A Few Friday Photos

Friday ended with the lowest level as done as we can get it.

On the first long side we did, all seemed to be going well. We built toward the center from one side, and then the other. So it came as a blow when we reached the center to find that we had a two inch gap.

Phil measured his joints. Many were only 1/16" too short. A few were 1/8" too short. Enough of those, added together, makes a gap too large to fill with mortar.

Happily we had some knock-out block pieces (more on that in days to come), so Phil mortared those up and filled in the space. For extra strength, we poured mortar into the opening, so it's solidly in place now.

I would have just hoped for the best and carried on, but Phil, in the tradition of Eli Whitney (who realized that guns could be manufactured more easily if the workmen simply had a guide to follow) realized that a guide would be better. He shaved a block of wood until it was precisely the right side to create a proper spacing. That went precisely and quickly.