On Mon, 17 Oct 2005 07:14:35 GMT, Bruce L. Bergman
wrote:

Our rural-style curbside single mailbox got visited by the Mailbox
Fairy last night (AKA the $#%^=&%(^!! local teenagers...) First time
in about 10 years.

Finally finished off the redwood 4X4 that I set in concrete when I
was still in High School - it dried out and shattered at the cross-arm
dovetail cut. I patched the box back onto the stump of the old post
temporarily with 3/4" plywood, but it's time to Do It Once, and Do It
Right.

Anyone have a line on some cheap 4" extra heavy wall steel tubing
in Los Angeles? Nothing TOO heavy, I only have a Miller Challenger
MIG and oxy-acetylene with B and 50CF tanks, so the really big stuff
like railroad track and 4" bar stock is out. (Nuts.)

Unless I use Thermite... (Muahahahaha!!)

The wicked part being that I want to duplicate the silhouette of the
old post and cross-arm with brace, paint it wood brown with fake
graining so they think it's still an easy mark, put a plate-steel
rural mailbox at the top, and aim a camera at it - I could use sucker
rod or well casing for the post, but that would be far too obvious...

I should probably make some sort of break-away shear mount at the
base, with a chain so it doesn't go bouncing too far. And a twist
breakaway for the arm (preferably one rigged to let the arm swing all
the way around if smacked at speed...) Just so the lawyers for the
decedent can't say I was creating "an attractive hazard" - I believe
in the principle behind the Darwin Awards (letting fools self-cleanse
the gene pool) but for some unknown reason the District Attorney and
local Tort Lawyers do not.

Anyone seen one of the heavy plate steel "oversize" rural mailboxes
with a second inner locking door and drop slot? Haven't seen both
features on the same pre-made box, I might have to make an inner door.

After that, I have to find a big steel box suitable for making into
a package drop locker. But first things first.

-- Bruce --

Get over to Brea often? Unicorn Metals often has 3-4" drops

Ask for Rito.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire.
Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us)
off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give
them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the **** out of you
for torturing the cat." Gunner