Classic Hifi Care

Let's suppose that a flag pole counts as another toy. Mine was the first thing my Dad added after he bought the little cottage on Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay shoreline. It went up in 1955 and lasted until 2008 when ice moving ashore bent it over. Nothing stops moving ice.

Well, 15 years after the ice knocked it down, the flagpole is back at 372 Killarney Beach. I'm sure that Dad and Mr. Close, who made it, would be pleased.

Recently I welded a new section in to replace the bent section. Then I made a base for it from pipes and concrete,since the old base had been damaged by sea wall work and was in the wrong place anyway.

My neighbor, Darrell Jones, helped me push it up this morning (or rather, I kinda pushed a little as Darrell applied the muscle). Darrell had more faith in my weld joint than I did, but it turns out to be justified. The real test was when the pole was barely off the ground,because then the weight of the whole upper section was cantilevered and trying to break it. Even Mr. Close did not use butt welds on the pole.

I put up a flag in the stiff north wind to celebrate.
Chris Campbell

P.S. If you look carefully at the first photo you can see the weather vane I made, on the roof of my white house just to the left of the gray house. It's the profile of my sailboat, made out of sheet copper and copper pipe, soldered and riveted. The "N-E-S-W" indicators were a garbage-day find long ago.

Chris Campbell

It is nice to rescue and family heirloom and to see Old Glory waving in the breeze....

I believe your dad would be proud....

Nice job! There should be plenty of breeze to keep 'em flying.

I was really happy. the weld turned out to be adequate,and when I held a level against the pole,it was absolutely plumb. My arm is sore from patting myself on the back.

Chris Campbell

Nice job, Chris, how tall is it?

Bill

31 feet. I'm guessing that the original version was 30' but the chunk of black pipe I bought added an extra foot. Now I need to add a new cleat for the halyard because the original is too high. Today I stopped at Ace Hardware on the way home so I could buy a galvanized steel cleat and two machine screws and a tap and a number drill for the tap. @#*&^%!!!!! They don't carry galv. steel cleats any more!!!! I will spare y'all my thoughts on inventory issues in modern retail. You can probably guess the text.... I was going to rely on my tap collection but I can never remember which ones I have broken and whether I have the right drill bit. West Marine will have a cleat but they are on the highway, not convenient for a bike commuter, and they would not have taps and bits, which means another trip to the hardware store.

Chris Campbell