Signage

The one draw back of having the office attached to the rectory and away from the church, is that people often don't know where to go. One step towards rectifying this situation is a sign out front. 

Communication is key in life, and it's no different in parish life. 

Of course, I wasn't going to buy new metal. So I asked around and Dick Bradshaw thought he could help us out. 

Sure enough. Special thanks to Dick and his son-in-law John for this 2'x4'x1/4" plate. 

First step was to stencil in the letters. It is important that you make sure and spell the words right before you get to cutting.

Should work. 

Plasma cutter was my tool of choice. Old timers still prefer a cutting torch, but plasma cutters are quick and easy. 

Good stuff. I was trying to put a lot of letters on a smaller surface. By doing so, it is easy to not put enough space in between words. Such a case makes it tougher to read what you're saying. I probably could have made the letters smaller and avoided this scenario. She'll still do the trick, though. 

One of the beauties of plasma cutters is that the slag on the back chips off easily with a chisel and hammer. Dick said that if you buff the rust off the back before you cut, you'll end up with less slag. Makes sense, though I'll have to try it next time. 

A good buff with a wire wheel does clean things up in the end. 

A sanding disc on the front really sharpens up the letters. 

Next was the pipe legs to hold the sign. 2 7/8" was our joint size of choice. 

One way of capping pipe is what they call orange peel. Simply cut wedges out of the pipe about the same distance down as the width of the pipe. 

Pipe is stiff and takes heat to do about anything out of character with. 

Heat and hammer. With a mig welder this won't be hard to fill. Out in the field and with bigger pipe, you'd have to be more accurate. 

Should work. 

Then weld it up. 

In cases like this, it is worth measuring and putting equal welds down the side. 

Then paint. Primer and gloss top coat. 

That'll do. 

Then the ground work. Cleared the rocks and cut through the weed blocking fabric. 

With rock, it is work putting the dirt on a tarp to keep it clean. We went about 2' deep. 

Looks level to Darin. 

Simply tamped it in with the butt of the shovel. 

Fold the fabric up and kick the rocks back on. 

Should do the trick. 

Simple addition that can solve a lot of confusion. We stuck a mailbox on it to clean operations up as well. Time will tell. As long as I don't back in to it with White Horse, life should be good. On to the next one.