To Me, Christmas Means...

[Ulu]

WELDING!

 

Yay! an excuse to break out the torch!

 

Actually I think I've kept the torch under wraps because I secretly fear I'll just tell myself  "screw waiting for the TIG welder!" And just start patching Edith with a torch. This was a matter of me letting off that pressure, plus using up a bunch of random junk just laying around.

 

So I made a big star to clamp up on the outrigger beam on my Dutch gable roof.

 

The wire is from the paper delivery chute of an old plotter. Parts are from random steel rods and tiny square tubing from a lamp. We even had a box of new lights left over, a can of white paint, and a big bag of zip ties. Essentially I spent nothing, but my wife is as happy as if I'd dropped $100 on decorations.

 

The basic weldment:

 

The welding is easy, but the setup is everything.

 

The clamp still red hot.

 

Prepping for paint:

 

Zipping the lights on:

 

Daytime shot on the house:

 

[T120]

...Crafty

[Ulu]

A night time shot. Am I the only one that thinks it needs more lights?

 

 

[Plymouthy Adams]

no...it needs more points...

[BigDaddyO]

You and Clark Griswold.

[Don Coatney]

Plymouthy Adams, on 12 Dec 2014 - 3:11 PM, said:

no...it needs more points...

I like dual points.

[Plymouthy Adams]

^{give me eight points on a hall effect star .....zoom zoom}

[Ulu]

Perhaps next year I'll get to dress it up some more.  It's been raining and wet, so no time to get on the roof stringing more lights.

 

Also I kept the round points, as the wires were already bent that way, but I think I should have straightened the wires then bent them acutely pointy.

 

Originally I figured the lights themselves would appear to be in a pointy array, regardless of the round ends, but it didn't work out that way.

 

Also I attached the lights with zip ties, and some of them have slipped out of position badly due to Imported Chinese Zip Tie Failure Syndrome.

 

Next time I ask wife Judy to pick me up some zip ties, I'll have to be more specific.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Ulu

[Ulu]

no...it needs more points...

 

Yeah, and I should have painted out the back braces in black.

 

This is my first attempt at holiday ornament welding. 

[TodFitch]

. . . Also I attached the lights with zip ties, and some of them have slipped out of position badly due to Imported Chinese Zip Tie Failure Syndrome. . . .

"Imported Chinese Zip Tie Failure Syndrom" (ICZTFS), a new acronym in the making.

[Ulu]

Imagine your entire loom spontaneously de-loomed.

[Ulu]

I went up on the roof last night & tied on 70 more lights, with 70+ well made zip ties.

 

It's a tile roof with a 6:12 pitch. Difficult to stand on, even when dry (it was) and you must be careful walking about to avoid breaking the tiles.

 

I was pretty shaky by the time I climbed down.

 

Anyhow, now I think it almost looks worse.     

 

The extra lights made the curved ends appear more obviously curved, whereas originally I'd intended the pattern of lights to obscure that.

 

Some experiments are doomed because of shortsightedness and this was one.  I thought I was being "cute" but it doesn't come off at all.

[Niel Hoback]

  It's a million times better than mine.  I don't have any. 

[Ulu]

 

OK, it's real dark and this is the best pic I could get with the 120 lights going. I'm less than happy with my work, but that's no reason to give up. It's going to get much pointier next time.

 

Right now, aditional welding is not in the cards, as I'd have to re-do all 125 zip ties, and I'm not up for it this week.

 

I'm happy with my wreath though. My neighbor has a glossy K-Mart wreath, so I'm feeling a bit more smug about this bit.

 

[Don Coatney]

If you want a real wreath go here. Shameless plug and I will probably get busted for posting stuff for sale in this forum

 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LisasLaurels?ref=search_shop_redirect

[DonaldSmith]

First number with an "a"- One ThousAnd?

[Plymouthy Adams]

first number with an A....ah- one then you have ah-two

[T120]

first number with an A....ah- one then you have ah-two

Wun'erful,Wun'erful !

Edited December 15, 2014 by Ralph D25cpe

[Don Coatney]

DonaldSmith, on 15 Dec 2014 - 10:13 AM, said:

First number with an "a"- One ThousAnd?

I bet your hand and arm are tired after writing every number up to 1000.

[DonaldSmith]

Numbers with "a":  No, after twenty I skipped through the tens, jumped to "hundred" and then to "thousAAAnd".   Took me an hour, tops. 

 

Wreaths and stars:  

Giant Boy Scout wreath, had to trim it down:

 

 

Nativity scene:  Son-in-law and grandson made and gave us plywood Tab A in Slot B nativity scene.  I added LED string lights in and behind the star, and added a front to the manger, with more lights,  to make the Infant glow:

 

[Ulu]

It's beginning to look more like Christmas around here.