Semroc Saturn 1B, Build, OOP #KS-1, Part 4, Making The Tower

Use the full size patterns to cut four tower sides to length.

TIP: Don't just roll your knife blade across the rolling dowel - Roll forward a half turn and stop. Keep the blade in the cut slot.
Roll back towards yourself and do a full turn, this cuts beyond the first half turn cut. This helps prevent the knife from "traveling" or  making a spiral cut down the dowel. Keep the blade centered and in a straight line.

You don't have to cut all the way through with your knife, trace all the way around and crack the dowel. You can then lightly sand the ends flat. Don't shorten the desired end length when sanding.

You'll need lots of head pins to hold the tower pieces steady for gluing.

Pin down the sides first, directly over the patterns. I used more pins than the instructions showed.

Do the horizontal struts first, cut from the thinner dowels. Cut to size and press in place using long tweezers. Long tweezers will help with the construction.

The strut pieces were pressed in place dry -

Glue was applied with a toothpick. You shouldn't have to use much glue, the outside of the finished tower will look cleaner.

After the glue was applied, the excess was wiped off and removed with a Q-tip.

The diagonal glue joints will be much stronger if the ends have a fitted corner. (See the left) Cut slightly longer and use a sanding block to shape the end to a "V".

If you cut the piece too short, save it - you can use it for the low struts.
As Bob Villa says: "Measure twice, cut once."



Build time this post: 2 Hours
Total build time so far: 3 hours, 15 minutes