Henry was a little disappointed to hear I would be in Nebraska all of this week. We made up for it by devoting much of Friday to the float. We changed two tires and roughed in the armature of the scorpion's body. Henry measured and cut steel while I did the welding. We managed to do the bulk of the lower body and started on one of the claws, which will be articulated by pulling the rod from the driver’s seat. He was happy to delegate that operation to me as he figures he will be plenty busy throwing candy and squirting the stinger from his lofty perch on the tail. Stay tuned for more progress next week when I get back to the studio…
Tail structure complete
The first question I am asked each time Henry visits the shop is ‘Can we work on the parade float today?’ The parade float isn’t a high priority As I am currently very busy designing next year’s paying projects for customers but we often try to make at least a little progress. We’ve already stripped down the old dragon parade float from a few years ago and set up the golf cart chassis on some jack stands. The driver’s seat was mounted late last week but today it was finally time to get serious and do some actual work that Henry could appreciate. We decided to fabricate the curved structure that would curl up over my seat to form the scorpion tail. Henry measured and carefully cut the steel tubing. He is good with a tape measure! As fast as he could operate the metal bandsaw I welded the pieces together. Henry got more excited with every piece and by the time he headed home this afternoon it was at long last time to climb up to his lofty chair for the first test fit. He enthusiastically approved! Stay tuned for more progress…
Stripped
Henry and I had a great time yesterday as we rolled down the main drag of Yarrow with our custom-built parade float, but that achievement is now in our rear-view mirror, and it is time to look forward once again. Henry and I did some research and sketching yesterday, and after pondering a variety of fun ideas, he’s settled on something truly original for next year’s entry. Henry really has his heart set on a self-driving unit rather than a trailer. Rather than build something from scratch, we decided to recycle a golf cart chassis we had converted to an award-winning 1940’s car/dinosaur parade float a few years ago. I hauled it from the boneyard and, in a little over an hour, had cut up and removed the body. With the chassis now fully exposed, we can get to designing a new custom structure. There’s a little more cutting required, and then the fabricating and welding can begin in earnest. I also visited Princess Auto today to peruse the wide variety of hydraulic equipment and parts they offer. The first few critical pieces are now in hand. Next year’s entry is going to be EPIC! Stay tuned…
