Sean Meighan
General => The Water Cooler => Topic started by: JonB256 on January 10, 2018, 09:47:57 AM
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My local stores didn't seem to over-order their basic 3ft or 5ft spiral trees this year so there weren't any to snatch at 75% off. :(
Has anyone made their own (for pixels, not incandescent)? If so, how did it work out and how did you do it?
(https://happyholidaysblog.com/wp-content/uploads/Spiral-Christmas-Tree-01-300x300.jpg)
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I just use normal 3ft artificial trees we got on discount a few years ago. I have 85 pixel strings and I just wrap one string around the tree in a spiral. I model it as a spiral and it ends up looking pretty nice. You can see them in the right side of my display.
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Gil, I don't know why but my wife thinks the white spiral trees I pictured are "christmas-y" and has asked me to add them for several years. After seeing a few in videos, I do like their see-through visibility and their "coiled spring" look when animated since you can see front and back equally. A nice 360° prop. They should collapse down to nothing, also. A big plus.
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Well in front of my little trees is what I call my pixel tower. It came from a funeral flower arrangement and the way the wires travel the pixels run in a double helix shape.
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My local stores didn't seem to over-order their basic 3ft or 5ft spiral trees this year so there weren't any to snatch at 75% off. :(
Has anyone made their own (for pixels, not incandescent)? If so, how did it work out and how did you do it?
(https://happyholidaysblog.com/wp-content/uploads/Spiral-Christmas-Tree-01-300x300.jpg)
Yes, I used these extensively, replacing the LEDs they come with, with bullets. Works great!
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Gil, I don't know why but my wife thinks the white spiral trees I pictured are "christmas-y" and has asked me to add them for several years. After seeing a few in videos, I do like their see-through visibility and their "coiled spring" look when animated since you can see front and back equally. A nice 360° prop. They should collapse down to nothing, also. A big plus.
Yup, storage is great! They all just collapse down into a short disk
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I’m about to switch mine over to pixels. Did you just use cable ties to secure each pixel? That is my plan so far unless someone has a better way to tie the the plastic coil.
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I’m about to switch mine over to pixels. Did you just use cable ties to secure each pixel? That is my plan so far unless someone has a better way to tie the the plastic coil.
I didn't need to use ties. The bullets fit firmly in-between the railing with a snug fit. Hasn't cause me any problems for two years.
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Sweet. That would certainly make maintenance easier. Thanks.
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I have had mine for years, first as incandescent now as pixels. They are simple tomato cages each tree is two cages offset by a quarter turn. I cut and re-welded them to get a better cone shape then wrapped them in chicken wire for support of the lights. I originally had them also wrapped with green garland but have since removed the garland and painted them black. They work pretty well and are fairly durable.
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Sweet. That would certainly make maintenance easier. Thanks.
Here's how they look
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3mm steel rod x 1.3m high. welded washers on top of each rod- zip tie to hold together.
use 3mm rod make a circle the diameter you want your trees to be , weld it together,
fit over top of tree- aim for half way down- zip tie to each arm of tree.
wrap around 1 x 5m of strip = zip tie as needed.
when packing up remoce strip, undo x5 of the ring/arm zipties, leaving one attached.
arms all fold ion and whole prop is only width of the ring as it too folds up into 2d not 3d
Cheers Boof63
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Sweet. That would certainly make maintenance easier. Thanks.
Here's how they look
I like the simplicity of that approach but I don’t want to put that much strain on the plastic coil. I’m in a cold climate and I’ve already cracked a few of these. I’m thinking of laying the bullets on their side and using small cable ties to fasten the bullet to the plastic rails. Lights are still on order from China so have to wait and see. Having all my controller boxes built with no lights is killing me!
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3mm steel rod x 1.3m high. welded washers on top of each rod- zip tie to hold together.
use 3mm rod make a circle the diameter you want your trees to be , weld it together,
fit over top of tree- aim for half way down- zip tie to each arm of tree.
wrap around 1 x 5m of strip = zip tie as needed.
when packing up remoce strip, undo x5 of the ring/arm zipties, leaving one attached.
arms all fold ion and whole prop is only width of the ring as it too folds up into 2d not 3d
Cheers Boof63
Not getting a visual in my brain. What arm of what tree?
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I used to have those spiral trees and I threw them away. Guess we all like different things. I love my little mini trees and I can pack all 5 in one plastic container. You can see them up close at the 4:00 minute mark in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuQrlbFTi7I (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuQrlbFTi7I)
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i laid mine in the track and used little zip ties. i can tell you it's a pain in the butt but worth it. i ended up with 192 nodes laying back to back on a 6' tree. i also put 5 nodes in the star. there is a few short videos on my facebook page. i only did one but actually have 10 others with the incans still in them that i plan on adding to this years show.
https://www.facebook.com/HearthstoneLights/
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Apologies , when i said arm i meant each upright, zip to each upright of tree to hold width and away you go,
I don't have any pictures sorry
/\
/ \
/----\ zip tie circle of rod to hold uprights equidistant apart
Cheers Boof6
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My local stores didn't seem to over-order their basic 3ft or 5ft spiral trees this year so there weren't any to snatch at 75% off. :(
Has anyone made their own (for pixels, not incandescent)? If so, how did it work out and how did you do it?
(https://happyholidaysblog.com/wp-content/uploads/Spiral-Christmas-Tree-01-300x300.jpg)
I haven't had a chance to do those but has anyone approached Boscoyo Studios about make one? Using the same plastic as his strip you could take a circle and cut it out to make the spiral. Then either have holes to push the pixels through or smaller holes for zip ties to hold the pixels down.
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I just sent a request to James asking if he has or has not looked into making the spirals. Hopefully he will reply soon.
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I just sent a request to James asking if he has or has not looked into making the spirals. Hopefully he will reply soon.
That is an interesting thought. With a large circle of that ABS (or whatever) plastic Boscoyo uses, cutting a spiral and drilling 12mm holes would go it (for vertical pixels) or drilling small holes for Zip ties for horizontal pixels.
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Got a reply back from Shannan Hohensee:
"We have tried these and doesn’t work well with the materials we use. Best bet is to get a spiral and add your own lights Sorry this is one we haven't been able to accomplish the material gets to flimsy and with weight of the lights it doesn't hold shape well."
Have to keep looking...
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Thanks for posting. I got the same response, but couldn't find this thread. (Long day. :( )