Goodbye Gophers....

So I am thinking of writing a book called 1001 non-electrical uses for electrical conduit. Here are a few of the projects I have used it for.  My father-in-law has a lot of scrap conduit around just waiting to be experimented with.

This is a 'gopher fan'.  It is supposed to blow the gophers out of the garden.  Not.  It is actually supposed to create vibration in the ground that will scare the gophers out of the garden area.  Hmm... sounds iffy.  Mostly I was just looking for an excuse to practice welding and thought this would be a fun project.  I did it without instructions and sort of made up the process as I went along.  You will see what I mean in the pictures.

Stabilizer leg.

This will be crimped and welded to create a point.

Ready for welding.

I drilled a hole and then welded a nut over it so that I could use the bolt as a retainer for the fan shaft. Notice the carriage bolt welded upside down on the conduit for a pivot :D Improvisation.

I welded a gusset plate into the corner so that I can step on the base to push it into the ground without bending the conduit.

Completed fan.  It has a long hex bolt and a couple of washers for the shaft, another improvisation. Thanks to Lucas for the attic fan blades, his ingenious improvisation!

Phoenix being TERRIFIED of the little fan!

Below is another project I did with old conduit- a wind chime holder for Becky's horse wind chime. We love the sound it makes- it sounds like a bell in a harbor!