At the Rocks By Rail Museum it is getting close to the opening of the 2024 season. It is advertised far and wide but one of the most effective forms of advertising are the banners that are put up on the nearby roads. For reasons that I cannot even remember I got this job when someone else could no longer do it.
The banners themselves are normally attached to metal posts termed as lamp irons which are hammered into soft ground. One of the issues I had last year was that whilst the banners hooked over the bend in the post meant to hand a lamp from, the lower part of the banner could only be fastened loosely with a cable tie to the lower part of the post. In windy weather the banner would ride up the post making it difficult to read the banner. My solution, developed in my mind over the past year (Woody's ideas take time to ferment!) has always been to put a bracket onto the post so that the cable tie can be securely fastened and prevent the banner riding up the post. Today was the day that idea became reality - enter Welder Woody!
Starting with some scrap metal in the worm of some metal jointing strips.
Put it in the vice, take one large hammer and put a 90 degree bend in it.
Clean the surface to be welded with an angle grinder.
Take the lamp iron post and clean the rust where the bracket is to be welded to with an angle grinder.
Take a MIG welder, clamp the bracket to the right place on the post.
Allow one armature welder loose on the MIG and get a welded joint that will never win any beauty competitions but it is at least strong!
Take to bench and place in vice.
Use angle grinder to tidy up joint!
Test finished product! Well almost as I did not have a cable tie to hand but the bracket is in the right place and it should work making life easier this year too! Nice one Welder Woody! After congratulating myself I then went on to weld another 11 posts!
Meanwhile Alex continues work on the inside of Ketton No1 with rubbing down the control panel ready for a repaint. It reminded me of the pandemic seeing Alex in his mask but he is only being sensible with the dust that the sanding is creating.
Not an easy thing to sand!
Meanwhile John and Pete were trying to fight nature by resetting these concrete retaining slabs that had been pushed over by the vegetation roots that are in the bank behind them. Not a nice job but has to be done.
Whilst some of the wagons are out from a hidden siding I did spare a few minutes to take a closer look. These tipper wagons are fairly unique and still in a restorable condition.
I did not even know this bogie low loader was at the museum.
Restorable but that mobile compost heap needs to go!
And if there were ever any doubt as to the power of corrosion look at this!
Way beynd the skills of Welder Woody!
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