View Full Version : Mom's Christmas present from our 11 yr old
Logan ( my son) and I decided to show off what he made his Mom for Christmas. He is very proud of this project because he did at least 90% of the work himself. I pretty much just helped with a little of the layout, and then clamping parts together. He measured, cut, and cleaned up all the pieces. Plus he rolled the arc, and did all the welding. It still has to be cleaned up and painted, but now since we know how his Mother wants to mount it, he needs to add a couple tabs, with through holes first.
Rocky D
12-26-2007, 10:16 AM
That's really great, Dan...You did something in less than 5 years, than I wasn't able to do in 50...pass on your skill to your son...envy!
BBackSoon
12-26-2007, 10:42 AM
Nice work. I have always had trouble getting letters to match.
Nice work. I have always had trouble getting letters to match.
We just searched through the fonts in Microsoft Word, until we found one that we could duplicate with the 3/8" rd cold rolled solid stock we used for the project. Once we found the font he liked, we played with the size of the font until it was roughly the correct size for him to be able to use a die on the bender to produce the radiused parts on the B and R. After this we just printed out the letters he needed, and then he just took his measurements off these letter to cut out his pieces.
BBackSoon
12-27-2007, 10:24 AM
Nice tip.
I built a branding iron a few years back for our Winter Float. It replaced an earlier lighter version. It reads "WF07" I used 1 x 1/4 flat stock stood on end for the letters. They stand 4 inches tall. Each year I cut the number off and build a new one. I wish I had thought of the font trick. I drew mine out on file cards using the lines for reference. They usually go fairly smooth but they do require a little hand shaping with a file to make the letters seamless at the burn end.
For the rounds I cut 1-inch pieces off of oil well pump rods. The threaded female end. So for the '0' I then cut the o in half and extended it so I had a tall 0. I need to start thinking about the 8 I have to build for this year’s trip.
Just a little background; There is a group of guys I went to high school with that have been going on a winter float for about 20+ years. I have been going for about 8 or 10 years. We go to a private campground in central Missouri and more or less own the place for the weekend. It is a boys weekend. You know guys being the kids we still are. There is lots of eating, drinking and lies. We float on Saturday from about 11am till dark. It is a great release. Most of the wives look forward to the trip because we are all pumped like kids going to Disney the month before and we come back rejuvenated.
I made my first Branding Iron in 2000 and built the current one in 2004. Some of the guys have brands on pieces of lumber from all those years. They put them up in the rec room or out by the pool. I simply test the branding iron on my shed.
Howie F
12-27-2007, 03:29 PM
Dan, I really like this. Your son did a great job ! You must be proud. :)
As someone new to all this, can I ask you how the rod was bend ?
I would like to be able to do something like this.
Howie
Dan, I really like this. Your son did a great job ! You must be proud. :)
As someone new to all this, can I ask you how the rod was bend ?
I would like to be able to do something like this.
Howie
Howie,
We bent the radius pieces using a bender similar to this, that I purchased several years ago from a local tool store.
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_7826_7826
We used the 1 1/4" die in this case. We bent the rod cold, which due to the material being cold roll, the radius didn't turn out as nice as it could have if we would have applied some heat to it. The wife was still very pleased with the final results. The Wife owns two horses so we still have one more to make, which is going to require a couple C's this time.
Howie F
12-28-2007, 10:10 AM
Dan - thanks for the explanation.
Howie
BBackSoon
12-28-2007, 11:04 AM
Dan,
How did you mount the bender? Drill holes in the floor?
Dan,
How did you mount the bender? Drill holes in the floor?
Yeah, I drilled holes in the concrete slab and bolted it down to the floor. The bender also available in a bench top version.
crawler
12-29-2007, 08:25 AM
Dan,
Your son did a great job... I can see the pupil being better than the teacher... :D
Charles