VT or Bust; now Home Run.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
It's been hazy at best all weekend... so the water isn't pumping too high, but the fountain is fully assembled and done. When the sun is shinning the water pumps over twice as high as Jeter. This morning I removed a paper towel from one of the flags that said in big letters "Let's GO RED SOX." Next I'll find a Red Sox jersey under the base... 
Labels: Solar Powered Yankees Baseball Themed Bird Bath Water Fountain
Batter Up
Friday, June 20, 2008
The Jeter Figurine is mounted and ready to go. The solar cell is at an angle to get the most direct sunlight. The pump sits below, pushes water up inside the black tube along the white metal stand and sprays it out of home plate through the spigot. At the base of the stand is a rubber stopper to hold everything in place, including the water in the dish! Conveniently, in winter, the entire kit and caboodle can come out, draining the water, and it can be stored inside.
ONE CATCH (punny), Jeter is in CT and the fountain is in VT! But another trip up to VT is not the end of the world.
Labels: Solar Powered Yankees Baseball Themed Bird Bath Water Fountain
Diva Land
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Apparently you cannot buy Jeter Figurines at any store in Vermont. The little centerpiece in the bowl will have to wait... along with the stopper that both plugs the center hole and holds the platform for the magic. So, for now, it's a sculpture along with my two other works that have been graciously hosted by the DivaMan.
I created a foundation to support the weight of the fountain, ease the grass trimming, and tie the whole work together. I dug a 4'+ diameter circle about 5" deep, ran a ring around the perimeter with circular edging blocks, filled the rest in with stone mulch and 5 thick pavers for each corner of the base.
Labels: Solar Powered Yankees Baseball Themed Bird Bath Water Fountain
Play Ball
Saturday, May 31, 2008
The Bats I strung up on a wire and painted metallic cobalt blue, worked well. They add nice color. In addition to the flags, I also added red feet to the pentagon base to tie it together better. I filled the corners with "great stuff" to (try to) prevent rusting. I don't know if I would call it "great stuff" per se, but it's definitely interesting.
I bought a baseball and went to town drawing lines on it and used online circle calculators... I couldn't figure anything out... but in the end, pretty much went with what looked good, versus what the "dead on balls" accurate representation of a that exact section of a sphere would be. I used a Bucky Shwartz technique of drawing a straight line at one perspective, to give a nice curve at another. I made a stamp out of a sponge for the laces and painted the rest in by hand.
Labels: Solar Powered Yankees Baseball Themed Bird Bath Water Fountain
Painting Begins
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Today I started painting. The base is done, tomorrow I will do the bats, and hopefully 
start on the exterior of the dish. I found a metallic cobalt blue for the bats... very happy.
Still not totally set on what arrangement is going to be in the interior of the dish with the solar sprinkler, but I've been given instructions to go in the Jeter direction. Some ideas are; a decoupage of Jeter photos, a Jeter action figure, a stenciled/sprayed in Jeter image...
I'd be curious to hear some suggestions too. I met an Artist, David Black, who has an amazing Yankees painting, it's inspiration if nothing else.
Labels: Solar Powered Yankees Baseball Themed Bird Bath Water Fountain
Graph Theory
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
The bowl is too heavy for me to lift up high enough to set it on the bats... I know, wimpy wimpy. Also, in this photo, it's hard to see past all the clutter.
Since the last post, I ran rods up the corners of the pentagon, that go through the dish and into the bat, keeping everything in place. I put eye hooks on each inside corner of the base and on each handle of the bats. I hung a tensioner up near the bat handle and threaded a 40' length of steel wire up and down to support each bat. Hopefully tomorrow I can make a friend and get someone to help me lift the bowl so I can adjust the cable to hold things together properly.
In talking with my brother, who thought the bats would be painted silver, I decided to paint them a deep metallic blue. I already purchased a stain and sealer to coat the bats, but was looking for a way to add more color to the whole fountain, and remembered how much metallic paint shines when I heard "silver." Generally my style is to leave things raw and unpainted, "but chil', this is for a Diva."
Labels: Solar Powered Yankees Baseball Themed Bird Bath Water Fountain
The Base
Friday, May 23, 2008
Here is the base of the fountain tack-welded together. In the bottom right of the photo you can faintly see the chalk lines I drew to get the angles right. On my last tack I ran out of welding wire, but got as far as I had planned to that day, so celebrated by seeing the new Indiana Jones movie. I totally enjoyed it, with the gross science/physics flaws and all, in keeping with all the previous movies.
The other photo is of all the "capitals" of the columns before I welded them in place... I didn't remember that term from Art History, I had to look it up. These capitals might be Doric?!? Possibly Ne0-Doric because I assembled them yesterday!?! In any event, the Yankees won a game!
Labels: Solar Powered Yankees Baseball Themed Bird Bath Water Fountain
Chug-a-Lug
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Here's a sketch of the latest "final design." I think the sketch is to proportion, I did it from memory of the parts when I couldn't sleep last night, fun fun... and the photo below shows the 5 completed facades leaning against each other in their pentagon formation. If only the Yankees could win a game...
Labels: Solar Powered Yankees Baseball Themed Bird Bath Water Fountain
Cutting the Metal for the Base
Thursday, May 1, 2008
From the graph paper sketch I was able to purchase stock metal and machine it into the pieces that make up the 5 Yankee facades. I still need to cut the columns, but here are the other pieces laid out in order.
Cutting the top bar was the easiest, just a chop saw.
The tops of the columns I cut with a hole saw and then straightened the sides with a band saw and grinding wheel.
The circular windows I cut out with a drill bit. I used a mini milling machine when cutting the holes and column tops and stacked the metal together to do all 5 at a time.
The Arches I cut with a little jig saw. Metal was hitting my face so I put on glasses. Then, because the glasses didn't provide 360 degree protection I still got some metal in my eye. I tried flushing it out for days, but then in my sleep it got lodged in my eye and I went to have it removed.
I waited 4 hours in the waiting room, 1 hour in the "operating room," and a doctor came and took it out in 15 minutes. For $1600 I learned to use the $1 googles I got at Ocean State Job Lot...
Labels: Solar Powered Yankees Baseball Themed Bird Bath Water Fountain
Solar Powered Yankees Baseball Fountain
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Next up is a Yankees Baseball themed birdbath with a solar powered water pump. This project is a mix of eco/solar design, engineering, found art, birds, and a kick-ass baseball team.
The Yankees stadium facade is being repeated around to form a pentagon for the base. I used Photoshop to make a mockup of the base and then drew it out on graph paper to find the dimensions for buying the metal.
The Baseball bats will stick out of each corner of the pentagon supporting the dish. This is where some serious engineering will come into play to make them secure enough to support the weight of the water filled dish.
The dish I found in a dumpster! Who would throw that out?!? The exterior I plan to paint like a section of a baseball, white with red laces, and I plan to incorporate a baseball theme (like the field/diamond) into the interior.
The little solar panel and pump I got on ebay. If it doesn't have the umph to push water up in the air with the grandness of the rest of the fountain, or the team it represents, I will either add more of them or replace it with a bigger one.
Labels: Solar Powered Yankees Baseball Themed Bird Bath Water Fountain
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