Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse project

We recently completed the building plans for a 10ft tall Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse. Now its time to get busy in the workshop to make a production model.

Follow along as we work through the building plans, offering some video tips for when you decide to build your own.

We no longer sell the LED lighthouse beacon.

Oct 29 2015

The building starts with cutting the parts for the internal structure of the lighthouse. We start with the support posts for the walls of the towers. Here are a few video tips on making the precise cuts.

Bevel Cutting a 2×4:

Accurate Miter Cutting:

Oct 31 2015

One of the other requirements to building large projects is being able to transfer the shapes to wood surfaces so the parts can be cut out. This next video shows how simple this is using our large sheets of carbon paper. An advance note, I messed up the audio on this video and tried to fix it.

Nov 12 2015

I broke the bandsaw blade a couple days into November. It took this long to get another one. Such are the benefits of rural living. 🙂 Today was spent finishing up the supports for the curved walls.

Nov 13 2015

Today I got some time to assemble the service room’s wall supports to the top platform (I call it the widow’s walk). I also cut out the base parts for assembly.

Nov 14 2015
Today I finished up the lighthouse base assembly and added on the skirting.

Nov 21 2015

I spent about 6 hours today finishing off the curved walls of the Peggy’s Cove lighthouse. Two of the curved parts I had some difficulty with as they cracked slightly, even with the kerf cuts with the grain of the plywood. So, one trick I tried was after making the kerf cuts on the back side of the plywood, I poured water into the kerf cuts and let them set for about 30 minutes or so. The plywood absorbed the moisture, making the plywood less prone to cracking.

Then I put some thought into how to make the doors. I sectioned off 2 of the wall panels for a double door. I suppose a single door is also possible although it would be a little narrow. So I am choosing to make a double door. There are a number of ways to make these doors operate. One big door hinged on one side. Two single doors each on their own hinges. Or a bi-fold type door. I have not quite decided yet but after my next trip into town I am going to pick up 4 sets of hinges and decide then.

The following video is a short summary of the curved walls. As well, a discussion on the trim boards (part L) which involve some head scratching to figure out the angles, so I recorded the procedure for the benefit of others and myself…in case I forget 🙂

Nov 26 2015

Today I had a bit of time to continue working on the lighthouse. The other day I was in town and picked up some stainless steel hinges to use on the door of the lighthouse. I installed a pair of hinges, and with a few cuts, the door access opened smoothly. Pleased with how it turned out. I then put some time to start cutting out the parts for the lantern room, cutting out the roof base (part T) and assemble the roof rafter main pin (part AA).

Nov 27 2015

This morning I made up the king post for the roof.

In the late afternoon I grabbed a hour and a half to make the 8 wall panels for the lantern room and then assemble it.

Dec 01 2015

Last evening I got to work cutting out the roof rafters and installing them. I spent some time at the miter saw figuring out the proper cuts to make, and creating a few jigs to help with that process.

Dec 02 2105

Today I made the roof panels and installed them. What I learned is this; what might appear complicated, can end up being easier that expected. By taking the time to process the steps, the making of a compound mitered panel was a bit easier than I thought.

Dec 03 2015

Today I finished the side building for the lighthouse. Quite easy and straightforward.

Dec 05 2015

Today I set to work making the windows and mount them on the lighthouse.

Dec 06 2015

Today is the day I get to make the final wood parts to the lighthouse, the posts for the railings up on the lantern room platform.

Dec 07 2015
The final wooden parts for the lighthouse are the wooden posts. I made these using some left over 2×4 scraps.

Dec 12 2015

We are getting near the end of construction of the lighthouse. The last part if installing the railing posts on the platform of the lantern room.

Dec 19 2015

Today was the day to start putting the paint to the lighthouse. Here is a short update on the first coat.

and here is a video I did of attempting to use a gravity feed sprayer to apply the second coat.

Dec 24 2015

Up next is a video on making your own chain link using left over copper wire.

That concludes this project of making a 1/4 scale Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse.

Update Feb 17  2016:

I am disappointed to see this happening with the caulking on the panels occurring over the past few weeks. 🙁

May 26 2016

We finally got the lighthouse in place today. Here’s a short video. At the end shows the rotating light installed on the lighthouse. Its a solar rotating LED multi-function light that we are developing. Shown is the standard rotating light. Too bad the camera didn’t capture the low light conditions. I’ll try and get some more examples later.

Feel free to add your comments and questions below.