I am the best man at my brother inlaws wedding and I have been put in charge of the Hoopah poles, these will be 4 poles that will be roughly 8 feet high, with an eyebolt on top to secure a fabric canopy. I was planning on using wood closet rods as a starting point.
Ideally I would like to either flute or carve spirals into the poles, I have a router table, ez-smart and a table saw, but havent a clue on how to carve something consistently and repeatable on something that is that long.
any thoughts?
Jeff
Replies
Hi Jeff ,
You can buy drapery rods 8' already fluted , try Penneys catalog or the equivalent . Paint them the color you want and be done .
good luck dusty
I am looking, but so far the cheapest I am finding is 48.00 each and I need 4, for about 4 hours....
What is the dimensions?
David.
I am hoping for 1 1/2 to 1 3/8 and about 7-8 feet long....
jerseyjeff ,
You could make a vee block and run them over the TS and rotate after each pass to create flutes or grooving . Closet rod also comes in 1- 1/4 " and sells for less than 1-3/8" .
Or use a small flute cutting bit on the router table also with a v block to help keep the rod from rotating glue some sand paper in the v to create some friction .
Paint them gold or whatever and smash some glasses
good luck dusty
I am finding is 48.00 each and I need 4, for about 4 hours....A wedding! Dang go for it.. A womans dream? My wife said that till the next morning!
I am thinking I could get a lot of toys for the almost 200 I would be spending for a one time use....
And then reality set in?1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go 4 - get a new board and go back to step 1
You can't buy them from JCpennys, use them and then return them??? ;~)
Seems to be what alot of people are doing at Home Depot/Lowes. It really pi$$es me off when I get the previously used stuff from the HD and it's broken or missing parts
erh.... I will return something I have not used, but dont have the heart to return stuff that I have used. (unless it is a POS like the 3/8th black and decker drill I got...)
I am also curious on how to make it too, and cant resist the challenge.
Jeff
it was just a joke...
Venting my frustrations on the recent plumbing purchase from the local big box
no worries, but I wonder if you got the shower valve with the continuous flow even when its off option too?
No, missing one of the brass handles and all the parts for the spray nozzle, not forgetting the scratches on the chrome faucet. They told me that they check every package before they return it to the shelf. They also have thgeir own strapping machine, so now you can't tell if it was opened before you buy it
I've actually opened packages right there at HD just after checkout, just to make sure I'm not getting used equipment. If it is, I march right over to customer service and do an exchange.
JJ,
Here's how you do it. To lay out a simple "3 flute" spiral, start by running a strip of paper around the circumference at one end. mark it or cut it so you have the exact length (of the circ.), then fold it into thirds. Wrap the paper back around the pole, and make a mark at each fold, plus one at the joint where the ends meet.
Snap a string line down the length of the pole off of one mark, using your eye to keep it parallel. Wrap the paper from step one on the other end, lining up the marks, and make 3 new marks. Connect all of the respective marks with a line (pencil and straightedge) to create three equal sections running the length of the pole.
Depending on the angle of your desired thread, you must now divide the length into segments. These can be equal, or graduated for a thread that becomes finer. Use a pencil to mess around with the length of the segments. I've used the "golden mean" for this formula, which is basically that the length of the segment equals twice the width of each lengthwise section. Use a stiff piece of paper (like a playing card) and a pencil to scribe each segment around the circumference. Now you should have a pole covered in equal rectagonal "boxes".
Starting in the corner of a box at one end, use your playing card (or cardboard) straight edge to draw a diagonal pencil line to the opposite corner of the box, then continue to rotate and draw as you traverse the length of the pole. You've now laid out the first flute. Repeat twice to get all three.
Now, using a fine saw, file or rasp, follow each flute carefully until you've got three grooves in the wood. As each gets deeper, you can go faster and switch to a bigger rasp. Use the most aggressive rasp you can to speed up the process. Once you get going with a good "rat tail" rasp, it actually becomes kinda fun. You'll end up "playing" the piece kind of like a cello, holding it loosely as you move from end to end. By rotating the piece and keeping a good rhythm, you will find it to be self-evening. Before long, You'll be sanding in the same way.
If I were you, I'd try to bang them out quickly. They'll look great even rough, and unless you're going into the hoopah rental biz, don't get too wrapped up in perfection (there will be a lot going on on the wedding day, your effort will just be part of it). I think I could do one of these in a day, taking breaks. You should probably rough out all four before sanding - this will help you guage the time you want to spend on them. When you're done, turn them into bed posts. Good luck.
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