Some construction piccies of Arfa's Burger Joint ...

[Owain]

Agreed, there needs to be a lot more colour and light.

Owain

[Arfa Daily]

I hate the way that everything is handled by practice nurses now. I have had so many arguments with them about my blood pressure, that there's one that won't see me now. It annoys me how they continue to try to 'fix' a problem that I'm not sure actually exists in the first place, by shotgunning it with pills, instead of properly evaluating the effect of changing one factor at a time. So I do the job for them, now. Bet they all hate me up there. Here comes that grumpy old git with the blood pressure again .... :-)

Arfa

[Arfa Daily]

>>>>> Arfa

Yes, bendy MDF, or as the guy at the builder's merchants insisted it was called, "Hamster Wheel". Pinned at 2" intervals to the verticals of the frame using the air pinner, and then also to the back curved edge of the lower counter top. At floor level, I cut some curved profiles to match the overall curve on some lengths of 45 mm square timber, and screwed these directly to the concrete floor, one in each 'bay', and with the curve tight up against the back of the MDF, which was then again pinned to these. Overall, this then made the whole curve quite rigid, even though the MDF is only 6 mm thick, and is actually missing half its bulk. It was the first time I had worked with the stuff. You have to be quite careful handling an

8' x 4' sheet of it, as we found out with the first one. It is quite heavy, and readily 'flops' to one side when carried vertically. This resulted in an instant surface split straight down one of the grooves. Fortunately, where it broke was ok in the grand plan of things ... :-)

Arfa

[Adrian C]

NYC lookalike street furniture maybe?

A bright yellow phone kiosk, a fire hydrant, A hobo to trip over in the doorway, spray painted grafitti, holes from gunshop pellets, a white line drawn where, er, a body was removed ... etc...

[dennis]

>>>>>>>> Arfa

There is nothing to stop you putting two sheets on top of each other if its not rigid enough. You could even glue them to make it a lot more rigid.

[Arfa Daily]

"fred" wrote in message news: [e-mail]...

Yes, brads driven with an air pinner, and yes, also impact adhesive. Where there were joins, these were 'reinforced' with a further piece of MDF impact adhesive'd to the back, so it became effectively a single piece from the front. The compressor I was using, has one fixed and one adjustable port, both with pressure guages. The pinner itself also has an adjustable depth stop on the safety interlock plunger. By using the adjustable port and juggling with the pressure supplied to the tool, and its adjustable depth stop, I was able to experiment until I could get it to reliably drive the pin *just* below the surface of the MDF - no more than 0.5 mm, so 5.5 mm of MDF being 'grabbed'. We had the vinyl fitters check the counter for suitability when they were out with the sales girl, checking sizes etc for the signage and murals. They examined it and declared the materials to be ok. They said that they go onto MDF all the time. They requested that all of the holes and joins were filled with a proprietary filler such as Polyfilla, and then sanded down. This proved to be a very easy job. We just got a tube of ready-mixed Polyfilla, and credit-carded all the pin head holes and joins, and then next day, went over the whole thing with an orbital finishing sander with a 1200 grit paper on it. Result was an absolutely smooth finish, and you can't see a single blemish on the vinyl, anywhere. I'm a bit anal (daughter says OCD !) about such things. I don't care if no one else can see imperfections, I can, and I hate to be responsible for them.

Thanks for the comment on the finished article. Considering that I'm just a DIY'er I was pretty pleased with how it all came out. I should also acknowledge the assistance I got from my son-in-law. It helps to have someone a lot younger to do some of the more 'strenuous' tasks, and he worked really well under direction. I taught him quite a lot of new tools and skills on this project, including plastic and copper plumbing.

As to the outside, obviously, it looks a bit better than that now it's all open, and fully cleaned up, but what it is, is what it is, as the owners of the whole parade of shops, insist that they stay the original powder-coat blue that the metal frames are finished in. Actually, the whole complex is quite nice. There is quite a bit of grass and planting around, and the landlords employ people to keep this cut and tidy on a continuous basis. Overall, we're very pleased with the setting.

Arfa

[ARWadsworth]

>>>>>>>>>>> Arfa

You don't think the glueing two sheets together is a little OTT just to move them from the van to the shop?

[Arfa Daily]

>>>>>>>>>>> Arfa

Well, nothing except the price that is. At 28 quid a sheet, it ain't cheap, but point taken. However, it's supported a lot and pinned and glued a lot, and it is quite rigid.

Arfa

[Arfa Daily]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Arfa

LOL !

Arfa

[Owain]

That's okay - you could add some red and white to it to maintain the American theme.

Too much frosting over the windows makes it look like a sex shop.

Owain

[Arfa Daily]

Now that's a bit of a stretch of the imagination, even for me ! Take a bit closer look. The frostings don't come close to obscuring the windows, and the doors are completely clear glass !

Arfa

[Andy Burns]

Would they agree to you applying vinyl wrapping like they do to cars, buses and trains now, instead of painting them? They peel off without damaging the paintwork underneath ...

[John Rumm]

The outside shot with the lights off and the whiteout on the windows does probably not capture the full effect though.

[S Viemeister]

Bright yellow phone kiosk? Where in NYC are they?

[Dave Liquorice]

Would have thought you could have used 6mm ply without the problems of it breaking and haveing lots of slots up the back to collect muck and dust.

From what I remember of the piccies it's not a very tight curve.

[Arfa Daily]

Radius 2.4 m

Arfa

[Adrian C]

Ah, whoops ... E&OE.

[Owain]

It makes it harder to actually see inside - a frosted strip top and bottom, and clear middle at eye level, might have been more welcoming.

That may be a safety hazard, they may need something so people can see whether they're open or closed and not walk through them.

Owain

[Arfa Daily]

Oh, puhleeze, Owain. They are electric, and open on their own. And if anyone can't see a closed shop door, and need it 'highlighting' for them, then they deserve to bang their silly heads, whilst we all laugh at them from inside ... And trust me, the frostings do not restrict the view inside for anyone that actually *wants* to look, and has some kind of a problem with looking through the doors ...

Arfa

[dennis]

There are plenty of people out there that can't see a clear glass door. Worse is the little kids who will see something exciting and run straight into the door. If you look around no big shops have clear glass doors, the Elf and safety will jump on them. Its even worse if they are swinging doors with motors.