One of the things I am asked about regularly is where I found my props for the display. Most of the items in our display are hand built. I do this for two main reasons: you won’t see 30 of them in other yards on the way home, and it’s generally cheaper. I am adding a couple items this year that have stars on them, and decided to take a whack at bending them up myself. I used 3/4 grey pvc conduit in full 10′ lengths, a heat gun and several clamping devices. I drew a 36° angle on the table for reference and went for it. Follow along:
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- Heat Gun
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- Heated and Clamped Every 10″
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- Resulting Flat for Bending
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- 36° Jig, Heated and Bent at Flat
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- More Bends
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- Continuing Along
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- Almost There
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- Voila!
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- Flattening the Mount
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- Ready to go
On the next one I made, I flattened the mounting area first, which was much more effective, so should you decide to duplicate the effort, do it that way 🙂 Now I just need to throw some lights at it and it will be ready for some blinky-flashy fun.
Other progress notes:
-I have finally stopped modifying the profile for the show, and have started sequencing in earnest. I have eight or nine sequences ready, and am plugging away at more.
-Window frames are wrapped and ready for install
-Wireless units are all programmed and tested
I haven’t hit the panic point yet, but time is definitely getting short. Only a couple of weeks before stuff starts migrating to the yard.
