So, it begins

Ok, I decided Sunday was the day to get started. I had some test poles done and was ready for the real thing. Everything I read was it took about 8 hours to fabricate. well, I think that is a fabrication in and of itself.
I spent 7 hours cutting tubes. I needed 30 A, 55 B, and 80 C poles. I had 160 1/2 inch X 10 foot Conduit. I now have 1 2/3 conduit and all the poles I needed. I used a pipe cutter. It made very good and precise cuts for me. It was slow and today I am pretty sore, but it is all done.
Now, if you take off my 45 minute lunch break and maybe another hour for other breaks, (pea, rest, phone, check email and the like) you end up with just over 5 hours. That only leaves 3 hours to flatten and drill holes and bend. Not gonna happen, but I will keep track of it as it happens.
I am also taking lots of pictures, which will go up as soon as I get a web page set up for it.
All in all, I am very happy at this point of the project.

Mike

Trip to Boise

Well, I thought about it for awhile and checked prices up here and found them to be even more than in Boise, so I decided I would go back down and purchase it there. I also decided that I would use 1/2 inch emt due to the price and down size my project to a 16 foot dome from 24.
Upon arriving at Boise, I found that Home Depot had reduced the price from $2.97 to $2.39 a 10 foot stick, so I purchased 60 of them, which is one more than I need, not counting the waste, and there will be waste, but that can not be helped. Perhaps I can work out a better ratio on my next project.
My parachute came in on Friday also and while in Boise, I swung by Sears and picked up a nice 6 amp drill press for drilling the holes. Though I would like a bench press, I am experimenting with a backhoe (already have that) to flatten the ends of the tubes. So far they flatten nicely, but even blocked, the tube turns some, so I am still working on that.
I believe I will get 1 1/2 inch bolts for the project. The longer ones would make essembly easier, but then the ends would be a hazard and they are a lot more expensive and cheap is the main goal of this building.
I will start to add pictures, or maybe make a whole page devoted to pictures as I build.