What's all this, then?

Each Halloween season, when the Greenwood Reaper inhabits my yard, people ask me “How did you make it?” and “What is it made from?”.

Since I’m making a bigger and better reaper I figured I’d make this blog to answer those questions. This is also a way for interested parties to ask questions and see the progress of the project.

The only regular time I spend building is on the week-ends, so it’s likely posts will appear early in the week.

The posts appear with the newest on top, so if you're new to the sight scroll to the bottom to read the beginning.



Enjoy.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Rise!

Raising the whole thing was a simple 3 step process.


…wait, did I say simple?


Rigging: With the able-bodied help of Dave, we rigged a modified mechanical belay system (replacing the center snap link with a pulley) between the chimney and the far corner of the arbor. This was the best way we devised to get the pulley point as high as possible. A rope was attached to the torso (about 2/3 of the way up the spine), through the pulley then down to the ground.


Joining: This step involved connecting the torso to the legs. Two of us held the torso in place while a third inserted the hinge pin (see Structure Basics for more details).



Lifting: Two of us lifted the torso from the front until the angle was right for the rope to pull effectively.









Once everything was upright a few swings from a framing hammer persuaded everything in place. Six truck cargo straps leading to five foot steel stakes cinched everything securely to the ground.

3 comments:

Marta said...

Yay! I love seeing the reaper and knowing that Halloween is coming!

Eliza said...

It looks great! Scarier than ever!

laleela said...

Wow, you really put a lot of thought and effort into this. We drove by your house last night specifically to see if the reaper was back this year and weren't disappointed. It's truly awesome!