest on the wall on sides. The room is 22 x 18 dome is 10' by almost 4' There are regular truss's on each end to make flat ceiling. scissor truss's above dome for clearance. i have more pics and will add a bunch.
Couple of stories about this dome: I had youngest son home-finishing his engineering degree- I was 6-12's busy all over 2 states. Thought it would be good hands on training for him dealing with inspectors and seeing process thru. I DREW UP PRINTS- BASIC -damn cap lock and clunky digits. He thought prints were a little crude- I told him -go get permit. No problem- Hell they wanted the $$$. We did foundation - he got inspection. Got to framing and this dome was there- since it was not on print he would not do it. I said It is architectural- not structure. In the end he insisted I do it I insisted he be there.
Inspector came spent most of his time admiring and BSing about dome. Dan asked about it and He said-Hell son- that is arch... see those glue lams.

Had a high end builder I showed it to. We used our house to sell our work. Hard to look at a picture our a 12" x 12" sample of a high end finish and sell it. 
He came in and loved the domes. Spent a lot of time admiring this one. I said I could provide the framing- He said I have a framer that can frame it... OK fast forward- in a meeting and he is showing framer and and framer is obviously clueless- I knew he would be meeting got quiet- architect and builder were taking a breath- Framer who is a friend looked across the table at me with a scowl and said quite tersely " Why the HELL did you tell Larry I could frame that" We still laugh about it. We framed the domes. Lost art in my trade fun to build though. 

The light trough is Kathie's ode to Ceasars palace Las Vegas.

One with flash and one without- Light trough is about 5 inches wide all the way around- Home depot rope lights last for yrs- 2 outlets on dimmers. This cool effect sold us one helluva lot of work.



 



 

Specialty silk stone finish in dome almost looks like you can stick your finger in it or "mother of pearl"

Reactions: EyeCandy! 1 | Way Cool 4


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## Kevin (Oct 22, 2014)

Beautiful work Mike. It's woodworking on a larger scale which frankly as you know, is easier in a way than making a tight jewelry box. Love that lighting too my hat is off to you all the way.


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## Mike1950 (Oct 22, 2014)

Kevin said:


> Beautiful work Mike. It's woodworking on a larger scale which frankly as you know, is easier in a way than making a tight jewelry box. Love that lighting too my hat is off to you all the way.



Yes and no- but I know what you mean about easier. Thanks for the compliments- but design is all Kathies- color design and?? is all her me I am the poor guy that has to figure out how to do it. You should hear the story about the range hood- hell I whined for a week and it did me no good or then there is the extra 4 ft- I am still whinin about that- the closet she wanted to get rid of that had the chimney in it- hid it with a column- which grew into 8 more columns.......... we had fun....................

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Kevin (Oct 22, 2014)

Terry and Kathie are probably sisters of different mothers. I have a few stories of my own but I like listening better - much more fun. Keep 'em coming.


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## Mike1950 (Oct 22, 2014)

Kevin said:


> Terry and Kathie are probably sisters of different mothers. I have a few stories of my own but I like listening better - much more fun. Keep 'em coming.



I will take more pictures - the range hood and finishing It had some hilarious moments. We had fun.


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## Mike1950 (Oct 26, 2014)

Domes- If you are in Maryland- it is worth a trip to the capital bld. in Annapolis. The dome there is the largest wooden dome in the US and I think 3rd largest in the world. A little story - The sub contractor fell 90 feet to his death while working on the dome. His wife did the honorable thing and finished the work. The state did their normal - stiffed the general and sub contractor for the money. Nothing much has changed in the construction biz for 250 yrs.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## SENC (Oct 26, 2014)

Great story, Mike!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Kevin (Oct 26, 2014)

Mike1950 said:


> The sub contractor fell 90 feet to his death while working on the dome. His wife did the honorable thing and finished the work. The state did their normal - stiffed the general and sub contractor for the money. Nothing much has changed in the construction biz for 250 yrs.



@Mike1950 those kinds of stories fascinate me so I wanted to read more about it. I couldn't find anything about it except off the official MD State website linked below. Here is the relevant excerpt that differs somewhat from your source:

Tragedy struck the project in 1793 when a plasterer named Thomas Dance fell to his death from the inside of the dome. By 1794, Joseph Clark was completely disillusioned with the project and left it to John Shaw, the noted Annapolis cabinetmaker, to oversee completion.

http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdstatehouse/html/story.html


I'm guessing you still take trade publications and maybe it was featured in one of those?


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## barry richardson (Oct 26, 2014)

That is supper cool! And looks like a ton of work. I'm sure there would have been a big price tag for that work, had you been getting paid for it...


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## Mike1950 (Oct 26, 2014)

Kevin said:


> @Mike1950 those kinds of stories fascinate me so I wanted to read more about it. I couldn't find anything about it except off the official MD State website linked below. Here is the relevant excerpt that differs somewhat from your source:
> 
> Tragedy struck the project in 1793 when a plasterer named Thomas Dance fell to his death from the inside of the dome. By 1794, Joseph Clark was completely disillusioned with the project and left it to John Shaw, the noted Annapolis cabinetmaker, to oversee completion.
> 
> ...




Clark was the GC- Dance's wife-and his crew finished the plaster. An speaking from personal experience- deaths on a jobsite and/or getting stiffed for your money can take the wind out of your sails very quickly.  There are/were large info boards through out the capital. On one of them there is a lot of info about the construction. It was the Capital of The United states for a year or 2 until they moved it to DC. 
Annapolis has so much history. You can go sit in the Middleton tavern where Washington and others met and spoke of their thoughts of the new nation.


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## Mike1950 (Oct 26, 2014)

barry richardson said:


> That is supper cool! And looks like a ton of work. I'm sure there would have been a big price tag for that work, had you been getting paid for it...




Domes, colored finish's and moldings are a couple of plaster's higher art forms. Normally they were done in places that money was not really a problem. We did quite a few dome through the years- always with spectacular results. But yes- Very expensive.


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## Kevin (Oct 26, 2014)

Mike1950 said:


> Clark was the GC- Dance's wife-and his crew finished the plaster.



Yes that's what the .gov site says but they leave out the part about the wife and the non-payment lol. That's why I was asking where your info came from . . .


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## Mike1950 (Oct 26, 2014)

Kevin said:


> Yes that's what the .gov site says but they leave out the part about the wife and the non-payment lol. That's why I was asking where your info came from . . .




I can see why They left out the non payment part- But you can probably understand why I would remember reading it- even though it was 13 years ago. struck a little too close to home!!!!!


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## Kevin (Oct 26, 2014)

Mike1950 said:


> I can see why They left out the non payment part- But you can probably understand why I would remember reading it- even though it was 13 years ago. struck a little too close to home!!!!!



I guess the mystery continues about where you read it. Am I correct in guessing it was a trade journal?


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## Mike1950 (Oct 26, 2014)

Kevin said:


> I guess the mystery continues about where you read it. Am I correct in guessing it was a trade journal?



No I thought I said above- It is on a info board in the capital dome itself. It had the history and info about the dome and construction. All through the building they had history boards of this building. Pre 9/11 and access was walk in the door and go throughout building. When you are at the bottom and you look up 90' to top of dome it is a long way up- You can bet it looks like a helluva lot further down.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Kevin (Oct 26, 2014)

I know it probably won't ever happen, but if you ever find yourself in Austin Texas, do not miss seeing our state captiol. You would love it for many reasons.


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## Mike1950 (Oct 26, 2014)

Kevin said:


> I know it probably won't ever happen, but if you ever find yourself in Austin Texas, do not miss seeing our state captiol. You would love it for many reasons.



I love going into that kind of building- lots of plaster. I love the capital buildings. I would like to go to Austin- we are headed to Texas for a visit just do not know when.

Reactions: Like 1


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