Metal working

Yesterday I picked up 200' of 1/4" round steel from Industrial Metal Supply. Today William Morris helped me with the welding.

This past week, I have been finalizing the designs of the Bethlehem star, tree topper star, and "the poles". The most challenging was calculating the size of the Bethlehem star. About halfway through my calculations, I figured there MUST be a faster way that wasn't so brain consuming... and I found it. (Gotta love the Internet!) The Triangle Calculator worked wonders to speed up the process and help preserve my sanity!

The tree topper star design was a bit simpler considering all segments were equal lengths. Its build time was roughly equal to that of the Bethlehem star. There is still one thing yet to finish for the build of the tree topper star. The base needs a short segment of 3/4" pipe attached to a metal junction box with coat hooks around its perimeter.

Finally, "the poles" were very easy. They are simply 3 parallel rods "capped" at the top and bottom.

Next step will be to primer and paint them all, followed by attachment of the lights.

By the way - There are now 6 songs that have the light sequencing completed.