Columns -- Long Bevels/miters

[sdscolumbia]

I’d use 1x and rip these with the track saw, set the bevel to 45.5º.

Assemble 3 sides using tape fold method, make sure you insert side 4 to keep things square.

Seeing as you have to remove these, make some U-shaped spacer to keep the covers from moving around. Install the back face with some trim screws, painted to match the finish.

If I didn’t have remove these I’d hold them in place by gluing the 4 piece in place using plastic stretch tape as the clamp. Once the glue dried injecting expanding foam will lock the cover to the posts.

Tom

Thanks for all the great suggestions.  Leaning toward this method.  Found this youtube video which show exactly what I want to do (he even moves the track to cover the 12') -- I wiil just add a removable 4th side held on with trim screws.  I will add braces inside the exact dimensions of interior held in with temporary kreg screws to make sure it is square while drying and screw in the removable side with no glue and maybe dominos to help locate it.  I can burnish the edges with a large screwdriver to hide any miter irregularities.


Actually, upon rewatching, he uses the table saw to cut the miters and slides the track to cut the boards to width at 90 degrees.  Still may try moving the tracks to make the miters.

I can't screw into the tent poles so I may just add bracing inside and use shims to wedge it into place before screwing in the removable side and/or use clamps at the top. 

I also have to make 24' cross beams to sit on top of the columns for the top of the "pergola" -- plan on using the largest dominos my 500 will allow and Kreg HD screws and maybe some mending plates to hold these boards together  (16 foot and 8 foot 2X6s, with the joints staggered on the two boards)  Not glued so they can be assembled on site.

 

[woodwise]

Lots of great advice, and I appreciate the pursuit of perfection that seems to bring all of us together.

As another perspective to consider. I previously did wedding photography and while many of us are perfectionist, and this is applied to each facet of our work. I found myself fascinated with the professionals who received endless praise and compliments while perfection was only visible in about 20% of their work. This small percentage was often applied to the most visible details. The centerpieces on the table, the alignment of the chairs etc...

It may be that perfection is subjective. Through one lens, installations that only looked good from about 6 feet back could be considered sloppy and lacking attention to detail. Through another lens, these professionals were incredibly detailed.  They were paying attention to the priorities that the client valued and their ability to deliver a 6' finish in short order in an environment that could only be considered fluid on a good day was a hallmark of their success.

Venues can often be dynamic and while planning for installation of your columns, one may consider not just the appearance, but how will they be attached? If you are anticipating they will go around a pole, how can your design adapt if the pole is removed? Upgraded to a new size/shape? What about the large bracket that was installed the prior day that interferes with your design? Is the pole truly vertical or is it now leaning? How fast can they be assembled and taken back down? Most venues only provide a few hours for setup and teardown.

While you have certainly considered all of these possibilities, I would be truly interested to see what advise others would provide. How would you design a column to be quick to install, handled by one person, kept vertical while temporarily mounted to a pole etc. If we started with just requirements, how would you approach this?

Woodwise
Woodwise

 

[Bob D.]

"If he is going to add the chamfer to hide the joint, then it is likely that the routerbit will hit the screws."

Gotcha. Good point about not leaving the screws if the edges are to be chamfered.

 

[Packard]

I hope you are charging right for this work.  A pvc column wrap for that size is about $360.00 before assembly.  It would probably need some interior bracing as well.
https://www.elitetrimworks.com/porch-column-cover/

Denny's, a major supplier of photographic backdrops (I use them when I had my portrait studio), sells "props" of Grecian columns.  The maximum height is 72".  for $150.00.
https://dennymfg.com/products/classical-grecian-columns

It is rare that a photographer would use anything over 6 or 8 feet tall because of issues in transportation.  The 12' height sounds like an anomaly to me.  Is the client being sensible? 

As a vendor, I have always felt it was my place to ask the questions that the customer should be asking if they knew enough to ask it.  So the question is, "How do you plan on transporting this?"  Maybe it needs to be made in two sections and joined on site.  The tiny seam will not show in the photograph, especially if it is painted white.  The camera will expose for the skin tone and a lot of detail in the dress and on the column will be blown out. 

 

[sdscolumbia]

It is actually for my nieces wedding.  My sister-in-law is paying for materials and painting and I am supplying tools and labor.   

Will be stored at her house until the wedding and possibly reused for more upcoming weddings.

This will be the centerpiece of an outdoor tent, spanning the dance floor -- posted the example she gave me earlier in the thread.  No weight to speak of other than the 24' cross beams, the 4' crossmembers and some greenery. The 12' height came a guess at the height in that picture.  May be able to get away with 10.

Poles are octagonal and 5.75" Wide.  The lighting guy agreed to help me install using their lifts/ladders/etc. while they install lighting.  Only requirement of the tent company is that I not screw into the poles.

 

[Packard]

I was a wedding photographer for many years.  As a photographer, I would want the columns and cross bar to frame a picture of the bride and groom.  To do that (unless the groom was very tall), the columns would be about 7' tall with the cross beam sitting on the top.

As an exercise, you might want to stand someone that is approximately the same height as the groom against a wall that is marked off at points 7', 8', 9', 10' and 12'. 

I think you will find that the crossbar will be out of the frame once it hits 9' or so.

In order to get the gazebo to frame this couple they had to reduce the size of the image of the couple.  I am almost certain that the wedding album included a enlargement that did not show much of the gazebo and more of the couple.  A smaller gazebo would have made for a tighter composition.

This photographer dealt with the height issue by standing further back and using a telephoto lens for a more tightly cropped image.

 

[ChuckM]

Photography sounds like just as technical, if not more, as woodworking! [big grin]

 

[sdscolumbia]

Two examples of what I am shooting for:

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

 

[Packard]

Not ideal for portraits, but very pretty.  For ambience, an excellent choice.

 

[xedos]

those columns are definitely NOT miter folded.

 

[Bob D.]

those columns are definitely NOT miter folded.

Agree, if you save the image to your PC then you can view it zoomed in and see that they are butt joints, and some of them not even tight like it's a break down assembly that fits loosely together.

 

[Packard]

Photography sounds like just as technical, if not more, as woodworking! [big grin]

  Less so now than when I was a photographer.  My first wedding set up was entirely manual.  I manually set the f/stops and shutter speeds and manually set the flash.  It did require some mental gymnastics to do the math on flash fill.  Infact, at that time I was the only one I knew who was doing it. Now it is easy and automatic.

As Woodwise mentioned not all photographers are sticklers on details.  This photo which I posted earlier is a rather nice portrait of the couple and I am certain that they love it.  But all I can see is the ugly hinges on the column to their left.

I had a client who asked me to frame a copy of a photo from his wedding album.  The quality of the copy was dismal and I declined.  I suggested that he contact the original photo studio (in Japan where he was stationed at that time--Navy) and buy a fresh copy. 

The quality was amazing.  This Japanese photographer used 4" x 5" view camera for all his shots.  He had a stylist for the couple that attended to creases on the fabric and for straightening neckties.  He had another who setup the table shots.  She apparently had a cart with clean dishes and silverware and she re-set each table to appear as it had just prior to the meal. 

Everything was very tidy.  The downside is that everyone looked very stiff and the photos lacked spontaneity.  My photography featured a lot of candids.  That studio had none.  Everything was formal and well-executed. 

I imagine it was a very pricey photo studio.  But I don't think that approach would work in the USA.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

As a guy who used to mess with Photoshop at a fairly high level a few years ago, I can tell you that those hinges could disappear like magic.

 

[mino]

As a guy who used to mess with Photoshop at a fairly high level a few years ago, I can tell you that those hinges could disappear like magic.

"Let off of My Hinges!"
[cool]

Too much shopping and too litle photography by today's "photographers". Those hinges give the photo depth and realism. People who seek perfection and get sterility instead. Us messing with wood should feel that.

But it is changing for the better. A friend mentioned lately she does a third the shopping she did a couple yrs back. People just demand it less.

I guess they see shopped/phone photo stuff all the time so is no longer "special". While a good composition is a good composition.

/geting old and grumpy/

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Seems like everything lately has been about filters and over-doing it.  "Good" shopping is not noticeable. Done right, you would never have known those hinges were there, and never miss them.

We have gone way off topic, so I will bring it back with a couple of timely pics.
After all of the talk about this, I had a job come up today with two long (114") miters, on HPL particle board. I did them exactly as I described. Table saw at 45, leaving a flat on the edge of about 1/16", then routing against a straight edge.
This material was over 13/16 thick, so the bit that I have was not quite able to clear off the short-point. I had to get out a Bosch Colt with a tilt base and a flush-trim bit to finish it up. A bigger diameter bit wouldn't have fit in the OF1400 anyway.
I did the main cut with the OF1400, using the chip-collector cup and the 36mm hose, and it did a great job, nearly dust free. Then came the Colt, for the little ridge at the top and it threw stuff everywhere. :
I took one of the actual piece too, but I must have moved? it's all fuzzy. I get one tomorrow.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Pics added. The first one is 114" and the standing one is 86".
That's the box that the OF1010 F came in  ???  [blink]

 

[ChuckM]

Snip.


Actually, upon rewatching, he uses the table saw to cut the miters

Snip.

As pointed out in the video, the Jessem Stock Guides played an important role in ensuring the cuts (at whatever angle) to be tight against the fence, and hence producing straight and parallel work. The Guides is worth every cent of the price, not to mention its function of eliminating kickback.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

The problem with that is that these panels are 19" wide. Any kind of featherboard or stock guide rollers are so far from the blade as to be useless.
The even bigger issue only apples to the shorter unit, but it is even more difficult to cut because of the shape. It may not be apparent in the photo ( I don't remember) but there is a "notch" ,for want of a better word, in the upper part of the sides. The sides are only 3" deep in the first 24" or so. They come from the CNC that way, so impossible to saw with that edge against the fence. So I cut the bevels on the big slider saw. This can only ever be so accurate though, as there is no fence to follow. You have to trust the measurement of the overhang on the sliding table itself. Not good enough. I can get close, leave a flat, and route it off with a bevel bit.

 

[ChuckM]

The problem with that is that these panels are 19" wide. Any kind of featherboard or stock guide rollers are so far from the blade as to be useless.
Snip.

Why is the 19" width an issue? As far as the stock guides is concerned, the wider the board the better! The stock guides won't work on pieces that are too narrow (for the rollers).

 

[Crazyraceguy]

The stock guides are against the fence, the beveled blade is 19 inches away. Since a 45 degree bevel has a tendency to lift the workpiece, rollers 19 inches away can't help hold it down, near the cut.
But either way, you can't cut a piece shaped like the state of Utah, with the short side against the fence.
That notch is about 24" long, which would mean that the workpiece would hit the blade before it made contact with the fence.