Pillar Fabrication

78 degrees - enough to get a little burn.

I continued work on the pillars that will go between the faux iron fencing and the entrance to the cemetery.  There was a little bit of work done to sand all sides of the boxes and to route a round-over detail on the edges.  The carcasses (the scariest word that Norm Abram uses) then received a coat of primer.

Vacuum off after sanding and routing and before the primer paint goes on.

Carcasses!

Sorry, no pictures of the boxes with just the primer.

I picked up two inch thick foam from the home center for $14 per 4x8 sheet, which is much less than the $48 sheets available at a professional insulation supply store.  The only problem was that the density of this foam is less than optimal and it makes a big mess when I cut into it.  The first step was to cut the foam to rough dimensions for the top of each pillar that will hopefully look like a stone or concrete cap.

Cutting to rough dimension.

A test fit - about a one inch overhang.

It is interesting that I pass by a cemetery on my way to and from the home center; I glance over each time looking at some of the details of the pillars and headstones.  The caretaker at that cemetery decided on very flat tops to the pillars and I thought I would do something a little different by cutting a little off of the top edges.

Lot of dangerous blade exposed - scary.

The large band saw table at an angle with my homemade fence.

Oops - the foam turned up on end comes in contact with the wheel that I use to raise the guide on the saw.

Simple, just remove the wheel for the moment.

It now clears.

A stack of caps.

I then added some trim to each of the pillars that I thought would frame the faces nicely.  The bottom piece is cut at a fifteen degree angle and is a little more than an inch in depth and the upper frame is thin plywood that I ripped down on the table saw and mitered the corners before gluing and nailing.

Made a guide to ensure the pieces are even.

Working away on the trim detail.

Another closeup shot of the glue bottle and glue on wood (for those who like glue).

I was not too sure about the next step but thought that an exterior Spackling would give the caps a concrete or stone look and therefore I bought a large bucket that was in an almost liquid form so that I can easy spread it like cake frosting.  I also picked up five styrofoam spheres from a local craft store for the top of each pillar.  The ten inch spheres were $16 and the six inch ones were $6 so guess which ones I bought.

A little like a cake.

Stacking them to dry.

Close up of the surface - looks a little like concrete.

The first sphere gets painted with Spackling.

Even the holes look like concrete or stone.

Pillars getting ready to scare the kids.

A little more than three feet tall.

As the day ended I primed the trim that was added to the boxes and let them dry overnight.  I'll be able to determine what finish colors to go with and make them look a little aged during the day tomorrow.

An earlier picture but it shows you what I'm going for.

The first game of the World Series has started so I'm going to gander at that for a while and plan to take the day off tomorrow to hopefully get the pillars done and start work on the faux iron fence.