Sign for my small pond.

[EddieWalker]

I have another thread going about a deer blind that I'm building. In time, that will become a fort for kids that I have to come up with a name for. After several weeks of bouncing names around with my wife, we decided to name it Fort Peyton. So this means our daughter needs to have something named after her. She loves to fish and has had many days when she's caught more fish then all of us combined!!! We're naming the small pond, Alissa Pond.

This picture shows the frame that I built for the sign. It's made of 3/4 inch square tubing with 1 1/2 inch angle iron that will be where I attach it to the light pole. The seaweed looking things are leaves that I bought from King Metals. The cattails are 7/16's rod with one 3/4 inch black pipe welded over the rod. Then I ground down the ends to create the tips.

Eddie

 

[charlz]

Nice! I am assuming the sign will be wood placed inside the frame? or will it also be metal?

 

[Nissan197]

Very nice! Great job.

 

[jinman]

Can Stephanie Lane and Eddie's Walker Trail be far behind? Enquiring minds want to know.

Nice job! Your kids will be very proud.

 

[EddieWalker]

Naming things is always a huge challenge for me. I'm trying to stick with nature or wildlife type names for roads and features, but for this, the kids names worked. Fort Peyton just has a great ring to it. Alissa Pond sounds nice too, so we got lucky there.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

It's cold and windy outside today and I'm not enjoying being outside at all. I added more corn to my deer feeder and fed my ducks, but that was about all I wanted to deal with.

So I played around in my shop with the sign. It's just about done, I'm just waiting on the paint to dry before attaching the letters and the fish.

The first pictures show's the James Hardi siding that I'm using for the sign. It's a cement fiber material used for siding on homes with a nice clear wood grain stamped into it. I stain it with Minwax Gel Stain. It's not like wood stains, it's more like Jello that you brush on like paint. I goes on uneven, which gives it that natural wood look. I've had quite a few people look at it who know wood and can't figure out what type of wood that it is. I've never had anybody recognized it for James Hardi siding. The lighter colored square in the picture is a piece of scrap that I put on the stained pieces to show the difference.

I was looking for a bluegill and found this one on Ebay. It's fancier then I was originally looking for, but that's a good thing, because I made the frame nicer because of the fish. The seller makes them by hand and his wife paints them. It's a one of a kind that's 18 inches long.

The Hardi is attached to the frame with self tapping screws that are left over from my metal roof. I then painted them brown to blend in with the stain. The cattails are layered in paint to give them a small amount of realism. I'm still not sure about the tips, but I'm leaning towards making them darker with some black paint.

The pole is a light pole that's part of the fence surrounding the pond and a 4 acre pasture. I drilled and tapped the holes for 3/8's bolts. There will be three bolts holding it onto the pole.

Eddie

 

[AlanB]

Man, that is nice Eddie.

 

[RobS]

Looks great Eddie, seems everything you do is so well thought out and perfectly executed. Nice work!

 

[actionaj]

Nice job Eddie, you got me thinking of naming my pond.

 

[EddieWalker]

I finished the sign this morning and installed it on my light pole. Alissa walked past it four times this morning while it was in the shop, but she never stopped to read the letters on it. I glued them on yesterday and it's been sitting there overnight.

I still need to clear coat it, but that's not a big rush since it's 27 degrees outside right now and I used exterior oil Rustolium paint on the metal. The fish was painted and sealed by the artist for outdoor use. I'll seal it again when I do all of the sign for one solid barrier against the elements.

Eddie

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Eddie,

That is a GREAT looking sign...good job. Where did you get the letters from?

David

 

[EddieWalker]

The letters are from King Architectural Metals wrought iron metal balusters finials casting steel ornamental forged gate fence stairs Access control and were by far the cheapest that I could find online. I've bought allot of stuff from them and there isn't a place that I know of that compares. They are super fast on shipping, very reasonable on their prices and everything that I've bought from them is of excellent quality.

Credit to Harvey Lacey on telling me about them!!! Thanks again Harvey.

Eddie

 

[weldingisfun]

Looks real nice, Eddie. Alissa did a good job.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Eddie you make me feel like a procrastinating slacker. I am happy if I get a 4th of the projects done in a year that you pull off in six months.

Is it all the warm weather? Were you ever diagnosed as hyperactive as a child? Are you still in your twenties and have unlimited energy?

Congrats on yet another great project!

 

[3RRL]

That sign you made is really first class Eddie.
No doubt you are creative and talented, but what impresses me the most is your thoughtfulness and admiration for your children.
Rob-

 

[EddieWalker]

Thank you for all your kind words and compliments.

It was a pretty simple project that didn't take very long to make once I had a plan. I'm the type that is constantly planning things. I draw on graph paper almost daily different ideas that I have, or spend hours on here researching ideas. I rarely come up with any original, but instead rely on others creativity and use their ideas to accomplish what I'm wanting to do. The sign is based on the fish, which was made by an artist who sells his carvings on Ebay. I got lucky and found it when I needed it. Somebody almost beat me out on it at the last minute, but I learned that lesson on Ebay a few years ago. Watch it to the last minute if you really want it!!! They bid with a few minutes to go and I out bid them just in time to buy it for $26. Definitely a bargain and one heck of a deal!!!

To mount the fish above the sign, the cattails were the only thing that made sense to me that fit in with the fish. I spent a few weeks going over options, but in the end, the simply solution was the one I went for.

My original plan was for a more rustic look. Something weathered and old looking, but that idea just didn't work for me on paper when drawing it out.

Now I"m hoping my "Fort Peyton" sign comes out as nice. I'll have to finish my deer blind to mount it, so there's still plenty of time to work out the details on that project.

Eddie

 

[IXLR8]

Did Alissa have an appropriate reaction when she finally read it?

 

[EddieWalker]

It was a good reaction, but not like when she gets money for her birthday. She had a great grin on her face and later that evening at her Grandma's house, it was the first thing that she told her. We really didn't know what to expect, but we were concerned that either her, or her brother, would want it the other way around. Fortunately, they both seem very content with the names I picked, so it's more of a relief for us then anything else. I think when all the family gets here tomorrow, that's when she'll have more fun with it. At 11, it's hard to tell what goes through their minds.

More importantly, her Mom was very excited about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eddie

 

[Lasgambler]

Looks very nice Eddie, and the most important thing is how special it must make Alissa feel.
Terry

 

[john_bud]

Eddie's Walker Trail

That sounds like something for an old folks home in South Florida!!