# New Water Tower Completed



## dieseldude (Apr 21, 2009)

I had some extra time between shoveling the driveway and chopping icicles, so I built this water tower for the town. Its mostly made out of scraps that I had lying around the shop. The tank is a coffee can (how original is that!) covered in aluminum tape to create sheet metal panels. I filled in the ridges of the can with Bondo and sanded it smooth before applying the tape. The curved bottom of the tower is made from a small frying pan lid I bought at the Goodwill. The roof is made of old copper flashing that I found in the garage. I used the lens from a broken key ring style flashlight (I knew I'd find a use for that eventually!) for the roof light cover. The railings and ladder are made of hardware cloth. I used hack saw blades and coat hangers (stolen from the Diesel Queens closet) for the tower bracing. The rivets are dotted on with paint using the head of a large pin (once again, stolen from my wife's sewing supplies). I lettered it with some vinyl letters and painted it with aluminum spray paint. The blinking LED was purchased at Radio Shack for 4 bucks. I'll give you 3 guesses as to who the town is named after.
























Now if the snow would go away, I could find my layout and get this tower out of the dining room!! 


-Kevin.


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## paintjockey (Jan 3, 2008)

Very nice! it needs some high kids initials spray painted on it though!


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow! That could be in just about any small town here in Kansas! Well done!


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## Nutz-n-Bolts (Aug 12, 2010)

Nice work, I love the fact that you virtually grew the tower from garbage.







It looks very convincing. Who says large scale has to be expensive? I'm guessing the name is an early valentines day present for the wife.


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice junkin'!


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## DTI356 (Jan 3, 2008)

D-Dude, 

Very nice! Some very clever thoughts and execution. 

Great job! 

Brian


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

Very nice....great looking little tank.


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## chaingun (Jan 4, 2008)

* Hey Kevin,
*
*Great Job! I really like the design. I did one out of an old under sink osmosis water filter tank.*














*Best, Ted*


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## dieseldude (Apr 21, 2009)

Hey Guys- Thanks for the kind words. 

Paintjockey- I thought about some graffiti, but I couldn't bring myself to do it! 

Randy- you win the contest!! 

Ted- nice job on your tank as well. Nice looking bridge and trestle work too. I'd love to see more pictures. 


-Kevin.


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## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

Great idea "Dude." Very original. Nice execution too (that means it looks real good).


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## SE18 (Feb 21, 2008)

Great job!! I'm not sure what you mean by hardware cloth for railings and ladder. They look great but I'm not sure what hardware cloth is and how you made the intricate design. 

Dave V


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## dieseldude (Apr 21, 2009)

Dave- Thanks!!! Hardware cloth is a type of metal screen. It has a square grid pattern which comes in various dimensions- 1/2 inch, 3/4 inch, etc. It is can used for keeping pests (rabbits and such) out of your garden, amongst other things. You can find it at Home Depot or Lowes in the garden dept. To make the ladder, I used 1/2 inch hardware cloth and cut a row of the grid off of the mesh. For the railing I used a larger gauge (not sure the exact dimension) of hardware cloth and, once again, cut off one row of it. The nice thing about using the larger stuff, is that when you cut it, you get the railing and posts already to go- no soldering. Hope this helps. -Kevin.


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By SE18 on 16 Feb 2011 05:22 AM 
{snip...}[/i] I'm not sure what you mean by hardware cloth for railings and ladder. {snip...}[/i] Dave

Here's a reference to various types of Wire Cloth[/b].


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## Lawrence Wallace (Jan 2, 2008)

My page on ladders and handrails.Here is the way I use hardware cloth.


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## SE18 (Feb 21, 2008)

Oh, man, thanks. The word "cloth" really threw me for a loop de loop. Now I know what it is. 

To use it for ladders and handrails didn't occur to me. Brilliant!!!!! 

I've used a sort of mesh wire before to make non-skid floor, laying it on aluminum and then rubbing JB Weld into it (laying weights on top with wax paper) and then weathering it. 

Here's a link to show what I mean 

http://www.mylargescale.com/Community/Forums/tabid/56/aff/8/aft/119123/afv/topic/Default.aspx 

Anyway, the structure you did is just fantastic! 

Dave V


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## Kevin K (Nov 3, 2009)

Nice, that tower reminds me of the one is this old painting of Amterdam NY 
http://www.lostlandmarks.org/chalners3a.htm


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

You can also use Hardware Cloth to simulate Chain Link Fencing. 

There use to be a guy on here who had a Prison on his layout and used hardware cloth to make it.

I have not seen him in years.

JJ


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## SE18 (Feb 21, 2008)

Posted By John J on 24 Feb 2011 04:16 AM 
You can also use Hardware Cloth to simulate Chain Link Fencing. 

There use to be a guy on here who had a Prison on his layout and used hardware cloth to make it.

I have not seen him in years.

JJ 








I don't know if you meant that last part to be funny, but it is. LOL! 

BTW, I grew up not far from that factory in Amsterdam NY, there used to be a railway too on the south shore


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## dieseldude (Apr 21, 2009)

JJ- "Gutter Guard" also works well for chain link fence. It comes in plastic rolls (6" x 20 feet for $3) or metal sections. -Kevin.


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## harvey (Dec 30, 2008)

Forget the graffiti, this is beautiful piece of workmanship and a nice reflection of how things used to be before spray cans.
Thanks for posting this. I think many of us will look carefully from now on at what we consider to be garbage and what we throw away.
Cheers.


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## dieseldude (Apr 21, 2009)

Thanks, Harvey.


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