Yay! My proposed giant weather vane for Hobble Creek Park is finally officially approved :) It's taken a couple months to make it through the whole process--and now we can start making a plan...funding will be on the way, & then the real work begins!
This one is going to be fun; I think its going to look amazing when its done & installed in the park: I cant wait to see it move with the wind :)
Soon, we will begin transferring my sketches into CAD format to make the cut files for each element. Drawing everything out like this is very time consuming, but it also aids in the engineering side; with the computer, we can put in the exact weight of every single element, including the plate steel, copper, etc & use this info to figure out exactly what is needed for foundation. Just like a house, the sculpture will have to be anchored into a concrete foundation under the ground: once we have all the materials & design finalized, we take the numbers to my engineering consultant & he reviews everything & draws up the plans for the concrete & anchor system, and gives us the final stamp of approval on the structural integrity of the sculpture.
The steel, copper, & stainless will be cut either on a water-jet or by plasma-cam: have not decided which one yet: water-jet is more pricey, but we can have all the bolt-holes & everything precision cut to fit together like a puzzle. With the plasma-cam; the pieces are still cut with the aid of the computer, but it's not quite as clean; there is more finish work to be done, & the smaller bolt holes will have to be drilled by hand... I'm leaning towards the water jet, but we'll see...
Right now, all the little details have to be worked out to make sure we can have everything cut at the same time. I will go on the hunt for materials--already have the base pole & the steel for the weather vane & have some nice big sheets of stainless located: still need to find some good copper sheet, & hopefully the hardware to attach everything... Can't wait to get started!
Amber
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