Fabrication Update

LeRoy, Fabrication Manager, has provided an update on what has been taking place in the Fabrication shop:

Over the last several weeks we have been working in Noah's Place Café on the booths and ceiling. The booths were fabricated downstairs and brought up in sections as we saw in the blog recently. After the walls were bolted to the floor they were covered with plywood and then 2 of white sheet Styrofoam. The Styrofoam was then carved to look like a stone wall and we are now working on a hard coat topcoat for the simulated rock walls.

In the shop area we are cutting, sanding, shaping and sanding again the hickory wood that will be used for the seat backs and under the seat parts of the booths. At the same time the upholstered seat bottoms are being made. As soon as the last coat of finish is put on the booth walls we will install the hickory on the booths.

The tables are almost finished and they are looking great! It is always a challenge to build the café to reflect as it may have been built by Noah. We have different tools and materials now then in Noah's time, so as in the tables they are glued together using smaller widths of boards, inverting the grain of each of the boards and then sanding out the table top with a wide belt sander for a smooth surface. The tops are then distressed with hand tools such as a draw knife to give the effect of being hand hewed. Long ago trees were much wider so one table top could have been taken from the width of tree without having to piece them together. Today trees are harvested too quickly to get large growth widths.

In the SFX Theater we completed the sound booth so the audio staff can install their equipment. After they are done we can close up the floor where they have been feeding wire through to the booth and install the wood rail on the top of the booth. At the entrance of the theater we are working on the wood beams by the lobby. Progress is taking place and it is exciting to be a part of it all.

Thanks again for joining us. We appreciate all of your prayers and support for the museum.