During our Monday/Tuesday-only school week, Team Coopus Maximus worked steadily to finish the very complex angles on their steel frame (Step 11), and add in the angled trusses that will hold the frame together and keep it from torquing/racking. The frame joints were compound mitre angles, requiring a lot of guessing and checking and multiple angle cuts to get them to fit just right.

An important component of the structure is the roosting box, which is nestled on one side of the coop, where the roof comes down and hits the ground. This roosting box required a lot of precise angle cuts in order to make it fit into the roof structure. The group worked diligently to get this piece started, and it will be finished as soon as we are back from break.

Before leaving for Christmas break, we moved the coop off of the wall and into the studio’s open space, since it no longer needs the support of our floor/wall jig. It was amazing to see it freestanding and on its own, from all sides! When we return from break, we’ll finish the box and attach our chicken wire siding, and paint the roof with our rubberized sealant. One current debate is how to finish the inside of the roof, with some team members wanting to paint it white, some a bright color, etc.