Anyone out there done this? I think I’ve gotten the mechanics of the process down ok, but am still wondering about the wood to us. As I remember, Northern Spruce is usually used for the masts on sailboats, so that would work, except that 30 foot lengths of Spruce are not usually available to me at a price anyone that doesn’t own a sailboat could afford. I’ve laminated lots of wood over the years and would consider that approach. Popular is easily available, long grained and dense, but withstands weather poorly. I plan to lay down several coats of the best epoxie based paint that I can buy, but the strength and resistance of the wood underneith is of great import.
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Heres Norms pole.
http://www.newyankee.com/getproduct3.cgi?0309
I've watched a neighbour build a laminated mast; really neat. He built up clear cedar around a styrofoam core and then made it round in his driveway by suspending it at each end with a 6" spike riding in a notch in a sawhorse and his daughter turned it slowly by hand while he used a belt-sander.
DW says he used a draw-knife to rough it round first - I must have missed that part.
.
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
Edited 5/17/2003 6:22:16 PM ET by Phill Giles
Personally, I just selected the height I wanted, 40 feet, from the selection of 20- to 80-foot spruce trees and trimmed the branches off. The downside is I can't pivot it down like the man-made ones for service.
I like the foam core idea. Especially on the top part. Leaving the bottom part solid would help the balancing about the pivot point. And I'd leave a few feet around that pivot point solid wood as well.
Take a good look at real flagpoles for dimensions and ratios. It is definitely possible to have one whose strength is fine but looks too stout or too skinny. (I learned that while disguising industrial dischrage stacks as flagpoles in California). A flagpole manfacturer's website probably has top and bottom diameters for different heights all spelled out already.
IMHO, if you look for flagpole literature, you'll get schlock - go to the library (or internet) and lookup ship-building: how to build spars, booms, and masts..
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
A place in New England has been making them out of doug fir for years. No laminations, just solid stock. Planers and drawknives and sanding to get the stock round and tapered.
Another makes them out of solid cedar snags taken out of the woods.
A coat of epoxy, then three coats of marine white paint.
For a wood pole, a hinged base is a neccessity.
Anyhoows, here's a page from Architechtural Graphic Standards. Some info on sizing the pole, entasis, size of flag to size of pole, etc. Couldn't make the file too small due to the fine print.
Have fun, and don't forget POW/MIA.
Flaggingly,
Mongo