The 2009 "J" Tree Design Project
The Problem: Here is an example of a 26-inch "older" mini tree we've had in-service in our display for 3 years. After last season, the minilights were
looking a little bit faded, and the trees were in need of some refurbishing.
The Solution: We could have just taken off the older faded minilights and re-wrapped all of them with new lights. That would have taken a lot of time, but it would have looked
pretty good (at least for a few more years). My dad and I had some discussions about what we should do: refurbish the old trees or build new ones? Dad had a new welder, and was interested
in seeing what he could put together. So we started swapping emails and ideas. I made a list of the improvements I'd like to see in the trees if we rebuilt them, and we took it from there.
- Storage of the older mini tree design takes a lot of space. You can stack a few, but not very well. Storage is king!
- Many of these mini trees are located in the grass when on display (pushed into the soil), and they can trip the GFCI power when wet.
- The floral easels can flex in the center when wrapped with lights, looking a bit bowed.
- The lights on the "back side" of the tree are not as visible as those on the front from the street; can they be eliminated or moved to the front?
- Each tree takes over 1 amp of current with incandescent lights, so a switch to LED would be nice.
- More free-standing "driveway" stability would be nice as well.
- The old trees were dual-channel, 4 color in some cases and 2 colors in other cases. Wouldn't it be nice to go tri-channel and tri-color? That would provide lots of flexibility during programming.
- We still liked the "easel" design, but maybe something better could wrap all these improvements into a nice package?
The Size of the Job: We had 24 trees in the grass that are 26" tall, 4 trees on the driveway that are 33" tall, and 5 trees on the driveway that
are 40" tall. And, we wanted to add 10 more Driveway trees. Wow, that's lot of fabrication and lights...A total of 43 trees! We decided to strip and re-use the existing driveway trees
with new modifications (new bracing). But that still left 34 new trees to build, and lots of lights to attach...Getting started on the lights was the easy part. We ordered those
during the 2009 pre-sales, and went with an all-LED design and layout.
So let's get down to business with the new tree design. The clock is ticking to Christmas!!!
My Dad came up with some design ideas, as shown in this preliminary sketch of what a 26" Mini Tree could look like. The left sketch is a side-view,
with the left side being visible. The right sketch is a rear-view. We envisioned lights being installed on the two front surfaces (back and forth - making a u-turn
at each left and right leg), with no lights across the back in a circle as in the previous design.
That would allow much better stacking, would maximize the light viewing from the front, and
wouldn't have the "boa constrictor" feature of bowing the easel. Plus, we decided to make it out of 1/4" HRS rod, which has quite a bit of strength. The design is taking
shape...Below is a photo of the first prototype of the new "J" Tree design.
Here's a finished and painted prototype of the first "J" Tree, painted Hunter Green of course :). You can't see it too well in this photo, but
there is a hook on the top to make it easy to grab the tree when it is wrapped with lights. It has a wider stance than the floral easel for more stability, and bracing on
the lower section. It's looking great so far.
We also designed it to lay down for storage (the top in the photo above would lay down towards the viewer). The lights will only
be on the two outside edges, perfect! So it's looking like a pretty good design; it has all the features we're looking for. How do you build and weld these trees in a
repeatable fashion? After all, we need 24 of this size. My Dad to the rescue!
PaPa Joe (the "J" in the "J Tree") always takes a long-term view of a project like this. We need to build 24 of these trees, so let's make
it as easy to repeat the design as possible. Let's build a tool to help repeat the geometry of the tree when welding, which is called a jig.
So PaPa build a jig out of wood
to use when fabricating the trees. The jig helps hold the pieces in place when welding and also helps maintain the angles that are necessary. The screw and washer help hold the top
and clamps can be used to help hold the pieces at the base. In addition, there are wooden "Runners" on the jig to help guide the tree rod to help keep the geometry stable. Let's weld!!!
Here's a photo that shows the top weld point on the tree. One of the rods is not in the final position, just showing the jig, guidepoints, and how it comes together. See below for a better photo with the pieces in the proper position.
And here we go. Using the black clamp on the bottom, the leg is in the proper position for the spread and angles. We're ready to start welding the top joints. Only 300 days until Christmas!!!
Once that top joint gets welded, then it's time to start working on preparing and welding the bottom braces. The jig has a bottom stop for the braces, so they can be clamped easily and held in place. PaPa has the rhythm of it now, he's cranking them out!
Another view of the "J" Tree Jig with the bottom pieces clamped in place and ready to weld. That jig is getting marked up with welding splooge (that's a technical term)!
A bender is used to put the hook at the top of the "J" Tree. The bender also comes in handy for other metal-working projects, and is a must for the metal shop. PaPa says he can bend those hooks pretty easily now.
After a few days of fabrication, here's a bunch of "J" Trees finished and ready for painting. PaPa built a "paint booth" out of a large cardboard box that contains the paint and helps reduce overspray. So the painting process begins...Our favorite color is Rustoleum Hunter Green, of course!
Here's a group of 22 "J" Trees with a coat of paint that are stacked up next to each other without lights so you can see how easy it's going to be to store these trees. Sure, they'll end up thicker when they get wrapped with lights, but it's looking pretty good, eh? Great looking decorations, and getting the storage all lined up in advance...It doesn't get much better than that!!!
Remember above when I said that one of the disadvantages of the older trees was their propensity to trip the GFCI breakers when they
get a little wet in the grass? I've brainstormed a new idea to try and combat that problem. We picked up some reinforced rubber tubing and have experimented with one
of the prototype "J" Trees. By cutting off each of the three legs a few inches from the bottom, and inserting the remaining leg and cut-off piece into each end of
the rubber tubing with a gap in between (as shown), I'm hoping that this will provide some insulation between the metal tree structure and the ground (grass)
where the trees are to be installed. The legs make a really tight fit into the tubing, so I think they'll stay on with no problems.
I'm hoping that this new design
will help reduce nuisance GFCI trips on the new "J" Trees. Why? Because similiar trees on the concrete driveway didn't trip their respective GFCI breakers. There's
something about that grass contact (and all the moisture contained) with the metal legs of the old trees that I'm thinking allowed some current leakage to ground. If
this new design works (and stops the leakage and GFCI tripping), I'll be smiling!!! If not, it's still some good "shock absorption" for visitors and any accidental
tree bumping that occurs...
Here's a close up photo of the tubing and the cut-off leg for the "J" Tree. On the production run of the trees, I'll make the cut a little higher towards the bottom brace. Each side of the metal rod will insert into the rubber tubing, but will not join the two metal pieces or allow them to touch, effectively insulating them from each other.
Here's photo to show what the rubber tubing look like when it is in place on the leg. It should provide some good electrical insultation, as well as some "Shock absorber" action for dogs and kids when bumping the trees on display.
After building all 24 "J" Trees for the grass area, PaPa started thinking about building the rest of the new trees for the
driveway area. We're doing a "Graduated" sizing for the 10 new trees (2 groups of 5), which requires different size trees.
So PaPa "J" built a new jig with multiple
brace stops on the bottom. The geometry will stay the same on these multi-size trees, but the brace will move up or down depending on the height. The legs can be made any
length, they just get further apart as the tree grows taller. PaPa "J" learned a lot from making the first jig, so this second "Multi-height" jig works even better.
Here is a photo showing the top of the new trees on the new jig, just before welding those upper joints. Notice the angles cut on the two side pieces to make a better fit with the longer center "Hook" piece. This helps make the weld joints better with smaller gaps.
Once those upper joints are welded, then the bottom braces can be positioned and welded as well. The leg is clamped in place on the jig and is ready to weld the joint for the bottom brace.
Here's a view of the entire multi-jig with the lower brace set in position at the lowest position, meaning this tree is going to be the tallest size. We're cranking out the trees like Henry Ford. You can have any color as long as its green!
Here's a shot of the new "J" Tree Multi-Jig at another angle showing the jig with the tree turned sideways to catch the welding of the other brace. Another tall tree sample.
This photo shows the weld joints where the two braces come together. Keep those joints clean!
Another shot showing the top joints on the Multi-Jig. Notice the angled cuts on the leg segments to make clean joints when welded (smaller gaps are preferred).
It takes just 5 pieces of rod to make a new "J" Tree. Here they are, with the angled cuts and hook bend already applied. At about 25 cents per foot for the rod, it makes for some pretty inexpensive trees. Unfortunately, my Dad's labor probably costs a few thousand $$$. I haven't seen a bill yet, though... :)
Getting ready to weld the bottom brace for the newly redesigned "J" Tree using the multi-jig. The jig has pre-defined "Stops" attached so the legs and braces fall right into position and produce repeatable results.
PaPa says "It's Miller Time" after welding up a few of these "J" Trees. We think the design is going to solve many of the issues
and challenges we had with the older floral easels. New LED lights are on order, and these trees should last a long time without fading or other issues. And, we may
get lucky on the GFCI secret weapon modification!
So far, it's been a great project...Painting is complete, and now we're just waiting for the lights to arrive.
Then it will be "Tree-party" time, because we'll have 43 trees to wrap! Care to come over and give us a hand? Well, if you made it this far through, you must be
either very interested in the trees or a certified "Crazy Christmas Decorator" like we are...Thanks for following our "J" Tree saga!
Here is what one of the smaller "J" Trees look like all painted up real pretty. You are looking from the left side. Lights will be installed on the two front-facing surfaces for maximum impact.
Here is a front view of a freshly painted "J" Tree, complete with carrying hook on top and lower braces. Isn't it an elegant design?
With just five pieces of rod, we have built a stable, solid, attractive tree of the future! It's stackable, should be resistant to moisture GFCI trips, and won't bow
when wrapping (because the lights don't go "around it" but go back and forth on the front...
The "J" Tree, build some for your display!!! (And make my Dad proud!)
Even though the "real" lights for the trees are on order, just for you, I wrapped 150 Blue LED lights on a "J" Tree Frame so you could see what they look like. The design for the trees ultimately is to have 3 colors comprised of 200 lights each for a total of 600 lights per tree.
Here is a front view of 150 Blue LED lights on the prototype "J" Tree. They are wrapped on the frame in a back-and-forth-and-back manner, with no lights circling around the back. In the display, all the lights will be facing forward, and this will keep the back of the tree open so they can be stacked easier for storage.
Here's a rear angle of the lights on the "J" Tree frame. The design really allows for a good presentation of lights from the front angles while leaving the rear open and unlit. Maximum candlepower will be directed forward and to the sides, for maximum Wow factor!!
Another view of the "J" Tree, this time from the top showing the rows of cable ties on the left and right sides. Leaning slightly back, the "J" Tree has plenty of stability. The hook at the top is for handling and carrying, and could be used in the future as a way to mount a topper light or decoration for the tree.
Red and Green
Red, Green, and Blue
Here's a photo of ALL of the J" Trees for 2009, all 43 of them. Whew, that was a lot of wrapping! We hope you've enjoyed the photos and
description of the project. This year, we're going to feature the all new "J" Trees at Belardo Lights. Bring your sunglasses, however, because it's shaping up to be a
well-lit Christmas. You've just got to come by in person and see these trees all lit up!!!
Belardo Lights, San Diego. We're committed to making lifelong
Christmas memories for our family, your family, and the community.