Many of you might have read in my hot off the saw post yesterday that I've taken on another task. Our town has a park along side of the highway that runs through it and for quite a few years now the american Legion Auxillary has sold crosses and flags to the families of vets, to be put out on all patriotic holidays. Our local Boy Scout troop handles placing them and putting them away. They cost $80.00, which includes lifetime maintaince and replacement of of both. Anyway I've been aquainted with the man that makes these for several years now through my Legion post. He had a stroke a couple years ago and now is in the early stages of alzhiemers, and is not able to keep this up, so his wife had asked me a couple months ago if I knew anyone that might be willing to learn how he makes them and take over, I guess that's when I got volunteered. 

 I went over to his house this morning to start making some with him. He just uses 2x4's , which the local lumber yard picks through their stock and donates stuff that they can't sell. They are 18" tall, and hollow so the flag pole will slide through it into a pipe in the ground, pretty simple design. He has a shop full of power tools but doesn't have any dado blades for his table saw, or a router table, so he rips the dado with his Dewalt 7730 RAS, which he has set up with 4' long extensions with built in rollers, then takes a chisel and cleans them out. Kind of a time consuming method. Once we get one completed and I have all the dimensions I'm going to use my router table to make the dado's, I do think that will be a lot less work. 

The only payment for this project will be the satisfaction of knowing that I'm helping families honor vet's and doing something for the community, which is more than enough for me. 

---

Greg
Scroll Saw forum host

http://www.thesawdustfactoryga.com/

i wish I was close enough to help, I really do.

---

Charles Nicholls
Site Host
nicholls61@att.net
Proud supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes For Our Troops and the NRA

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nichollswoodworks

That's awesome Greg! I also wish I was closer and I'd donate time and tools to this worthy cause. 

---

www.thepatriotwoodworker.com Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops

That is truly a worthy project Greg.

Great project Greg and awesome that you are picking up the tradition and keeping it going. Lots of folks see those and have no idea of the loving hands that create those.

---

John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

What a wonderful project to be involved with. Like Charles and Mike, I wish I were closer so I could help.

Is the dado only on the back side? 

---

Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

Thank You, Greg.

---

Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

Gene it's on the inside. The flag poles go through the cross and into a pipe in the ground which makes for easy placement and removal since these aren't on permanent display. Actually it's a pretty good design. 

Gene Howe said:

What a wonderful project to be involved with. Like Charles and Mike, I wish I were closer so I could help.

Is the dado only on the back side? 

---

Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

Lew this is one of those things that when you hear about it and know you can help, you just jump in and do it. There are things like this that are being done all over and people don't think about what will happen when whoever is doing them can't anymore, which is kind of sad because a lot of projects like this have been abandoned because no one wants to help. 

Lewis Kauffman said:

Thank You, Greg.

---

Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!