recycled propane tank oversized derby hat
William Wixon
i don't think i've showed this to you guys before, did i?
i started this months ago, and haven't worked on it for months. i was
holding out till i had it finished and installed before posting a picture of
it here, but god knows maybe i'll NEVER finish it. the idea was to
bolt/chain it to a (four foot tall) boulder that i erected near the road in
my front yard, kind of a goofy take off on "mr. potato head". i still have
to complete all the welding, right now it's just dozens of tack welds, and i
wanted to put on a hatband, i cut out the hatband but have to attach it...
(long version...)
....and then weld on some sort of anchor to attach a chain. (i'm sure it's
going to be, at least attempted to be stolen, more probably it *will* be
stolen). i'm thinking maybe something like a 3/8" thick wedge of steel
welded to the inside top of the hat, then a 2' long section of (tempered?)
chain, maybe with a 1/8" stainless cable threaded through and swaged on the
ends. the thing i'm having difficulty imagining is how i'm going to (vandal
proof) attach the chain/cable to the boulder. thinking using a hammer drill
and drilling 2 or 3 1/2" holes and putting in lead anchors and use 3/8"
lag bolts and maybe buttering it up with some epoxy before bolting it to the
boulder? round off the lag bolt heads with a grinder. i'm worried it's
going to be SLOW going with my hammer drill, maybe NO going(?), maybe going
through several carbide bits to drill solid stone? any suggestions on how
to get a secure vandal proof attachment? i don't want to bolt it directly
to the boulder, i'm thinking that'll be a temptation for someone to try to
pry it loose with a crowbar and bend it all to hell in the process. central
part of the brim is thinner (made from a recycled water pressure tank) than
the propane tank part and so it'll be easily damaged if someone tries to pry
it loose. i just don't think it would be as nice visually (bolted directly)
than if it were kinda "loose" (on a chain hidden under the hat) from the
boulder. i am a little worried about the "attractive hazard" (or whatever
it's called, legally) aspect of having this thing bolted to a boulder in my
front yard. oh, and i'm afraid some jerk is going to try to put a chain on
it and try to yank it loose with his truck or something, maybe tip over the
entire boulder.
well, i just wanted to show you guys. it didn't occur to me to ask you all
for suggestions till i started typing this message. any suggestions?
b.w.
Winston
> http://www.frontiernet.net/~wwixon/propanetankderbyhat.jpg
>
> i don't think i've showed this to you guys before, did i?
Nifty!
How about a few lengths of aircraft cable welded
to the inside of the brim and epoxied
into the boulder?
Your rotary hammer would make the holes post-haste.
--Winston
--
On YouTube, all the tools have volume controls.
Gunner Asch
<wwi...@frontiernet.net> wrote:
>http://www.frontiernet.net/~wwixon/propanetankderbyhat.jpg
vERY VERY COOL!
hummm...have you ever heard of something called a Claymore Mine?
They are quite easy to make impromtu...and really prevent folks from
sucessfully stealing anything and getting away with it.
Do you have a backhoe as well? You might need one...
Gunner
Bruce L. Bergman
<wwi...@frontiernet.net> wrote:
>http://www.frontiernet.net/~wwixon/propanetankderbyhat.jpg
>
>i don't think i've showed this to you guys before, did i?
>i started this months ago, and haven't worked on it for months. i was
>holding out till i had it finished and installed before posting a picture of
>it here, but god knows maybe i'll NEVER finish it. the idea was to
>bolt/chain it to a (four foot tall) boulder that i erected near the road in
>my front yard, kind of a goofy take off on "mr. potato head".
<Snip>
>the thing i'm having difficulty imagining is how i'm going to (vandal
>proof) attach the chain/cable to the boulder. thinking using a hammer drill
>and drilling 2 or 3 1/2" holes and putting in lead anchors and use 3/8"
>lag bolts and maybe buttering it up with some epoxy before bolting it to the
>boulder? round off the lag bolt heads with a grinder. i'm worried it's
>going to be SLOW going with my hammer drill, maybe NO going(?), maybe going
>through several carbide bits to drill solid stone? any suggestions on how
>to get a secure vandal proof attachment?
First, I must disabuse you of a silly notion - There is No Such Thing
as Vandal-Proof. Period. Don't even use the term, because you
aren't even fooling yourself.
You aim for "Highly Vandal Resistant" and go from there - the Vandals
see something marked Vandal-Proof as a personal challenge, and will do
insane things just to prove you wrong. They will come back later with
sledgehammers and torches just out of spite.
You don't tug on Murphy's cape, or spit into the wind.
With the proper carbide impact bit in a proper impact drill, most
stone will part like the red sea. You can rent one for a half day for
cheap, and you can always trade up to the next size if it won't dent
the rock.
If it's a good solid stone like Granite, three or four anchors and
attachment points should do it.
If you can figure out where to conceal the lead wire up the back side
of the boulder, rig it up with a set of burglar alarm contacts like an
armored Garage Door magnet and switch. And get a contact with the End
Of Line resistor built in. If they lift up the brim of the hat to cut
the padlocks and/or chains to steal it, they trip the alarm switch.
And put a tamper switch on the cover of the junction box coming from
the house with the alarm circuit, where it transitions to the flexible
armored lead going up the backside of the boulder under the hat
If the fool kids try to short the exposed (armored) wires to bypass
the alarm "Just like in the movies", they alter the loop resistance
and trip the Loop Tamper instead. Use a 24-hour monitored circuit,
and let the alarm company know exactly what it's connected to.
--<< Bruce >>--
Roger Shoaf
"William Wixon" <wwi...@frontiernet.net> wrote in message
news:UiJOm.23834$tz6....@newsfe02.iad...
Belt and suspenders solution.
Inside, weld a couple of cross bars. On top use a hole saw to cut a hole
and drill a couple of holes around the rim.
Set the derby on the bolder, transfer the drill points to the rock.
Drill holes in the rock with a hammer drill at a bit of an angle. Epoxy
into the rock some rebar or other steel rod. Also drill a couple of holes
for rebar inside and put a 90 degree bend in them so they can hook over the
rods welded inside.
Bend the rods around the edge to a vertical position after the epoxy sets
and trim them so they are even with, or almost even with the rim.
Set the derby in place and caulk anywhere there is a gap around the edge.
Weld the rim holes to the rods and grind flush.
Use the hole in top to pour concrete almost to the top.
Weld back in the slug you cut pit with the hole saw and grind to a nice
finish.
Paint, and then place on the top of the dome where only a potential vandal
would see it "Smile asshole you are on camera." Even if you don't have a
camera, any potential thief will think twice before assaulting the
sculpture.
--
Roger Shoaf
About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then
they come up with this striped stuff.
Larry Jaques
<bruceNOSP...@gmail.com> scrawled the following:
<g> Lazy thieves now take ice picks to the bottom of plastic gas
tanks, take their gallon and go, letting the rest melt your asphalt. I
almost couldn't believe reading that in the paper. :(
--
It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare;
it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.
-- Seneca
Bill McKee
"Larry Jaques" <novalidaddress@di\/ersify.com> wrote in message
news:o34pg559l3540nkdb...@4ax.com...
A friend of mine said in his younger days in the navy, they would find a car
broke down along the road and take a chisel and punch a hole in the tank and
drain in to a wash tub for fueling their cars. One time they pull up behind
a car and when punching the hole, a guy ane gal pop up from the back seat.
They left the hammer, punch and tub in the haste to escape.
Bob Engelhardt
> A friend of mine said in his younger days in the navy, they would find a car
> broke down along the road and take a chisel and punch a hole in the tank and
Keep an eye on him. Bob
PinstripeSniper
>http://www.frontiernet.net/~wwixon/propanetankderbyhat.jpg
>
>i don't think i've showed this to you guys before, did i?
>i started this months ago, and haven't worked on it for months. i was
>holding out till i had it finished and installed before posting a picture of
>it here, but god knows maybe i'll NEVER finish it. the idea was to
>bolt/chain it to a (four foot tall) boulder that i erected near the road in
>my front yard, kind of a goofy take off on "mr. potato head". i still have
>to complete all the welding, right now it's just dozens of tack welds, and i
>wanted to put on a hatband, i cut out the hatband but have to attach it...
>well, i just wanted to show you guys. it didn't occur to me to ask you all
>for suggestions till i started typing this message. any suggestions?
>b.w.
Before I saw the pic and the scale (12 inches right) I was going to
say put a bottom on it and fill it with concrete (then weld/grind it
flush and paint) but now I can only suggest using lead instead of
concrete. (you got a source for even heavier depleted uranium? hey I
had to include this...)
Could this make the boulder top heavy/tippy?
In any case, it's a fine/inspirational metal working project and I tip
my hat to you. :-)
PsS
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