1/4" Steel Rod Dillon Supply

**Al in Raleigh** · 08-12-2009, 03:23 PM

Walter and I bought 10 pieces of 1/4" x 20' hot rolled, steel rod today at Dillon Supply in Raleigh for about $3.67 per piece. We also bought 1"x1"x20' angle steel for about $13.64 per piece. We are making a couple Bethlehem stars out of the steel.

I know that people are always looking for a good place to buy steel. Dillon Supply is reasonable in cost and has a pretty good selection in stock too. Pretty simple to order and pickup too. I used a boat trailer for my Sunfish sailboat to transport the 20' sections.
Al

**TGabriel** · 08-12-2009, 10:22 PM

Got 60 feet at the scrap yard for $14.00 this week. Now I just need the time for the projects. It been hard to find the time to do anything lately.

Thomas

**mschell** · 08-12-2009, 10:58 PM

Al,
While you're making those Bethlehem stars, why don't you just built an extra one for me...After all, I need something else to work on before Thanksgiving...

**Al in Raleigh** · 08-13-2009, 07:21 AM

Originally Posted by mschell

Al,
While you're making those Bethlehem stars, why don't you just built an extra one for me...After all, I need something else to work on before Thanksgiving...

Maybe. I'm not sure how hard they are to build I might be able to do the star but we didn't buy enough angle iron for a support.

**tallan** · 09-03-2009, 01:45 PM

I knew I should have trade marked my Bethlehem star, now everyone is doing them!

Ah I jest, those are nice stars, and thank you very much for that info I need some 1/4 inch rod myself and the price is worth the drive for me.

Ted

**Al in Raleigh** · 09-03-2009, 07:48 PM

Hi Ted,

Dillon has locations in Greensboro and Winston Salem. The rod comes in 20' sections that can be cut by Dillon if you want. Or you could just take a pair of bolt cutters along and save yourself a couple dollars.

Walter and I used up a bunch of steel in the last few days while making Walter's Bethlehem Star. We just finished the welding and drilling and it turned out marvelous. I plan to document and publish the cut list, pattern, and welding schedule so that we all can learn. Walter's star is as big as my wooden one but weighs less than 15 pounds and takes less than 5 minutes to set up. It is such a radical change from Holden's design that we might call it The Walter Star.

Publishing on this website where we get our material and how we put it together will advance our hobby more than anything else. I'm glad this thread helped you.
Al

**walter** · 09-06-2009, 10:06 PM

I will get some pictures posted soon. Work has been crazy the last few days. But it will tear down set up so easy,and has 5 parts that are atached with pins to make it very easy to set up.

**aproctor** · 12-27-2009, 08:56 PM

Al and Walter,
Did you guys ever get a material / cut list, pattern and pictures put together for your Bethlehem Star? I'd love to put it on my build list for this winter.

**walter** · 12-27-2009, 09:36 PM

We have not made a list or made any drawings. After i get back from vacation and take it off the roof I will work on that for every one. It will be mid to late Jan. befor i get back and take it down. This was a proto-type for Al and I, and it ROCKS!!!

There is very little to no wind resistance, B/C of the steel. We had winds around 35-40mph and gusts to 50mph this light season and with no tie downs or sand bags it did not move. So with that in mind this is a great build and i will sign off on it, and get the drawings and parts out for all to use.

**Al in Raleigh** · 12-27-2009, 11:30 PM

Yeah the thing turned out excellent. We might make a couple mods to it though but just a couple. I watched Walter carry the entire thing onto the roof by himself and it took 5 minutes to put into place. It is a good design. We may have a build a star day for one of our meetings. We need a place to hook up a welder and we'll take care of the rest. In another note, I plan to design and build custom stars that were in that video that we discussed. We'll get to all of this in the coming months.
Al