recreating a BLACKHAWK totem pole

[don long]

DSCN3564 by don long, on Flickr

After collecting ALL the Blackhawk hydraulic jacks I wanted a totem pole to display them. One evening I received a P.M. from another G.J. member alerting me of this pole offered on Ebay. It was across the country from me and I was too late. I missed it, but the description given with the pictures helped me recreate the pole. I copied the pic,s and script and stored it away.

The time has come to build my pole so here we go.

1st I recreated what I knew in excel.
2nd I purchased some foam boards and transferred the info in excel to the
foam boards and cut the pieces out.
3rd I taped the parts together to see if my numbers looked right

2020-10-17 23.13.25 by don long, on Flickr

It looks close but needed some tweaking

My second attempt was good enough to make the pole out of metal.

2020-10-18 20.19.23 by don long, on Flickr

I started with a sheet of 18 gauge steel and started laying out the different pieces.

2020-10-19 19.30.57 by don long, on Flickr

with my sheer lined up with my work table I cut the first piece. (the back)
with the folds marked I went over to the finger brake and folded the sides.

2020-10-21 19.00.15 by don long, on Flickr

Next I sheered a second piece of metal (the front) and took it over to the rolls and rolled a curve into the front piece. Next I pinched some holes down both sides of the front panel before folding the flaps to be welded to the back piece

2020-10-21 18.59.46 by don long, on Flickr

 

[don long]

Fitting both pieces together, I was satisfied with the fit so I notched both sides of the rear piece to let the front panel have a line to follow while welding it together

2020-10-21 18.46.06 by don long, on Flickr

2020-10-22 11.49.29 by don long, on Flickr

I fit the front piece to the back piece and clamped it for welding

2020-10-22 11.53.58 by don long, on Flickr

After welding the two pieces together I moved on to the base of the pole
(no pic,s of the process) I cut another piece from the sheet of metal and folded each side 1 inch and welded the corners together before cutting 3 reinforcement pieces and welded them on the bottom of the base

2020-10-22 11.50.25 by don long, on Flickr

After looking at my pictures I realized that I needed a cap for the pole so I placed a piece of steel on the top of the pole and outlined the pole. Then I added folds to weld to and cut out the cap. (again no pic,s)

The final part made today was the wings for the top. I traced the top made of foam board onto another piece of the sheet steel and cut it down to a close cut.

2020-10-22 15.37.53 by don long, on Flickr

Then with my sheers and die grinder I finish cut the top piece.
I set the pole on the base and placed the wings on the pole and called it a day

2020-10-22 17.21.48 by don long, on Flickr

Next I need to build the 4 shelves.

.

 

[IMCA38]

Wow!

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Awesome


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[jhn9840]

Don, I always look forward to your work. This is going to be just fantastic. Can’t wait to see it in paint.

jhn9840
John

 

[stinkity stoink]

That is going to be very cool...

 

[sponfit]

Impressive

 

[y'sguy]

Yea, this is going to awesome!

 

[brianh]

Nice can't wait to see more!

 

[Bill Bowman]

As always, your projects always look great, both during fabrication, and after completion. Thanks for posting.

 

[930dreamer]

This will be very nice as always.

 

[jabberwoki]

Don, i am definitely coming down to you place one day.

 

[The Cobbler]

I'm following yet another fabulous project of yours!

 

[don long]

Thanks guys for all the support and kind thoughts.
I've been building this totem pole in my mind for several months and when I came across the tall skinny jack it was time to make room for the project

 

[sselander]

Google "blackhawk jack display" for some great photos to use for reproducing the faces on the display.
What a great project.

 

[don long]

Google "blackhawk jack display" for some great photos to use for reproducing the faces on the display.
What a great project.

Thanks sselander
Those pic,s you speak of were the ones posted on ebay several months ago and that is where I picked up the dimensions I'm using to recreate mine.

 

[PugetDude]

Don, great start to another epic project.

Trying to decide who's going to finish up first- you on the Totem Pole or Tony on the Flying A sign... in all fairness Tony does have a bum leg.

 

[NYBODYMAN]

Amazing!!! Just curious, what did the one sell for on ebay?

 

[don long]

Don, great start to another epic project.

Trying to decide who's going to finish up first- you on the Totem Pole or Tony on the Flying A sign... in all fairness Tony does have a bum leg.

Dude
Bum leg or not that "A" sign is killer and I really want that pattern

Amazing!!! Just curious, what did the one sell for on ebay?

NYBODYMAN
I really don't remember the price. I just remember thinking that it wasn't that bad and it was sold before I looked at it. but I did copy ALL of the pictures and description so I could build this one.

 

[NYBODYMAN]

I am always on the lookout for Blackhawk body shop shop items. Tough to find.

 

[nadogail]

You deserve an "Oscar" for both the presentation and the results.

 

[royce]

Fantastic Don,
The stuff you do is a treat.

Royce

 

[don long]

I am always on the lookout for Blackhawk body shop shop items. Tough to find.

What have you found bodyman
I was friends with the CEO of blackhawk back in the 90s and used a lot of their stuff. We designed a frame machine together back then.

You deserve an "Oscar" for both the presentation and the results.

Very kind words nadogail
Thank you

Fantastic Don,
The stuff you do is a treat.

Royce

Thanks Royce
You know that I enjoy working in my shop as much as you enjoy yours.

 

[don long]

Today was shop cleanup day but that didn't go very far.
I got side tracked early today working on 3 different projects before making the 4 shelves for the totem pole

I moved my sheer closer to the adjustable table to make sheering the metal much easier. I managed to get the 4 shelves cut and folded and shaped tonight

2020-10-24 16.50.40 by don long, on Flickr

2020-10-24 18.37.00 by don long, on Flickr

2020-10-24 18.36.30 by don long, on Flickr

 

[NYBODYMAN]

What have you found bodyman
I was friends with the CEO of blackhawk back in the 90s and used a lot of their stuff. We designed a frame machine together back then.



Very kind words nadogail
Thank you



Thanks Royce
You know that I enjoy working in my shop as much as you enjoy yours.

I guess I should have said vintage tools, but nonetheless, one thing that comes to mind is the Port-o-Power station.

 

[don long]

I made some good progress today.
I managed to weld the 4 steps on the side of the post
Drilled the mounting holes for the top to mount to the post and holes in the base to mount the pole so the totem pole is now made

2020-10-27 17.11.08 by Ann Long, on Flickr

I took it back apart for priming and got all 3 pieces done

2020-10-27 18.21.08 by Ann Long, on Flickr

2020-10-27 18.21.35 by Ann Long, on Flickr

2020-10-27 18.21.26 by Ann Long, on Flickr

2020-10-27 18.21.42 by Ann Long, on Flickr

 

[royce]

Don,
The form of this totem is way pleasing to the eye.
Looking good

Royce

 

[thehorse13]

After watching this thread and a few other of your restorations, I'm left with the realization that:

A) I need a party garage.
B) I have to talk Mrs. Horsey into letting me build a paint booth on the property.

 

[bugnut]

outstanding work!

 

[MP&C]

Nice work Don!!

 

[rattle_snake]

Very cool looking forward to seeing it complete.

 

[don long]

Don,
The form of this totem is way pleasing to the eye.
Looking good

Royce

Thanks Royce
It will make a great way to display a few bottle jacks

After watching this thread and a few other of your restorations, I'm left with the realization that:

A) I need a party garage.
B) I have to talk Mrs. Horsey into letting me build a paint booth on the property.

Be careful what you wish for Horse
Mine was a wish once and now I have more work ahead of me than I can do!!

outstanding work!

Thanks bugnut

Nice work Don!!

I appreciate that Robert

Very cool looking forward to seeing it complete.

Thanks Snake
I'm all over this project

 

[don long]

The primer dried and so it was time for some sanding and another trip to the booth for color

The base was first

2020-10-29 08.57.16 by Ann Long, on Flickr

Next the top panel

2020-10-29 08.57.55 by Ann Long, on Flickr

And finally the post

2020-10-29 08.57.48 by Ann Long, on Flickr

I let them sit over night and this morning did a little assembly work

2020-10-29 09.01.14 by Ann Long, on Flickr

Now for the faces

 

[fourbyford]

Wowsa... You nailed it!

Very nice... looking forward to seeing the faces come to life!

...D

 

[don long]

Wowsa... You nailed it!

Very nice... looking forward to seeing the faces come to life!

...D

Thank you forbyford
Now it's up to my artist / pinstripe buddy to bring it to life and he is real good!!!

 

[gtsgarage]

Great work! Can’t wait to see the final product.

 

[Bears Fan]

Awesome job on the Blackhawk bottle jack stand, what a cool advertising piece

 

[don long]

Great work! Can’t wait to see the final product.

Thanks GTS
The jacks all shinny will really set it off.

Awesome job on the Blackhawk bottle jack stand, what a cool advertising piece

Thanks Tony
It should create a bit of conversation when it hits the party garage.

How's the flying "A" coming along?

 

[jimkinney]

Don, very nice work.

As a side note, how many coats of paint does that lift have? Gotta be a lot.

 

[don long]

Don, very nice work.

As a side note, how many coats of paint does that lift have? Gotta be a lot.

Thanks Jim
I still see some factory blue paint so not as much as one might think