Passive Damper and Arch Support

This week has slipped by and it seems like I have been a slacker. I guess I am slowing down as I approach the 60 years on this planet milestone. It may be just the age or it may be that the city frenzies are fading into the past. I did get a bunch of bowls glazed and fired for the Cookeville Cooking on the Square event. This benefits Habitat for Humanity. Below are the hand built bowls that I whined about not caring for earlier. I still am not fond of them, but the glazing almost saved them. They were fired in oxidation to cone 7 with a Mid-South Opulence glaze called antique iron.



I have brought the chimney up and constructed the passive damper. This is basically a hole to open to decrease the "draw" up the chimney. It is used to make small adjustments as compared to the active damper. The next task on the stack is to cut a hole in the roof and continue up to its full height.



I started the arch support for springing the arch into place. Below you can see it laid out on OSB.



I traced the curve onto the OSB and then used a compass to offset the curve by the thickness of the plywood that I will use to cover the support.



Here are the support ends cut out by my trusty-rusty Sears jig saw. This was my father's. He had it a few years and I have had it about 20 years. Still going strong (but I have my eye on a DeWalt 18v cordless).



Steve, who is going to do the metal work for me, called and if things go as planned, that should get done next weekend.