Anyone else building a frame for a 12 ribbon CCR tree?

[oilmoney]

My corvette spends the winter in there so it doesn't really effect me so much. The biggest inconvenience of my show is having to park my truck down the street and not being able to plug in the block heater. When the temp drops down to -40 deg C and the truck isn't plugged in there's a pretty good chance it's not going to start or at least make some horrible sounds the first minute it's running.....

[Frank Farmer]

posting as I've had a couple of requests for these templates of the star and star cutout.

Once you open them with adobe, blow it up by viewing at 400% or higher.

Frank

 

http://lightshow.fra.../08/cutout4.pdf

http://lightshow.franktronics.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Star.pdf

[robigd]

Frank,

 

I plan on building a frame using your specs, but wanted to purchase the 6 channel star from superstarlights (http://www.superstarlights.com/SuperStarConstruction/Superstar_Assembly_Instructions_04.pdf).

 

Do you see any issues with using this star with your design? I realize I would have to find an alternative way to mount it, but I am curious if the proportions of the star and tree will look good.

 

Thanks!

[Frank Farmer]

f

 

Frank,

 

I plan on building a frame using your specs, but wanted to purchase the 6 channel star from superstarlights (http://www.superstarlights.com/SuperStarConstruction/Superstar_Assembly_Instructions_04.pdf).

 

Do you see any issues with using this star with your design? I realize I would have to find an alternative way to mount it, but I am curious if the proportions of the star and tree will look good.

 

Thanks!

 

I've been working with someone that's already done what your planning. He was disappointed with the star because of it' small size, I wouldn't even mount on the two poles that go up for the star.  He ending up mounting the star on plywood and then screwing the plywood into the frame.  It was too late for him to come up with another plan for this year.  Compare my star specs with the superstarlights star.

[Larry Leonhardt]

My tree is only 30ft away and I never heard any complaints.

That does look good at 30 feet, Thanks.

[Larry Leonhardt]

I've been asked for some additional information on my frame's tube lengths, so here it is:

http://lightshow.franktronics.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MoreCCRFrameMeasurements.pdf

 

I've also uploaded about 50 pictures to my web-sites photo gallery of the tree's construction.

http://lightshow.franktronics.net/index.php/photo-gallery/

 

Frank

So we need 2 lengths of 3/4 tubing that are 21ft and 10 that are 17.6 feet ?

Also, do you sell the star ?

[Frank Farmer]

Correct on the lengths, this adds a foot at the base so the ribbons don't touch the ground.

Sorry, I don't sell the star.  Take the tubing and plans to a local welder, that's what I did. 

[aesl1982]

In the plans u have. What is the spacing at top and bottom of the tubing for the ccrs

[Larry Leonhardt]

My star is made of 3/4" PVC plate. The two longer outside poles of the CCR-tree are bolted to that star.

We had 50MPH winds just after Christmas last year and even though it was waving like a flag, it never came down or broke anything.

I would not recommend string. The weight of the star requires a good anchor to the poles.

I've attached a couple of pictures. One is a view from the ground, the other is from the back of the star.

 

http://lightshow.franktronics.net/?attachment_id=714

 

http://lightshow.franktronics.net/?attachment_id=713

 

If you need anymore detail, let me know.

Frank

Frank,

Does the star have a 3/4 tube frame also, besides the 3/4 pvc plate?

Frank,

Does the star have a 3/4 tube frame also, besides the 3/4 pvc plate?

Edited December 15, 2014 by Larry Leonhardt

[Frank Farmer]

In the plans u have. What is the spacing at top and bottom of the tubing for the ccrs

starFramemeasure1.pdf

I think the measurements your looking for are in here. You may need to zoom up to 400% to read the details.

[Frank Farmer]

Frank,

Does the star have a 3/4 tube frame also, besides the 3/4 pvc plate?

If you go to my web-site and look under the photo gallery under "building a 12-ribbon RGB tree", down at the bottom are pictures of the star frame.  The star frame mounts to the Tree frame and the PVC plate mounts to the star frame.  It may have been overkill.  However when I disassemble the tree, I have four bolts that remove the star frame.  It just made it easier to re-assemble later. 

 

 

Also I just posted some more pictures of my lightshow on the "photo gallery" page, that shows the RGB tree.

Edited December 15, 2014 by Frank Farmer

[Larry Leonhardt]

Frank,

Can you tell me what lights you used for the star, How many per string, and how many strings ?

Thanks,

Larry

[robigd]

Hey Frank, question. What software do you use for making those tree measurements you are sharing with us? I'd like to use your design, but want to use 16 CCR's instead of 12.

 

Thanks!

[k6ccc]

As has been mentioned previously, I wanted to rebuilt the attachment of the pixels for my tree.  I did that last January when I took the tree down, but could not readily update the photos on my website since I did not re-assemble the pixel tree until November.  I finally had time to take a bunch of photos and update my website with the new construction.  For a short description, when I built my tree in 2012, I ran 12 steel cables from top to bottom, and ty-wrapped the pixels to the cables.  This was never the intended mounting method.  For 2014 I split 3/4 inch PVC tubing and mounted the pixels.  I have finally taken some photos and updated my web page below.  I will note that as I type this my web server is having some intermittent issues, so if you can't get to the page, try a little later.

 

http://newburghlights.org/pixel_tree.html

[Larry Leonhardt]

Frank,

       The bolts you used are they carriage bolts or hex head bolts ?  1/4-20 X 1-3/4 ? 

[craigecooper]

Wasn't the aluminum tube quite expensive ?  I'm wondering if anyone has ever put a pixel tree on a roof?  My front yard is too close to the street and the side yards are either too narrow or obscured.  

[robigd]

Wasn't the aluminum tube quite expensive ?  I'm wondering if anyone has ever put a pixel tree on a roof?  My front yard is too close to the street and the side yards are either too narrow or obscured.  

 

I picked up 19 tubes of 3/4 1/8" aluminum tubing from a local metal shop for $20 per 24' long stick. Not a bad deal. I had to pay an additional $100 for residential delivery, but it was well worth it.

[khawes]

Wasn't the aluminum tube quite expensive ?  I'm wondering if anyone has ever put a pixel tree on a roof?  My front yard is too close to the street and the side yards are either too narrow or obscured.  

If I recall correctly the aluminum for my tree was about $450 with shipping.  I've since found a local location that is even cheaper.  

 

I hang my tree from the peak of 2nd story and above the garage.  

You can see my mounting "hardware" in a series of posts starting here:

http://forums.lightorama.com/index.php?/topic/23186-anyone-else-building-a-frame-for-a-12-ribbon-ccr-tree/?p=264478

[khawes]

Frank,

       The bolts you used are they carriage bolts or hex head bolts ?  1/4-20 X 1-3/4 ? 

I used these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FN1ZZQ  (Stainless steel machine screws)

and these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009EEXCIU (nuts for above)

Note: you need twice as many nuts as screws -- and longer screws if you have more than two tubes on a screw.

[Jay Czerwinski]

I did a similar system of hanging things from the roof, only I used 1 pulley that was a single cable running over the edge of the roof and tied off with a boat cleat on the roof.

 

My frame was made from Superstrut available at Home Depot and with all of the hardware I spent about $150.  The large A frame made literally has a cross member at the base about 6 feet in the air that I then set ½” conduit pipes on.  This is where the bottom of the 12 CCR tree is.   The conduit pipes are made from  2x 10’ lengths making a total of 24.  At the coupler in the middle, I used about 1’ of ½” threaded rod to keep rigidity.  At the top, I have a 2x4 piece of wood with ¾” holes drilled through them a the right angle. 

 

So assembly goes like this.  Bolt all of the Superstrut together in the A frame shape without the cross member yet to keep it light.  Bolt a Superstrut 4-hole flat bracket to the peak where the two side bars meet at the star point.   Run the cable over the roof and through the pulley to the 4-hole plate.  Attach the upper 2x4 spacer and the star at the apex of the two legs of Superstrut.   Pull the cable to make the A frame upright.   Attach the Superstrut cross member that has 12 1”x1.25” Beam Clamps attached at the spacing you want at the base of your 12 CCR tree.  Bring out each 20’ long ½” conduit rod that already has the CCR zip tied on to it and stick the top through the 2x4 hole and then put the base in to the Beam clamp and secure it by tightening the square head set screws.  Repeat 12x and then put your control box below the tree and run the CCR cables to the controllers inside.

 

It’s heavy, but solid as heck.  I did add two threaded rods with rubber bumpers near the peak so that the thing cannot bounce in to the house.  And I use a little armature wire to make sure it does not lean away from the house.  During the entire display, there really isn’t much force on the cable attached to the peak – it’s mainly just for balance at that point.

 

Total cost is about $300 including the cable, pulley, hardware, etc.