Novice metal fabrication question

[Hockey fan]

Firstly - I know nothing about fabrication and have never had anything fabricated so looking for advice from any of you familiar with fabrication.

I'm restoring a 1962 Jamison Moon Rocket playground slide. The 4 "fins" that help stabilize the slide were sunk in concrete years ago. I had 24 hours from the time it became available until it had to be removed. Needless to say there was no quick way to break the fins loose so each one was cut with a sawzall. This resulted in slightly different length fins once it was all taken apart and placed in a truck.

In my mind I'd take them to a fabrication shop and have new ends made and welded on the bottoms. I did find another owner that was kind enough to trace one of his fins to provide a template.

Each fin is flat with some type of flat steel(?) band wrapping the entire edge of the fin.

Is this something fairly easy for a shop to do? How do I describe what I need in terms that make sense to a shop? And, anyone have a ballpark on what something like this might cost? I'd like to find a shop local to me and deliver and pickup the fins.

The goal is to have a 25' rocket in our yard later this summer.

[LWJ]

A good weld shop will do you right. Should be cheap and easy. A little bondo, a grinder, and some paint and the fix will be invisible.

FYI. That rocket is so seriously cool and gorgeous. I am envious!

[Hockey fan]

Originally Posted by LWJ

A good weld shop will do you right. Should be cheap and easy. A little bondo, a grinder, and some paint and the fix will be invisible.

FYI. That rocket is so seriously cool and gorgeous. I am envious!

Thank you! It seemed like it should be fairly simple but it's one of those things that when you've never done it before could be either really easy or super complicated.

I'll call around to some welding/metal shops in Portland and see if anyone is up for it. Would it be easier to cut all 4 to the same length and create 4 pieces the same size or just fix the bottom of each one?

It was a circus getting it down. It was down in the LA area and I got a call late on a Thursday night it had to be removed by end of day Friday or it was going to be scrapped. Luckily 3 friends local to it were willing to spend about 15 hours taking it down and completely disassembling it.

Complete it weighs around 3000 pounds. Hopefully the neighbors enjoy it.

[A930Rocket]

I imagine the fins are close in length when you cut them, but could you not cut them more to make them the same length?

Also, how do you plan on securing it to the ground?

Very cool, BTW.

[Hockey fan]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

I imagine the fins are close in length when you cut them, but could you not cut them more to make them the same length?

Also, how do you plan on securing it to the ground?

Very cool, BTW.

Good thought. I will probably have all 4 cut the same and 4 new pieces of metal made for the bottoms.

The center pole is the main support. It's a huge steel pole that's set about 8' deep in concrete. Some of the remaining slides then have a pad poured or 4 concrete pads for the fins.

There's a local company that installs playground equipment that's offered to help with installation details once we get the rocket itself restored and back together.

[LWJ]

Even better. You are local!

[ckelly78z]

The easy thing would be to mount two small horizontal sheets of 1/4"-3/8" steel into your yard concrete, and slide the end of each fin in between these....drill, bolt, and paint. No welding, or fabricator required.

[wdfifteen]

The rocket is supported by the center pole? What function do the fins serve other than esthetic? If they're just there for looks you can do anything that looks good.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

What we really need to see here are the pictures you took of it as you were hauling it home!

[Turbo_pro]

I would think you could stand the rocket up using temporary supports, surround each fin at the base with a concrete form and pour a base.
This should stabilize the rocket and keep it somewhat mobile.

The trick would be determining the diameter and thickness of the concrete.

[dad911]

Very cool. How thick are the fins, and can you shape what is left ?

Pls post before, during, and after pics.


I assume you have seen this?: https://www.retroghosttown.com/blog/2018/6/3/the-jamison-moon-rocket-

[Nickshu]

I have nothing useful to add other than to say THATS AWESOME! When I was a kid we had one of those at a nearby park. It was taken down maybe in the late 1980s. Please post photos when you get it fixed up and back in place.....BTW where are you going to install it?

[javadog]

I would weld extensions on each fin, long enough to embed them in concrete as originally done. Cutting each fin to an exact length first would not be needed. If there's a variation in the total length of the fins embedded in the concrete, it won't matter. If you raise the finished level of each concrete pad above the join line, no refinishing will be necessary.

Keep it simple.

[1990C4S]

First off, I think it's super-cool. I would be concerned about liability insurance if you are letting anyone other than your own family use it. There's a reason they aren't around any more.

There are numerous good suggestions above. I would be inclined to bolt or weld extensions on and then set the fins into concrete. The length needs to be sufficient to seat into the concrete, but there's no need for them to be equal length.

I would weld to the sides, not butt weld them. Or sandwich the fin with an extension on each side.

Or bolt them with a stainless bolt, then have a mobile welder guy stop by to stick weld it after the install is done.

[Hockey fan]

Originally Posted by ckelly78z

The easy thing would be to mount two small horizontal sheets of 1/4"-3/8" steel into your yard concrete, and slide the end of each fin in between these....drill, bolt, and paint. No welding, or fabricator required.

That's a good thought.

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

The rocket is supported by the center pole? What function do the fins serve other than esthetic? If they're just there for looks you can do anything that looks good.

The fins do provide a bit of lateral support. They bolt to each of the first two "floors" of the bottom 2 levels. Unlike the deeply sunk center pole they sit mainly on the surface though.

Originally Posted by LEAKYSEALS951

What we really need to see here are the pictures you took of it as you were hauling it home!

Unfortunately we had no time to get any equipment for the removal so it was done by hand. That led to hours of breaking it down. Needless to say the gazillion nuts and bolts from 1962 were mighty rusted. Once it was in pieces we loaded it in a Uhaul and over to a warehouse where we strapped everything to skids. In a perfect world we would have had it laid over and lifted into a truck intact. It weighs around 3000# so that was impossible for the 3 of us. The center pole weighs several hundred pounds and we barely got that in the truck.

[Hockey fan]

Originally Posted by Turbo_pro

I would think you could stand the rocket up using temporary supports, surround each fin at the base with a concrete form and pour a base.
This should stabilize the rocket and keep it somewhat mobile.

The trick would be determining the diameter and thickness of the concrete.

We do want it to be somewhat mobile. We probably won't be at this house forever so would want it to go with us if we ever leave.

I do feel good about the local playground installation company helping out. They seem pretty excited about putting up a cool old piece rather than the current plastic "safe" pieces they install these days.

Originally Posted by dad911

Very cool. How thick are the fins, and can you shape what is left ?

Pls post before, during, and after pics.


I assume you have seen this?: https://www.retroghosttown.com/blog/2018/6/3/the-jamison-moon-rocket-

I haven't measured the thickness as it's currently stored at a warehouse. My plan is to get everything together before starting to reassemble it. It's pretty big so the plan is to have everything ready to go before spreading it all around the space.

Thanks for the link. Small world but that's the gentleman that created a template of his complete fins for us to work from.

[Hockey fan]

Originally Posted by Nickshu

I have nothing useful to add other than to say THATS AWESOME! When I was a kid we had one of those at a nearby park. It was taken down maybe in the late 1980s. Please post photos when you get it fixed up and back in place.....BTW where are you going to install it?

I only got to play on one once as a kid but I never forgot how cool I thought it was. There is still one in Boulder if you ever pass through town. It's going in our yard.

[sammyg2]

THAT IS TOTALLY WICKED!


Can't tell you how many hours i spent as a yoot climbing in, on, and around one of those.

At one time I was the only kid in the neighborhood who had accomplished climbing all the way to the very top of the rocket on the outside. That was a big deal to young kid.

That was back when we were still allowed to play with things that had sharp edges and weren't bubble-wrapped.

Not to rain on your parade, but have you ran this by your homeowner's insurance provider yet?

[Hockey fan]

Originally Posted by javadog

I would weld extensions on each fin, long enough to embed them in concrete as originally done. Cutting each fin to an exact length first would not be needed. If there's a variation in the total length of the fins embedded in the concrete, it won't matter. If you raise the finished level of each concrete pad above the join line, no refinishing will be necessary.

Keep it simple.

Perfect! Any idea of what effect concrete has on encased steel? It had made it the first 50+ years so it must not had too bad of an effect.

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

First off, I think it's super-cool. I would be concerned about liability insurance if you are letting anyone other than your own family use it. There's a reason they aren't around any more.

There are numerous good suggestions above. I would be inclined to bolt or weld extensions on and then set the fins into concrete. The length needs to be sufficient to seat into the concrete, but there's no need for them to be equal length.

I would weld to the sides, not butt weld them. Or sandwich the fin with an extension on each side.

Or bolt them with a stainless bolt, then have a mobile welder guy stop by to stick weld it after the install is done.

Thanks! We don't have any kids and neither do any of our neighbors. It'll really be more like a giant piece of yard art. We did run it by our insurance agent and he said we were good to go, and then tried to buy it from us.

I do like the idea of a mobile welder. The pieces are fairly large and heavy so not the easiest things to run to a shop and pick up again.

[Hockey fan]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

THAT IS TOTALLY WICKED!


Can't tell you how many hours i spent as a yoot climbing in, on, and around one of those.

At one time I was the only kid in the neighborhood who had accomplished climbing all the way to the very top of the rocket on the outside. That was a big deal to young kid.

That was back when we were still allowed to play with things that had sharp edges and weren't bubble-wrapped.

Not to rain on your parade, but have you ran this by your homeowner's insurance provider yet?

Love that kid!

Climbing to the top on the outside is a bid deal. We had to go all the way up on the inside to take it apart and it was pretty high. Also the weight of 2 adults up there makes it sway just a tad.

I have a soft spot for some of the "dangerous" stuff from my childhood. Last month when it snowed here a neighbor was shocked that I was riding around on a Honda 3 wheeler. They tried to convince me they had been banned years ago.

Insurance guy says we're good to go. The majority of my neighbors are retired so hopefully they don't get stuck inside it.