Tripods and obelisk

[IanR]

These are three tripods and an obelisk I made for a lanscaper. The curves on the spheres on top of the tripods were made in the fly press then welded and then dressed smooth. I had a problem with the spheres not so much in the attachment (they were blind welded from underneath) but in the positioning, because the landscaper wanted a triangle at the top of the tripod as opposed to to a point. When the spheres were positioned dead centre of the triangle the apex of the triangle was forward making the sphere look like it was sitting at the back. If you moved the sphere forward it would only accentuate the problem on the other two apexs. If they had 4 legs this would not have happened, in the end he just accepted them as they were. This may be something to watch if your ever asked to do something like this.

[Jocko 58]

G'day Ian



Great work what equipment did you use to make the spheres ( balls ) :)

Cheers John

[Jocko 58]

after sending the question i read your post :wacko: thanks for answering great work again :)

[John B]

These are three tripods and an obelisk I made for a lanscaper. The curves on the spheres on top of the tripods were made in the fly press then welded and then dressed smooth. I had a problem with the spheres not so much in the attachment (they were blind welded from underneath) but in the positioning, because the landscaper wanted a triangle at the top of the tripod as opposed to to a point. When the spheres were positioned dead centre of the triangle the apex of the triangle was forward making the sphere look like it was sitting at the back. If you moved the sphere forward it would only accentuate the problem on the other two apexs. If they had 4 legs this would not have happened, in the end he just accepted them as they were. This may be something to watch if your ever asked to do something like this.

Hi Ian, It looks like you put a ring at the apex to seat the spheres in but you said a triangle, ?

If you had brought the apex closer at the top and then mounted the ring/triangle so the spheres were higher, it may have looked less awkward

Another problem is mounting an item with 8 sections onto a piece that has 3 supporting legs, it will never seat right on centre in a triangle

9 or 12 sections would have blended in better, and touched on equispaced parts, giving a central look, or you could also have done away with the support ring and attached them directly to the legs, but that would alter the total appearance of the piece.

That of course may not be what the client wanted, but it is something to think about if their is a next time. Otherwise, they do the job and look good.

[IanR]

Thanks for your comments guys, John B, the landscaper requested that the legs met at a triangle and the sphere sit flat on that. the spheres are actually plug or blind welded to a bar (20mm x 10mm) which bisects the triangle, this enabled the sphere to sit on top rather than in the triangle. Thanks for tip on the 8 into 3 doesn't go issue, I plan to have a bit of a play with that and get it sorted out in case I'm asked to do something similar. I still think even if it was a solid sphere the problem would still exist, I will do an experiment and take some photos.

Cheers Ian