I didn' really mind as I am still calibrating and setting up work flows.

First off I needed a 5.4 m length of 45 x 90 pine to distribute the compression forces along the edge of the floorboards as I crank it together with sash clamps.

I had attempted to buy this in Midland but they told me I was not allowed to bring it home on my utility and would need to bring my trailer for safety reasons.

My trailer is currently in use, so instead I needed to extend my existing 4 m length by another 1.2 metres. Ie cutting an additional 1.2 m length and doubling over it with a 3 m length to lock it straight.

Next I made up a drilling template out of thin galvanised sheet. All the fixing holes (even though they will be filled with timber plugs) will be visible and I want to ensure that they form straight lines. After a false start I arrived at a template that reference both the previously drilled holes and a joist centre line mark on the edging timber mentioned above.

Finally, I followed the recommendation of a very helpful person at Toolmark Midland.

The countersink bit I was trying last week was giving me craters that were much too wide.

I spoke to him about 10 mm straight sided counter sink bits with depth controlling collars but he said these collars were only a visual marker and would move under use.

Instead he recommended that I just use a sharp 10 mm drill bit, drill though a piece of dowel and cut it to the appropriate length, lubricate the face of the dowel with parafin wax and use that as my preset countersinking tool.

After a bit of experimentation I managed to set this up.

At the moment my jig is giving me a screw head that is about 8mm below the surface even though I am aiming at 6 mm.

The last floor surface I created was about 6 years ago.

I must be getting a bit older as I found the constant squatting and standing up was a real loading on my thigh muscles.

By the end of the day I had visualised a new plan for preparing and fixing the floorboards.

I will buy 3 identical carpentry horses and set them up with scaffolding planks to create a 5.2 metre working surface.

I will buy the 5.4 m length of 45 x 90 pine that I need for the compression edge and mark this new piece of timber up with the centre position of each purlin.

When preparing each floorboard run, I will move this piece of timber up on to my working surface and use it as a gauge to determine how I will combine multiple floorboard pieces in to a single run - ie set up joins to fall over joists, avoid joins in the same position between two consecutive runs, avoid any finger joints coinciding with adjacent joins, etc.

I will have my raw stock of floorboard pieces, and the docking saw at the same height as my working surface by using additional horses and planks.

This way I can prepare 3 or 4 runs without squatting up and down.

Then I will take my prepared runs and squat down, place them, compress them and fix them in one operation.

Well that's the theory - I will give it a try next week.

I am also researching where I can obtain the pipe used in my 4 sash clamps - if it is some type of standard galvanised water pipe then I might be able to make up multiple lengths and use them in progression as I work across the floor.

If this idea looks like a goer then I might buy a plumber's tapping tool to thread up the various pieces of pipe.