Bethlehem Star

Wayne J

Wayne J

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Staff member
I made this star last year to use as my topper for my Mega tree. It was made from 1/4" tubing and is 32 1/2" tall. I attached 4 strings of 50ct mini's to it, but rope light would work well also.


This video was taken before I sat down and straightened all 200 lights and tweaked the routine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdGhOVnOqYM

I have attached the .dxf and a pdf if you would like to make one.
 

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Wayne,

That's cool! I've been looking to do a star on top of my tree but hadn't decided how to do it until now. Thanks!
 
Just wanted to thank you for the template Wayne. Makes my job a whole lot easier this week.
cheers.gif
 
Yeah Wayne, thanks for the Template! I wanted a star that was a bit larger than the one you posted, so I simply doubled the dimensions and came up with one that is 66" tall. It is made of 1/4" hot rolled, and reinforced with 3/4" tubular stock. I'm going to put it on the roof above my display. (The two holes in the center of the upright are to attach the SSR enclosure) It's kind of hard to make out too much detail as it is painted white, but I think it turned out pretty good!
 

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No problem guys! Glad to help.

rstehle... that looks awesome!!! Can't wait to see the lights on it.
 
Well thank you(again). Not sure if I'm putting it up on the roof or if I'm using on the front of the house yet though. I may attempt another one made out of C-7 bulbs to make it a bit brighter for the roof but that's only if time allows. ;)
 
WOW!

Fantastic guys.. Thanks again..

not sure if this is the right project to re-learn arc welding on.. its been a few years.

I'd LOVE to get any version posted up onto the either the Mega Tree, its increased to 15' tall this year from last years 8' or just onto the roof.

Danny is making my life interesting today, heavy rain was leaking through my roof.

Nothing like caulking and laying patch shingles in the driving rain, at least it wasn't night..
 
What lights did you use, are they led's? My brother is in charge of the Bethlehem star but I'm just curious how it looks with led's instead of incandescents.


Jeffrey said:
Well thank you(again). Not sure if I'm putting it up on the roof or if I'm using on the front of the house yet though. I may attempt another one made out of C-7 bulbs to make it a bit brighter for the roof but that's only if time allows. ;)
Click to expand...
 
Very nice work. I am looking for something similar but I do not weld not have the equipment to do so. Does anyone know where I could get one made up for me for a reasonable price? I am thinking around 3' x 5' would work.

Thanks
 
Wayne, can you give me some pointers, on how to put mini's or for that matter blue led strings on say 1/4 " cold rolled steel. A close up of how you attached and dressed yours up, would be helpful. Hot glue gun sounds feasible along with mini nylon tie wraps. Thank you all for brinigng up this thread, been wanting to put one atop my mega tree, but I want to make it 3D. I know rope light works great, as I have a 2d star with blue wire rope, looked good spinning last year.
Thanks in advance
Rice66
 
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I used 4" zip ties. A lot of them. I am not sure how well hot glue would hold up, as I have not tried it. My star is down in the shed, but I will get a close up picture tomorrow.
 
osgoor said:
Very nice work. I am looking for something similar but I do not weld not have the equipment to do so. Does anyone know where I could get one made up for me for a reasonable price? I am thinking around 3' x 5' would work.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Who needs to weld. I used suspended ceiling wire (the ridged kind not the soft roll that Lowe's sells) and use galvanize tie wire. The eight individual points run then all the way through the center and everything can tie to it. Tied the finished star to 1/2" PVC for support and slip it over a rod on the roof.
 
Wayne J said:
I used 4" zip ties. A lot of them. I am not sure how well hot glue would hold up, as I have not tried it. My star is down in the shed, but I will get a close up picture tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Ok, well I was thinking if you stood the lights up vertica to the wire frame, it would be masked just behind it. A rope lights would be better but you couldnt fire each element or side of the star, unless each segement was a minimum 2 ft, a common length of rope light construction.. Looking forward to your pic Wayne.
Regards
Rice66
 
I have used hot glue in the past. It works for a while but you will be redoing it. I have used zip ties and tape. In the end I will just use clips. They are worth the money to not have to deal with the headach of the other options. The clips work period. And it is easy to re adjust if needed to get a little more or less out of that string of lights. When I was starting out doing this over three years ago I tried to cut cost here and there so I could buy more in other areas. In the end, for wire frames like stars, bell's or snowman. Just get the clips and save the headach. Mini trees, Use the zip ties. oh, and here in florida it is worth the effort to get the uv resistant zip ties.
 
Alright, here are the pictures I promised. :) You can see I stood the lights up. I feel this gives a better effect with no blind spots from the frame.
 

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