A friend of mine is having a huge underground bunker style room put
into his garden. It will be the length + width of his garden and will
be buried under 2' of soil. It will be connected to his bungalow for
access and will be used as a workshop for his various hobbies.
It's costing him a small fortune but he's not concerned about that.
The civil engineering firm will build the structure and top it of with
soil but everything else he has to do himself. This is where I came in.
He had concerns about getting natural light in over his workbenches and
I recommended sunlight pipes. He had a look at them and liked what he
saw. Now the problem is he doesn't want little clear domes over his
lawn so he is raising the domes 8' and having long sunlight pipes. The
company has assured him that the pipes will still work over the 11'
distance.
So after putting my foot in my mouth, my mate has told me that to hide
the ugly silver ducting he want to encase them in old telegraph poles.
To do so they need to be hollowed down the middle and these poles are
all 10' long. I've told him that the easiest way would be to split them
in half and channel out the waste then put the two halves together with
the ducting in the middle. But he doesn't like the fact that spilt
might be seeable and may cause concerns later on.
He has told me that no matter the expense, he'll hire whatever
equipment I need to hollow these poles out if there is another way to
do it other than splitting it.
So my quandry is how do I hollow out 10 x 10' telegraph pole without
splitting them down the middle.
If there is no other feasible way then my friend is willing to see
sense and relenquish the decision to me.
Sorry for the long windedness but I felt I should explain why I needed
to know.
TR
> "TrailRat" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > A friend of mine....
> > It's costing him a small fortune but he's not concerned about that.....
> > how do I hollow out 10 x 10' telegraph pole without
> > splitting them down the middle.
Doug Houseman wrote:
> http://www.scmgroup.com/private/bin/articolo/catalogo;jsessionid=CPBBGDOC
> PJLC?categoria=06&codice=Author+912+-+924&locale=en&marchioId=MORBIDELLI&
> subcategoria=32
nah, that machine is for drilling lots of small holes in sheets of
particle board very quickly. it won't drill the hole the OP is asking
for.
I'd look at other approaches to concealing the pipe. for instance, this
sort of thing is done all of the time for zoos and museums, where
mechanical equipment has to be concealed from the public. a lot of the
time the approach used is to build a replica of the telegraph pole (or
tree, or rock or whatever) in steel reinforced concrete. very good
weather resistance and total flexibility as to appearance. really. I'd
present it to your friend not as a fake telegraph pole but as a garden
sculpture, and encourage him to allow the people who build the thing to
be part of the design process. approached right it could be a fun
project for all involved. I see you're in the UK, so I won't link to
any of the contractors on this side of the pond. look for somebody
somewhat local- easier to keep an open process and puts the money back
into your own community, as it were.
1) add planks around a tube core , then round over (as was allready
sugested) and make them look aged - use a belt sander with a coarse
belt to get the "surface finish", then paint them to match the looks of
an old pole.
2) to keep the exact appearance: make a silicone mold from an old
telegraph pole, split it in two halves, use fiberglass & resin to
obtain a shell that can be glued around the tube, paint in order to
obtain the old look (this is rather a joke, as it would prove to be
quite expensive, however this is how tree trunks are made for studio &
stage forest scenes)
I'm thinking that you're going to have to support those poles with
something other than the 2' of soil... Since you're going to have to
tie them together somehow any way, why not do some sort of pergala
arrangement. Case the pipes with the wood of your choice, tie them
together to make a nice pergala...Solves the problem of supporting
them, covers the pipes, and .......The big bonus is the plants that
grow on the pergala will disguise the heat signature from infra-red
searches... ;-)
Ok Ok.
It seems I made a mistake calling this thing a bunker. The better term
then would be an extend cellar made of reinforced concrete a foot
thick. :o)
He has a bungalow and a garden which is enclosed on both sides by
neighbours and the only place to put his workshop is underground.
He makes a pretty pound as a designer, architect and property lawyer.
His hobbies are numerous but mainly he needs space to draw plans and
build models. He's not too bright on the implementation of his ideas,
like hollowing out telegraph poles.
Thanks to your kind words he's dropped the idea and is lowering the
domes into a 3' high raised flower bed. The domes will be part of the
retaining wall which means this is no longer my concern.
For that I thank you.
TR
In article <[email protected]>,
TrailRat <[email protected]> wrote:
> So my quandry is how do I hollow out 10 x 10' telegraph pole without
> splitting them down the middle.
Termites. Unless he's in a hurry...
In article <[email protected]>, Bruce Barnett
<[email protected]> wrote:
> They still use telegraphs?
No.
<crun>You can't get the wood, you know...</crun>
TrailRat wrote:
>
>So after putting my foot in my mouth, my mate has told me that to hide
>the ugly silver ducting he want to encase them in old telegraph poles.
I have never found telegraph poles particularly attractive... maybe it's
just me?
--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA
[email protected]
(Remove -SPAM- to send email)
>
>So my quandry is how do I hollow out 10 x 10' telegraph pole without
>splitting them down the middle.
>If there is no other feasible way then my friend is willing to see
>sense and relenquish the decision to me.
>
>
Take the pole to the local military base and ask them to fire a cannon
round down the centre of the pole. Tell them your buddy with the
money will pay for the round. Those military guys are really very
nice and would have no problem doing this for you because they are
always looking for something to shoot at. The moment they say OK,
duct tape a bunch of chisels to the pointy end of the round just
before the fire it off. Should make for a nice clean hole.
Pete
(Red Green is my role model)
On 29 Jul 2006 12:48:56 -0700, "TrailRat" <[email protected]> wrote:
Since money seems to flow well for him, I'd have sheets of rustic wood siding
back scored for bending around the pipes...
Flash back to the 60's: Have the pipes "wood grained"... lol
My brother did that one on his metal kitchen cabinets.. fooled most folks..
>A friend of mine is having a huge underground bunker style room put
>into his garden. It will be the length + width of his garden and will
>be buried under 2' of soil. It will be connected to his bungalow for
>access and will be used as a workshop for his various hobbies.
>It's costing him a small fortune but he's not concerned about that.
>The civil engineering firm will build the structure and top it of with
>soil but everything else he has to do himself. This is where I came in.
>He had concerns about getting natural light in over his workbenches and
>I recommended sunlight pipes. He had a look at them and liked what he
>saw. Now the problem is he doesn't want little clear domes over his
>lawn so he is raising the domes 8' and having long sunlight pipes. The
>company has assured him that the pipes will still work over the 11'
>distance.
>So after putting my foot in my mouth, my mate has told me that to hide
>the ugly silver ducting he want to encase them in old telegraph poles.
>To do so they need to be hollowed down the middle and these poles are
>all 10' long. I've told him that the easiest way would be to split them
>in half and channel out the waste then put the two halves together with
>the ducting in the middle. But he doesn't like the fact that spilt
>might be seeable and may cause concerns later on.
>He has told me that no matter the expense, he'll hire whatever
>equipment I need to hollow these poles out if there is another way to
>do it other than splitting it.
>
>So my quandry is how do I hollow out 10 x 10' telegraph pole without
>splitting them down the middle.
>If there is no other feasible way then my friend is willing to see
>sense and relenquish the decision to me.
>
>Sorry for the long windedness but I felt I should explain why I needed
>to know.
>
>TR
Mac
https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis
https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis/wood_stuff.htm
On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 17:46:22 GMT, Fly-by-Night CC <[email protected]>
wrote:
>In article <[email protected]>,
> "TrailRat" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> A friend of mine is having a huge underground bunker
>
>Anyone else suspect this has a Rapala tied to the last sentence?
damn sure isn't a lucky 13... they were made outta wood..
Mac
https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis
https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis/wood_stuff.htm
On 29 Jul 2006 12:48:56 -0700, "TrailRat" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>So my quandry is how do I hollow out 10 x 10' telegraph pole without
>splitting them down the middle.
"drilling deep holes" on google, 4th match:
http://www.deephole.com/Capabilities.html
9" diameter to 18' with a spade bit.. I'd like to see that.
-Leuf
"TrailRat" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> A friend of mine is having a huge underground bunker style room put
> into his garden. It will be the length + width of his garden and will
> be buried under 2' of soil. It will be connected to his bungalow for
> access and will be used as a workshop for his various hobbies.
> It's costing him a small fortune but he's not concerned about that.
> The civil engineering firm will build the structure and top it of with
> soil but everything else he has to do himself. This is where I came in.
> He had concerns about getting natural light in over his workbenches and
> I recommended sunlight pipes. He had a look at them and liked what he
> saw. Now the problem is he doesn't want little clear domes over his
> lawn so he is raising the domes 8' and having long sunlight pipes. The
> company has assured him that the pipes will still work over the 11'
> distance.
> So after putting my foot in my mouth, my mate has told me that to hide
> the ugly silver ducting he want to encase them in old telegraph poles.
> To do so they need to be hollowed down the middle and these poles are
> all 10' long. I've told him that the easiest way would be to split them
> in half and channel out the waste then put the two halves together with
> the ducting in the middle. But he doesn't like the fact that spilt
> might be seeable and may cause concerns later on.
> He has told me that no matter the expense, he'll hire whatever
> equipment I need to hollow these poles out if there is another way to
> do it other than splitting it.
>
> So my quandry is how do I hollow out 10 x 10' telegraph pole without
> splitting them down the middle.
> If there is no other feasible way then my friend is willing to see
> sense and relenquish the decision to me.
>
> Sorry for the long windedness but I felt I should explain why I needed
> to know.
>
> TR
>
2 feet of topsoil will not support the poles, hollow or not.
In article <[email protected]>,
"TrailRat" <[email protected]> wrote:
> A friend of mine is having a huge underground bunker style room put
> into his garden. It will be the length + width of his garden and will
> be buried under 2' of soil. It will be connected to his bungalow for
> access and will be used as a workshop for his various hobbies.
> It's costing him a small fortune but he's not concerned about that.
> The civil engineering firm will build the structure and top it of with
> soil but everything else he has to do himself. This is where I came in.
> He had concerns about getting natural light in over his workbenches and
> I recommended sunlight pipes. He had a look at them and liked what he
> saw. Now the problem is he doesn't want little clear domes over his
> lawn so he is raising the domes 8' and having long sunlight pipes. The
> company has assured him that the pipes will still work over the 11'
> distance.
> So after putting my foot in my mouth, my mate has told me that to hide
> the ugly silver ducting he want to encase them in old telegraph poles.
> To do so they need to be hollowed down the middle and these poles are
> all 10' long. I've told him that the easiest way would be to split them
> in half and channel out the waste then put the two halves together with
> the ducting in the middle. But he doesn't like the fact that spilt
> might be seeable and may cause concerns later on.
> He has told me that no matter the expense, he'll hire whatever
> equipment I need to hollow these poles out if there is another way to
> do it other than splitting it.
>
> So my quandry is how do I hollow out 10 x 10' telegraph pole without
> splitting them down the middle.
> If there is no other feasible way then my friend is willing to see
> sense and relenquish the decision to me.
>
> Sorry for the long windedness but I felt I should explain why I needed
> to know.
>
> TR
http://www.scmgroup.com/private/bin/articolo/catalogo;jsessionid=CPBBGDOC
PJLC?categoria=06&codice=Author+912+-+924&locale=en&marchioId=MORBIDELLI&
subcategoria=32
TrailRat wrote:
> A friend of mine is having a huge underground bunker style room put
> into his garden. It will be the length + width of his garden and will
> be buried under 2' of soil. It will be connected to his bungalow for
> access and will be used as a workshop for his various hobbies.
> It's costing him a small fortune but he's not concerned about that.
> The civil engineering firm will build the structure and top it of with
> soil but everything else he has to do himself. This is where I came in.
> He had concerns about getting natural light in over his workbenches and
> I recommended sunlight pipes. He had a look at them and liked what he
> saw. Now the problem is he doesn't want little clear domes over his
> lawn so he is raising the domes 8' and having long sunlight pipes. The
> company has assured him that the pipes will still work over the 11'
> distance.
> So after putting my foot in my mouth, my mate has told me that to hide
> the ugly silver ducting he want to encase them in old telegraph poles.
> To do so they need to be hollowed down the middle and these poles are
> all 10' long. I've told him that the easiest way would be to split them
> in half and channel out the waste then put the two halves together with
> the ducting in the middle. But he doesn't like the fact that spilt
> might be seeable and may cause concerns later on.
> He has told me that no matter the expense, he'll hire whatever
> equipment I need to hollow these poles out if there is another way to
> do it other than splitting it.
>
> So my quandry is how do I hollow out 10 x 10' telegraph pole without
> splitting them down the middle.
> If there is no other feasible way then my friend is willing to see
> sense and relenquish the decision to me.
>
> Sorry for the long windedness but I felt I should explain why I needed
> to know.
First off, telegraph poles have very heavy chemical treatment so make sure
that you have priced into this proper safety equipment, and bear in mind
that between splinters and chemical treatment used telegraph poles are not
the friendliest things to have in your back yard. A better option if price
is no object would be to start with some ipe blanks or start with pine,
bore them, and _then_ have them treated to order. Ipe should last as long
as pressure treated and has the added advantage that its chemistry, while
allergenic to some people, is in general relatively benign.
The first hit on "ship auger" in Google was
<http://advantage-drillbits.com/auger.html>. They'll make you an auger bit
however long you need it to be and should be able to advise on what kind of
power you need in order to drive it--one of their stock 84 inch bits run
from both ends should give you a through hole but it will have a step in
the middle. Keeping it concentric is another story--it's going to wander
in 10 feet but how much I have no idea. If you need exact concentricity
you'll need to bore an undersized hole and then put a boring bar though
that that is supported on both ends.
>
> TR
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)
TrailRat wrote:
> A friend of mine is having a huge underground bunker style room put
> into his garden. It will be the length + width of his garden and will
> be buried under 2' of soil. It will be connected to his bungalow for
> access and will be used as a workshop for his various hobbies.
> It's costing him a small fortune but he's not concerned about that.
> The civil engineering firm will build the structure and top it of with
> soil but everything else he has to do himself. This is where I came
> in. He had concerns about getting natural light in over his
> workbenches and I recommended sunlight pipes. He had a look at them
> and liked what he saw. Now the problem is he doesn't want little
> clear domes over his lawn so he is raising the domes 8' and having
> long sunlight pipes. The company has assured him that the pipes will
> still work over the 11' distance.
> So after putting my foot in my mouth, my mate has told me that to hide
> the ugly silver ducting he want to encase them in old telegraph poles.
> To do so they need to be hollowed down the middle and these poles are
> all 10' long. I've told him that the easiest way would be to split
> them in half and channel out the waste then put the two halves
> together with the ducting in the middle. But he doesn't like the fact
> that spilt might be seeable and may cause concerns later on.
> He has told me that no matter the expense, he'll hire whatever
> equipment I need to hollow these poles out if there is another way to
> do it other than splitting it.
>
> So my quandry is how do I hollow out 10 x 10' telegraph pole without
> splitting them down the middle.
> If there is no other feasible way then my friend is willing to see
> sense and relenquish the decision to me.
Well drilling rig :)
Be better and cheaper just to glue up planks (hollow center) and round the
outside.
--
dadiOH
____________________________
dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
On 29 Jul 2006 12:48:56 -0700, "TrailRat" <[email protected]>
wrote:
[top posted for your convenience]
My first impression (on a number of levels) is this guy has more money
than brains. Underground bunker? For "various hobbies"? Sure.
Okay, I'm not absolutely positive, but aren't those sunlight tubes
something like 8" in diameter (inside), at least? Where is
he/you/anyone going to find telephone/graph poles that are 10-12" or
more in diameter? And that's at the top of the pole, which nets at
least 10', maybe more, in length. Trees taper, you know.
Okay, assuming that issue gets solved, I don't see what the problem
with splitting them would be, because for all the rough exterior of
the poles, I can't believe anyone would ever be able to see the split
once they're glued back up. Especially from outside the compound. Oh,
yes, I firmly believe this guy has a compound.
One of life's lessons that took me a long time to learn was to not try
to solve other people's problems. Too often they like the situation
they're in, so your effort is fruitless. Other times they don't give
you all the information you need, so once you've expended the effort
to arrive at a solution, they throw another obstacle at you. Your
"friend" reminds me of this.
This post makes me wonder if this "friend" is like the guy who tells a
doctor at the cocktail party about his "friend" that has an itch or
bump or some other malady in order to elicit free medical advice?
>A friend of mine is having a huge underground bunker style room put
>into his garden. It will be the length + width of his garden and will
>be buried under 2' of soil. It will be connected to his bungalow for
>access and will be used as a workshop for his various hobbies.
>It's costing him a small fortune but he's not concerned about that.
>The civil engineering firm will build the structure and top it of with
>soil but everything else he has to do himself. This is where I came in.
>He had concerns about getting natural light in over his workbenches and
>I recommended sunlight pipes. He had a look at them and liked what he
>saw. Now the problem is he doesn't want little clear domes over his
>lawn so he is raising the domes 8' and having long sunlight pipes. The
>company has assured him that the pipes will still work over the 11'
>distance.
>So after putting my foot in my mouth, my mate has told me that to hide
>the ugly silver ducting he want to encase them in old telegraph poles.
>To do so they need to be hollowed down the middle and these poles are
>all 10' long. I've told him that the easiest way would be to split them
>in half and channel out the waste then put the two halves together with
>the ducting in the middle. But he doesn't like the fact that spilt
>might be seeable and may cause concerns later on.
>He has told me that no matter the expense, he'll hire whatever
>equipment I need to hollow these poles out if there is another way to
>do it other than splitting it.
>
>So my quandry is how do I hollow out 10 x 10' telegraph pole without
>splitting them down the middle.
>If there is no other feasible way then my friend is willing to see
>sense and relenquish the decision to me.
>
>Sorry for the long windedness but I felt I should explain why I needed
>to know.
--
LRod
Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite
Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999
http://www.woodbutcher.net
Proud participant of rec.woodworking since February, 1997
email addy de-spam-ified due to 1,000 spams per month.
If you can't figure out how to use it, I probably wouldn't
care to correspond with you anyway.
In article <[email protected]>,
"TrailRat" <[email protected]> wrote:
> A friend of mine is having a huge underground bunker
Anyone else suspect this has a Rapala tied to the last sentence?
--
Owen Lowe
The Fly-by-Night Copper Company
__________
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
Corporate States of America and to the
Republicans for which it stands, one nation,
under debt, easily divisible, with liberty
and justice for oil."
- Wiley Miller, Non Sequitur, 1/24/05
On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 17:46:22 GMT, Fly-by-Night CC
<[email protected]> wrote:
>In article <[email protected]>,
> "TrailRat" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> A friend of mine is having a huge underground bunker
>
>Anyone else suspect this has a Rapala tied to the last sentence?
As a matter of fact, I was thinking just that earlier this morning.
Had to look up Rapala, though.
--
LRod
Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite
Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999
http://www.woodbutcher.net
Proud participant of rec.woodworking since February, 1997
email addy de-spam-ified due to 1,000 spams per month.
If you can't figure out how to use it, I probably wouldn't
care to correspond with you anyway.
In article <[email protected]>,
TrailRat <[email protected]> wrote:
<...snipped...>
>So my quandry is how do I hollow out 10 x 10' telegraph pole without
>splitting them down the middle.
>If there is no other feasible way then my friend is willing to see
>sense and relenquish the decision to me.
>
>Sorry for the long windedness but I felt I should explain why I needed
>to know.
>
>TR
>
Good luck. I can see why you would want to keep a freind like that.
Instead of hollowing out telephone poles, why not just look for some
hollow trees and cut them down to fit?
--
Larry Wasserman Baltimore, Maryland
[email protected]
On 29 Jul 2006 12:48:56 -0700, TrailRat <[email protected]> wrote:
> A friend of mine is having a huge underground bunker style room put
> into his garden. It will be the length + width of his garden and will
> be buried under 2' of soil.
... stuff deleted
> lawn so he is raising the domes 8' and having long sunlight pipes. The
> company has assured him that the pipes will still work over the 11'
> distance.
Not quite answering your question, but I don't think a 2 foot depth
of soil is sufficient to dig a hole that'll keep a 10 foot pole
upright (even if it's hollowed out).
Plus, where the sunpipe enters the bunker, 2 feet isn't enough to
stop water ingress: the joint will leak.
Also, have you or your friend thought about how many sunpipes/poles
will be needed to illuminate the bunker? I have looked into these
for a project of my own: a 12-inch pipe will only light about 150 sq.ft.
and an 8-incher considerably less. You can get 21 inch pipes, these
may be easier to disguise as something else - and you'll need fewer of them.
It may be a good move to buy one sunpipe first and experiment with
ways of mounting it, before committing to a full-scale implementation.
You never know, when he sees it, he may like the look of the dome!
Pete
--
..........................................................................
. never trust a man who, when left alone ...... Pete Lynch .
. in a room with a tea cosy ...... Marlow, England .
. doesn't try it on (Billy Connolly) .....................................
"TrailRat" <[email protected]> writes:
> So my quandry is how do I hollow out 10 x 10' telegraph pole without
> splitting them down the middle.
They still use telegraphs?
Damn! And I was upset when we couldn't get cable.
--
Sending unsolicited commercial e-mail to this account incurs a fee of
$500 per message, and acknowledges the legality of this contract.