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Anchorage assembly​

The Anchorage is the structure that sits in the middle of the Pool. It is two acrylic plates held apart by six PVC tubes, bolted through with M4 hardware.

The assembled Anchorage: two rectangular plates stacked with a small gap between them, and six vertical tubes rising through the upper plate, four at the corners and two in the middle of the long sides.

Bill of materials​

Item Quantity
Anchorage Top Plate 1 pc
Anchorage Bottom Plate 1 pc
Corner Tube 4 pc
Middle Tube 2 pc
M4×50 button head bolt 24 pc
M4 hex nut 24 pc

The kit contents, not to scale: four Corner Tubes, two Middle Tubes, the Anchorage Top Plate with a hole in its centre, the Anchorage Bottom Plate, twenty-four M4x50 button head bolts and twenty-four M4 hex nuts.

All 24 bolts and nuts are used. There are no spares.

You also need a 2.5 mm hex key for the button head bolts and a 7 mm (or adjustable) spanner to hold the nuts.

Manpower​

Recommended: 2 people. One holds the tubes upright while the other fits the top plate.

Corner Tube vs Middle Tube​

The two tube types are the same length and look identical end on. The holes in their end fittings face different ways: the Corner Tube holes run diagonally across the corner of the plate, the Middle Tube holes run across the plate. Sort them into two piles before you start.

Corner Tube and Middle Tube side by side, with insets of each end fitting showing the hole directions running two different ways.

Assembly​

  1. Insert all 24 M4×50 button head bolts up through the Anchorage Bottom Plate, four at each of the six tube positions.

    The Anchorage Bottom Plate lying flat with four M4x50 button head bolts standing up through the plate at each of the six tube positions.

  2. Slide the four Corner Tubes onto the bolts at the four corners of the plate. Do not install the nuts yet.

    Four Corner Tubes standing on the bolts at the corners of the Bottom Plate, with the bolts at the two middle positions still empty.

  3. Slide the two Middle Tubes onto the bolts at the two middle positions. Do not install the nuts yet.

    All six tubes now standing on the Bottom Plate, four at the corners and two in the middle of the long sides.

  4. Lower the Anchorage Top Plate over the six tubes and slide it all the way down, until it rests on the tube end fittings just above the Bottom Plate and every bolt stands through its hole. The tubes end up passing through the Top Plate.

    The Anchorage Top Plate held above the six standing tubes and lowered straight down over them.

    If a bolt will not line up, the tube under it has been rotated. Turn it until the holes in its end fitting match the plate.

  5. Fit all 24 M4 hex nuts on top of the Top Plate and tighten them. Hold the nut with the spanner and turn the bolt with the hex key.

    The finished Anchorage: both plates bolted together with the six tubes standing up through the upper plate, four bolts and nuts around each tube.

The Anchorage is complete. Place it in the middle of the Pool floor, on top of the Playing Field. See Pool assembly for the rest of the Pool build.