Life gets in the way sometimes. Especially when something has importance.
These damnable bollards will get done.
I had to work Saturday and was too whupped to work on them by the time I got home. So I figured that Sunday was going to be the day. That is, until Saturday evening when I caught sight of my next-door neighbor sprucing up his deck and patio area for a party. I asked what time he was starting his get-together and it was right at the cusp of when it is reasonable to grind without pissing off too many of the neighbors.
So instead, I left the smallest two pieces of beam unground and focused on getting the other three pieces ready for paint. Burning stake holes doesn’t make much noise, and a couple minutes of hardwire zapping doesn’t generally cause widespread panic, so that was what I was limited to.
I burned the stake holes through with my oxy-fuel rig (sporting a fresh bottle of O2), only setting part of my yard on fire in the process (yes, I had the hose at the ready and a firewatcher). Then I placed the two medium sized pieces of beam onto their respective pieces of plate and whipped a set of MIG skip beads around the perimieter.
I may go back later and lay down a couple more layers of fillet weld on there, but I’m thinking I already over-welded them.
These are the three pieces I’ve completed so far.
I’ll get on the final two today after work and then set them up for a light sanding before applying some paint. I’ll also be ordering the stake materials and paint this week.
However, the upcoming weekend is plumb full with family stuff, so if I can’t get it done during the week, it might not happen. The daily high temps are supposed to back off some this week, so fingers crossed and all that.
Last week I showed my boss the progress I’ve made with all the free steel he has let me take home. He was not only impressed and approving of the idea, but gave me the idea of how to put planter boxes on the tops of them to keep people from using them as benches, AND to give me an excuse to tell the county government if they ever complain about them (plausible deniability, y’all). Measurements have been taken and given to the wife. She’ll be shopping for appropriately sized boxes this week. The all-thread rod to bolt the planter boxes down has been donated to the cause.
Before you paint, you might want to use a product called “ospho” (can be found at Ace Hardware).
When I was in high school and working on fishing boats in the summer, we used it before painting. It causes a chemical reaction with the rust so that the corrosion doesn’t continue under the paint. And your paint will last longer before needing to be redone. If you’ve ever seen anything made of steel that had rust streaks coming out from under the paint, or the paint bubbling up because of the rust underneath, then you’ll understand why this may be important for the longevity of your project.