New Props

[TheDucks]

15 hours ago, tlogan said:

I'm in at OVER for 1 MiLLION….I mean 1 BILLION dollars.

 

And it just occurred to me last night that I'm building 10 new lampposts and rewired 10 candy canes for my brand new, shiny 16 channel AC controller. Something's gotta go...4 posts, 4 canes or 2 of each?

Not that I wish to deprive the folk in LOR's sales dept: 🤣

Bu it is near impossible to overload a CTB16 port using LEDS, so why not (symmetrical) pair some Posts?

[MichRX7]

1 hour ago, tlogan said:

I thought of that,  but at this point I think that will be next year's project. 

I woke up this morning thinking that I  have an idea of pulling two of each and putting them along the side of the the driveway across from the others and, heaven help me, leave them static.

That doesn't get me banned for heresy or anything,  does it?

No, it gets your props for thinking about next year already so I'm not the only one. I don't know the layout, but I would also think about taking the furthest post/canes from the viewing area and splitting the extension into two cords and having the last two light together if that doesn't mess with your sequencing look.

[MichRX7]

1 hour ago, TheDucks said:

Not that I wish to deprive the folk in LOR's sales dept: 🤣

Bu it is near impossible to overload a CTB16 port using LEDS, so why not (symmetrical) pair some Posts?

Yeah, what @TheDucks said before I said it when it was on another page I couldn't see yet.

[tlogan]

Thanks guys it's something to think about.  In this case the posts will be in two rows of 5 to kind of line a street, or at least a pathway. I already double up a couple of channels but my house is on a corner so that fact gets hidden between props in front and on side. Also I'm planning the canes along the front of the posts. I think it will be a little obvious if any are tied together. 

I'll spend some time this week sequencing to see if I drop 2 which 2 in the sequence they would be. As I think about,it, maybe I double up all the canes like 1&5, 2&6, etc. Which leaves an extra channel! DANG!! Now I need a new prop!

I believe I got the rest of parts cut and all assembly holes predrilled.  I should be able to paint it all black tomorrow. Then make up the candle sticks and put it all together.

[MichRX7]

I spent the day working on the kids boxes and trying to figure out some old linkers they had. Got that figured out, sorry you can't use them. They are so old they have a big delay. They are ready to start stringing lights at this point. Me, not so much.

[MichRX7]

Ok, plywood purchased and painted to closely match the house. (Yes, another visit to Home Depot if you bought stock) Now I wait for the paint to dry and then I can use my shiny new angle drawing tool to draw my 30 degree angles for my clocks, then to lay the candy canes on, drill holes and zip tie them down. So many zip ties, so little time.

[MichRX7]

Ok, the first clock is basically finished. Just need to cut some plywood from the top and bottom, which will make it lighter, and silicone the open ends that face towards falling rain. I did learn here that on the next clock I'll cut out the "plug hole" where I run the plugs through to the back before stringing the candy canes so I don't almost cut wires off like this one.

[tlogan]

NOW I mention it....have you thought about using a sheet of insulation board to make it lighter? I first used those to create "walls" in my garage to make a morgue for Halloween. I cover them with Scene Setters to look like old stone castle walls. Anyway, I also used  them to cut down to make tombstones of any size and shape I want. If you remove the paper or foil backing, they can be painted. I used a combination of black and gray spray paint to get an old weathered look. You could paint it to match the house. Believe me, they are WAAAY lighter than plywood. If you get the inch or two thick ones, they should be sturdy enough.

[MichRX7]

We looked at the PVC board, but it was almost the same weight as the plywood, and the plywood was already loaded, lol... If they had 1/4" pvc board I would have swapped out, but the 1/2" wasn't much different would have been longer to paint since it was very white.

[tlogan]

Just making sure we're talking about the same stuff...Foam Insulation boards, like this: Foam Insulation board

[MichRX7]

Oh, nope I was talking about the 4'x8' PVC Sheets. Just like plywood except a little more expensive, and little lighter in weight and a lot whiter.

Edited November 4, 2019 by MichRX7

[MichRX7]

So, here is my write up on the clocks. It may have some spelling mistakes because the wife mixed me drinks with 100 proof rum instead of normal (just a warning).

Tools/Supplies:

• Ryobi One+ Drill
• Ryobi One+ Heat Shrink
• Ryobi One+ Circular Saw
• Ryobi One+ Jig Saw
• 24 Candy Canes (from Party City
• 12 50 String Clear White LED Lights (from Walmart)
• Old Incandescent light string (12)
• 2 Sheets of 4'X8' Plywood
• Brown Stain Paint (to match the house)
• Heat Shrink
• 1 skinny "encouragement" dowel
• Kite string
• Adjustable T-Square with angle measurements on it
• White Paint Marker

Steps:

1.  Take the 12 strings of lights, count out 25 lights and cut evenly in half giving you 24 strings
2. Take the kite string and tie it to the open end of the light string, feed the kite string through the cane cane and pull the string through the cane
   1. Use the "encouragement" dowel to help the lights into the canes
3. Repeat step 2 until all 24 canes are strung
4. Strip and heat shrink opposite ends from incandescent strings onto current string.
5. Press female ends into end of Candy Cane
   1. I ran strings through so female end was always on the rounded cane end and pressed that back into Cane where it fit snuggly.
6. Paint Plywood and let dry
7. Measure plywood at 24" and 48", use T-Square to draw lines that would be at Midnight-6 and 3-9 o'clock and draw lines with white paint marker
8. Set T-square to 30 degrees
9. Lay T-square on 12 o'clock line with angle in center of lines
10. Draw 1 o'clock line
11. Move to 3 o'clock and draw next line
12. Move to 6 o'clock and draw next line
13. Move to 9 o'clock and draw next line
14. Set T-square to 60 degrees
15. Repeat steps 9-13
16. Take drill and jig saw and cut hole in middle big enough for plugs to go through
17. Take candy cane and lay on 12 o'clock line
18. Drill holes near top and bottom
19. Move candy cane to 1 o'clock and drill holes
20. Repeat steps 17 through on each clock line
21. Take large zip ties and run them from back through front and zip slightly
22. Take candy cane 1 and lay it on 12 o'clock line, zip tie down tight making sure it is straight
23. Repeat step 22 on each clock line making sure candy cane ends line up forming a circle around hour hole to push plugs through
24. Measure and cut off excess plywood from top and bottom

Repeat for 2nd "clock"

You are done and it should look something like this (ignore the cars, I laid it against the garage to give scale)

[tlogan]

It's a nice writeup and a great looking clock an all, but didn't you already post this once? Is it the one too many beers I had last night while bowling or the one too many Rums you had?

Edited November 5, 2019 by tlogan

[MichRX7]

I did do a long write-up on the bells. I believe I just posted some general comments on the clocks and showed a picture of the first one. This is the only long write-up I did on the clocks after both were finished and cut down to size. I laid them against the garage so you could see scale on how big they were.

[tlogan]

So it WAS too many beers after bowling.

[MichRX7]

53 minutes ago, tlogan said:

So it WAS too many beers after bowling.

You had a 50/50 chance at being right. Now that I looked it over sober I'm surprised at how well I type after some rum drinks. And as cold as it is outside, I need them. It snowed here this morning. Briefly, and it's all melted now, but still...brrrrrrr...

[tlogan]

WOW, 50/50...I should be a weatherman.

My MIL in Wisconsin said they had snow last Wednesday. My wife said that growing up there they had MANY Halloweens and Easter egg hunts in the snow. At least here in Northern VA, the REAL cold doesn't generally hit until mid-to-late January (it was so bitter in Jan '85 that they cancelled Reagan's 2nd Inaugural parade). Significant snow is rare before Christmas, so I usually have decent enough weather for set up and take down. I've had to do as you mentioned once or twice and just pull stuff into the garage to let it thaw and dry off before packing away. We did have one year (before my step up to LOR) where I had a red and a green spotlight aimed at the side of the house and we got about a foot of snow and then a quick warm up and freeze over of the top layer. It was actually kind of cool to see the pools of colored light under the snow.

[k6ccc]

You can have that cold weather.  Yesterday I was on my roof installing my roof peak lights.  I was wearing a T-shirt and pants.  Had to stop about 1100 because it was too hot when I was laying my arm on the roof (even with a towel under my arm).  Went back up about 2000 to finish (almost 3 hours after the sun went down).  I did put on a flannel shirt, but did not button it.  Next weekend is forecast to be in the mid to high 80s so again, I'll have to get roof or attic work done early in the morning or well after dark.

 

[MichRX7]

Hah, I have to get my star poles out of the shed and tested so I can get them into the ground before it freezes. They are a pain if I wait after that as there is no really good place to grab and shove them into the dirt. With the arches I use an "encouragement sledge" to get the rebar into the ground, but mostly that is because of all the roots running through my yard. The rest just tent stakes and a hammer suffice.

[tlogan]

@k6ccc - I hope none of that heat is from the fires!