Homemade Chrondek christmas tree I was cruising the internet and ran across [this] website. This guy restored an original Chrondek Christmas tree. It got me thinking about building a replica. :idea2: For the pole, i was going to use a 4x4 vinyl fence post. The post is 100" tall and costs 19.95. The light sockets they sell at Home Depot are almost identical to the ones on the original. Sockets are 2.16 each. The Depot also sells the colored spotlight bulbs in red yellow and green. About 6 and change a piece. The sheetmetal caps that say "pre-staged" and "staged" could be constructed out of some sheetmetal and painted. A piece of 24x36 sheetmetal is 17.99. The pole would get painted silver with a white stripe in the front as a background for the lettering. I think painting it would camoflage the fact I used a fence post. The only other choice is a 100" piece of square tube aluminum. But its $100 alone. Vinyl fence post is much cheaper! In looking at the Chrondek Timers lettering down the front, the font "Ashley script" in capital letters is almost right on. The graphics place by my house can cut me the letters Im sure. I think I can sew this up for under $200.00 bucks! The only difficult part is constructing a sequencer to fire off the lights. My neighbor works with an electrical engineer that might be able to build me one. I figure a 10 channel sequencer that can handle 200 watts per channel would do the trick. For the base, I would use what the guy in the website used. A couple pieces of scrap 1x3. I think it would look awesome in my garage! What do you guys think? Any input or alternate ideas are appreciated. :beers2:
Jason I think it would look better in the middle of west bound Ocean Pkwy. If they won't build a track, we will!!! :3gears: :3gears: Make sure you use that krylon paint for plastic on that post, the regular rattle can paint will flake right off. Pre-stage and stage bars can be made of 2" schedule 40 and glued into place with PVC glue. All you would have to do is use a hole saw on both side of the post and place the PVC pipe through the hole. You can run wires inside for the lights and put end caps on. Spray it white, and get vinyl letters and voila'. Just a thought:TU:
Yeah, bending sheet metal is going about it the hard way. Even a block of wood smoothed over with bondo would work. Balsa weighs nothing.
Definately cool! There has to be something simple able to control the lights, just gotta find something... A tree would be nice where im from...
Sounds like a business opportunity, how many guys would buy one for the garage, rec room????? :idea2: or Share your idea and how you build it here, and we'll all have one of our own with you to thank. :beer :beer :TU:
The original one on that website is made from a standard 4" wiring gutter. You can get that material from any electrical supply house. The lampholders also look like pretty standard parts that would be commonly available. The only hard to repro part would probably be the nameplate that was shown in one pic. I'll bet you could even find a wiring schematic online if you looked around. I think it is a shame the guy went and repainted that one - talk about an original with patina. I'd have kept it rusty and beat up 'cause I think it would be really easy to build a new one. The old one is special.
:gp: Thanks John! I never knew they made such a thing. Thats awesome. It will look much more authentic by using that. I looked it up online and it comes in a 96" length which would be perfect! :beer The sockets are easy. The current style they sell at home Depot is an almost spot on match to the ones on the original. What Im not sure about at this point is how many lights I should put on it. Modern style trees have only three yellows, where this one has 5. Should I put a front and rear set on? As you can see on the original, its got lights facing rearward as well (something I never noticed) . Also the modern trees have a different style of pre staged and staged bulbs. I think I might just duplicate this one but use only three sets of yellows instead of five. I was thinking about how the guy restored it. It sure looks purdy all painted up, but having it original would of been nice too. At least it didnt get thrown in a dumpster.
Thought I'd bring this back to the top. Ive pretty much cleared my plate of odd projects, so I want to get back to this one. Im hoping to get it ready for Christmas. Last year I had a "C" shaped 4" pole made of .080 aluminum. I also had a 4" x 96" flat piece for the face made that will be screwed on. The removable front for wiring access. Ive thought this through pretty well. The base looks like it could be made from two cast iron 1" flanges and a 5" piece of cast iron pipe. The 1" flanges have a 3.800" outside diameter, which is absolutely perfect. The wood base is easy to replicate. Still need to figure out all the dimensions- Things like the spacing of the light sockets on the pole and in relation to one another. The size of the pre staged and staged awnings. Also need to figure out how to mount the pole to the base flanges. Im planning on documenting this project and posting it on here with step by step pictures. This ought to be a fun little summer project! :beers2: here's the starting point! This is going to look soooooo cool in my garage...or living room :Brow:
Now THAT looks like a fun project! As far as electronics go, I'd use one of my Christmas light sequencers. It would be super simple to program it to blink each light when you want it to, at what delays, and how long you want each light on. You could even throw in the occasional red light. They can be had in standalone models or ones controlled by a computer. An 8 channel computer-controlled one is about $90, but then you have to build a case for it and add wires. The standalone one would be the best. You program your light sequence on your computer and put it on an SD card that goes in the controller. Too bad that controller is $500...
You can just buy one for $339 here: http://www.overstock.com/Auto-Parts...=cii_10043468&cpncode=19-3682930-2&cid=131149
Yeah, but that's just a neon sign. Cool project, Jason...keep us posted. Here's a related project if you really want to get carried away: http://claymore.engineer.gvsu.edu/~hultmane/Egr_450/Report/450Proj.html Devon
Cool link Devon...I'll have to put that in my favorites:beer . Getting the lights to work is going to be one of the last things to do though. Im going to allot some time for it this weekend. My goal would be to make up some templates for the pre staged and staged awnings. And also design a sturdy bracket to mount the pole to the base. Anyone want to take a guess on any of the dimensions from the pics of the original?
I was thumbing through my collection of 60's car magazines and came across this issue of Super Stock and Drag Illustrated. Interesting observations- Notice that the tree doesnt have the add on pre-staged bulbs. I dont think you can see the detail from the pic, but the tree is two pieces. Its joined together about halfway up by four "L" brackets on each side. The magazine pic also gives me a good indication of how wide the awning is over the staged bulbs. Just a little wider than the bulbs. In comparing all the different pics, Ive noticed that the light socket pairs look like they're all evenly spaced all the way down the tree. The wooden base on the mag cover is the same light blue color that the Canadian tree is in the second website you posted Devon. Almost looks like a periwinckle (sp?) blue
From the previous link, the two-piece tree is pretty much for sure, making sense from an assembly/storage perspective... Devon
You guys are going to cost me money with all these neat toys . I will be building one of these instead of working in the shop and making money .
