Debrief from Prescott

I had a surprisingly good time, volunteering to build a community park last weekend.  All I knew before I left for this trip was that a community wanted to transform a small burned out lot into a gathering place. The design would include reclaimed materials from nearby farms. What follows is a summary of the project.

Day One in Prescott, Washington, I was shown a pile of steel materials, which consisted of rebar, railroad ties, and remnant sheet metal.  Then I was asked to make it into two gates that would be 8' x 8', in a design that the community sketched (not to scale).  Also, I was asked if I could finish it in three days.  My daughter and I were the only volunteers with metalworking experience as far as I knew.  

After I recovered from a moment of what felt like, panic, I began an inventory and planned out how to move forward.  We taught a few volunteers how to operate the abrasive saw and set them to work on cutting all the rebar.  It was a bit of a challenge working on the floor of this shop, even though it was perfectly level.  The owner of the shop generously loaned the space, the tools, and miscellaneous materials for this project. 

The framework was completed by the end of the day and a pile of materials were ready for Day Two. We needed to modify the design of the gates slightly in order to brace them structurally.  At this point, we had not come up with any solutions that would not completely alter the original design.

Day Two in Prescott, we had a few more volunteers that were new to the machinery, but enthusiastic to learn.  Whitney was in charge of laying out all of the rebar into the wheat design, and teaching them how to use a grinder.  I continued to weld, plasma cut the sheet metal, and lead this portion of the project. Whitney and I proposed a moon and sun design at the top of the gates to add structure, which was approved by the group.  By the end of the day the two gates were tack welded and the new structural parts were in place.

Day Three in Prescott, we spent the morning welding up the gates, grinding the sharp edges, and adding bracing where needed. By the afternoon the gates were moved to the site and the difficult task of installing them to the existing beams began.  
Thankfully, another welder from the community with plenty of experience stepped in to help.  Together, the gates were mounted after about three hours!  From the happy comments from the citizens, they must have turned out as they hoped.