Changes to the Walls

Most of the cuts in the walls I made with the back side of a #11 blade, drawing it backwards along a straightedge clamped to the wall.  As it moves, the back of the blade will remove a thin layer of material.  Scribe lightly until you have a groove deep enough to guide the blade, then remove the straightedge and continue until you are almost through to the brick surface.

To narrow the ends, start by cutting with a razor saw from the top and bottom of the window opening, and from the top of the doorway, the short distance to the column of brick that rises between the doors.  (Tip: If you cut at a slight angle, up from the top of the openings and down from the bottom, you will leave a small amount of material on the main section which you can file to make a better fit when you rejoin the parts.)  Next, clamp a straightedge to the back of the wall directly behind the brick column, and cut from the backside until you can remove the F shaped piece of wall.  Remove the ⁵/32 of an inch from the ends of the F shaped piece, and fit it to the wall.  Use splice plates on the back, but make sure not to place them where they will interfere with the installation of the windows.

To bend the side walls, clamp the straightedge to the backside of the wall behind where the panel of brick meets the column.  Cut from the back side, but do not cut all the way through.  Because the groove made by the #11 blade is vee-shaped, the wall will bend with only a little stress at the top.  A similar groove must be made in the wall cap, but that can wait until it's time to install it.  Leave the wall flexible for now; the precise angle can be determined at the time of final assembly.

The column of brick at the corner of the walls is a separate piece, and can be installed square with the ends during final assembly. The amount of overlap between this piece and the side walls compensates for the gap that might otherwise appear with the ends their original distance apart.