View source for Gin pole welding project

== Construction ==
I took a welding class a couple years ago but I spent most of my time then doing MIG. Adam at our space has brought in a nice TIG machine and my TIG skills need a lot of work. Adam was kind enough to give me a thorough TIG lesson on a slow Sunday. I was able to knock out 99% of this project in a half day with his help.

{|
| [[Image:Tig_welder.jpg|none|thumb|300px|TIG Welder]] 
| [[Image:Metal_cutting_bandsaw.jpg|none|thumb|300px|Metal cutting/horizontal band saw]]
|}

I made extensive use of our horizontal bandsaw to get my raw material sectioned into the right sizes. All of the metal stock I used came from a local mega home store and another hardware store in town. I sized my kit to support a 1-1/4" rigid conduit pole. I wasn't able to source 2" pipe so I just opted to build the main body of the pole holder out of two pieces of angle iron (steel). 

Here are some of my first welds on this project:
{|
| [[Image:Ginpole02.jpg|none|thumb|300px|Gin pole bottom pully]]
| [[Image:Ginpole01.jpg|none|thumb|300px|Gin pole mast attachment]]
|}

You can see nicer welds along the 2nd pic, of course those are Adam's ;-)
{|
| [[Image:Ginpole03.jpg|none|thumb|300px|Gin pole kit]]
| [[Image:Ginpole04.jpg|none|thumb|250px|Gin pole kit]]
|}


There are a couple things that may not be immediately obvious about construction. First, the pulley cap that sits at the top of the pole has a hole drilled into the top horizontal plate the pulley is welded to. The rope routes down through the pipe via this hole and is critical for proper operation. Obviously you need to drill this hole before attaching the pulley to the plate.

Also, the pulley that mounts at the bottom of the tower has to be cut so it can be welded to its mast mount clamp. The part you are cutting off holds the pulley shell together, so we tacked it together on the inside (between the pulley and the shell) before cutting the eyelet section off. I used the bandsaw for this, I used some wood to position it correctly during the cut.

Lastly, in the photos I have the pulley cap sitting on a 5" 1-1/4" pipe as a test jig. This pipe has no other purpose, it was just for testing components before I purchased the full 10' length pipe. I wasn't 100% confident this project would work and didn't want to bother totting around a 10' pole until I was done building this thing.