Lunajammer
Well-Known Member
Jeepers, and here I am sitting on my deck in Fargo with a glass of wine watching the dogs play.
2001 Monolith build
- Thread starter alan molstad
- Start date
alan molstad
Sr Member
it was a great evening....not a cloud in the sky..
and then?.....the end of the world happened.
and then?.....the end of the world happened.
For whatever reason, these updates all showed up at once the day after. How did you fair? I can't imagine the teepee survived 70+ either.
alan molstad
Sr Member
alan molstad
Sr Member
All that cement I dumped into the trench and all the planning that I put into the design has turned out to be working as I had the hope it would.
We had a very bad storm last night.
The neighbor's wind meter hit 70mph .
I did not know if the Monolith would be able to take a punch like that?
But while there are a few trees down in the area, and trash is everywhere,,,I was happy to see right away as I walked the path through the woods that the Monolith was still standing tall and proud.
By getting past this wind storm in perfect shape, it gives me hope that this just shows that the Monolith is going to able to stick around for many years.
We had a very bad storm last night.
The neighbor's wind meter hit 70mph .
I did not know if the Monolith would be able to take a punch like that?
But while there are a few trees down in the area, and trash is everywhere,,,I was happy to see right away as I walked the path through the woods that the Monolith was still standing tall and proud.
By getting past this wind storm in perfect shape, it gives me hope that this just shows that the Monolith is going to able to stick around for many years.
Attachments
alan molstad
Sr Member
We lost internet during the storm here.
And when we got it back late last night it was just very, very slow to update.
So things might have taken a lot of time to upload later
alan molstad
Sr Member
it was weird how it happened...Well, it's a first "Baptême du Feu"...70mph bursts of wind are different than 70mph steady wind. Steady is better, less torsions than with the sudden wind bursts
My wife and I were sitting out by a fire.
We were enjoying some wine and hot dogs.
There had been a constant wind out of the east for the last few days.
the sun was out.
I looked up and saw dark clouds moving in, so I said we better wrap things up and walk to the house.
We got everything picked up and started to carry everything about 100 feet to the house.
The wind stopped as we got about 20 feet....and then we heard the West wind about to hit us.
The last 40 feet we were ducking around junk flying in the air...the chairs we were sitting on a moment ago beat us to the house...
The sky was very dark.
I walked in and set my stuff down on a table, I came back out and saw my wife taking the video I posted.
It was just hard to believe how things just turned to crap in less than 30 seconds and a walk across the back yard.
when we got into the house I could feel the house shaking, and so we went into the basement.
We lost all TV and the internet was hit and miss.
I kept thinking of the Monolith while we listened to the storm.
I was thinking about how I had dug the trench, and the extra 4x4s i had bolted to the monolith legs...and the bags of cement I had mixed and dumped into the trench...
I did not know if all my work would last or not.
I started to consider what if?......what if the monolith is laying in a pile?
It rained all night and into the morning, but about 4:30 i was outside and taking the photo of the monolith still standing.
I looked around and there was no sign at all that anything had been going on.
I sent a text to my brother and thanked him for helping me know where to dig the trench and how he put a yellow string in- line he said was where the most common winds come from...
He was right,,,and the monolith is positioned with the narrow side faced into the storm...so there was very little stress on it.
alan molstad
Sr Member
alan molstad
Sr Member
alan molstad
Sr Member
What an impressive accomplishment to finally realize your vision, and what a vision it is! Your landscaping beautifully defines the monolith and truly draws you into the space. I have a feeling you two will be spending many quiet moments here just dreaming… it’s perfect. You did it! What a beautiful partnership
alan molstad
Sr Member
Reflections:
I wanted to write down my ending reflections of what it was like to build this art project.
At my age (Going on 70 years old now) it was a lot harder physically to build and move to its final site than i expected.
So before I forget what this epic construction was like, here are my reflections.
________________________________
The Idea to Build it:
I got the idea to build it one day way back in the early 1970s when i saw the movie for the first time.
I just got the feeling that "one day..." I would have it built.
But then 60 years goes by and you suddenly find that you are running out of time, so you better get busy.
And then, out of the blue I found myself taking home 3 sheets of OSB plywood that were left in a junk pile.
The moment I saw then sitting in the junk pile I had the idea to make the Monolith I had always dreamed of owning.
-------------------------------------------
The Design:
I took all my ideas for how to build the Monolith from this RPF forum.
I had known of a topic here where a guy shows how he built his own Monolith, and he made it look simple.
I took a close look at the photos he had posted, and I wrote down things, and I took what i learned and used it to come up with a new design based on the free materials I had.
i did not want to spend any money of the project so i was limited to what I had laying around my own backyard to work with.
___________________________________________
The Build:
I remember the day i placed a 2x4 on the foor on my garage and just sat and looked at it a long time.
In my mind I went over many ideas on what to do next...and then after that....and then after that....
I sorta built the whole thing in my mind several times before I stood up and began to start the real work.
Right away I had to constantly make changes to the design I had in mind as I learned that I have limited tools, and no real experience with building anything out of wood.
I remember that in my mind I had the idea to finish one side, then just flip everything over to do the other side.
That was the plan.
But I soon learned that as each thing was added to the construction the weight grew more and more heavy.
it soon became clear that flipping the Monolith over to work on the other side was now not a 1-man job.
Once I had the basic shape of the Monoligh finished, I decided that I did not want to and sanding or paint things in my garage because it was going to make a mess...
and so I decided to move the Monolith more close to the site it would be positioned at in my back yard.
and thus I decided it was time to move things.
___________________________________________
The Move to the Site:
the move almost killed this old man.
I flopped the monolith on top of some little garden trailers, and started to pull everything into the back yard.
it was about the hottest day so far, and I would stop to rest on the ground every few feet of the move.
it was a hard, hard thing for my old body to do.
I was very much afraid that my wife would find my body laying next to the Monolith in the morning.
The site I was pulling things to was about 300 feet of more from my house, through a woods that had a very curved path.
The trailers I had the monolith sitting on top of were not wanting to go the same way I wanted to go....
Much cussing was involved.
But.....I made it!
__________________________________
The Painting:
I just painted the Monolith a flat black color.
But I did then also ad a coat of epoxy to the monolith in the hope it will help against the weather for years.
________________________________
Digging the hole:
I dug by hand a trench that was over 5 foot deep, and about 5 foot long, and 2 foot wide.
It took me a few days to dig, and I had to cart away all the dirt, so this was again very hard for this old man to get done.
But I got done.
_____________________________________
Standing It Up:
again....almost killed me.
But I did get some helpers, and we got it standing up with the aid of a Skidsteer.
However along the way we did smash the monolith a bit....but....we got it standing!
____________________________________
The Cement:
I had to pump rain water out of the trench a few times.
for some reason the rain just never stopped during this whole project, and it slowed the work down by a good month i guess.
But finally I was able to start mixing the bags of cement.
I think i used ab out 50 bags!
This was the first real money I had to spend on this project, but it had to be done.
I was happy to see that 2 days after the cement work was finished we had a bad wind storm with winds over 60 mph here, and I was worried about things, but I walked out and saw the Monolith still standing proud!
____________________________________
Final painting and landscaping:
it will never stop needing to be maintained Im sure.
The paint will need a fresh coat every few years...and I will have to add some repairs Im also sure now and then too.
But I built a very small little fence in front of the Monolith to be the hint to guests to not go leaving finger prints on the black paint.
I will have to add a few flesh bags of wood chips around the area to hide my foot prints, but after than i dont think i will need to do much more this year
I wanted to write down my ending reflections of what it was like to build this art project.
At my age (Going on 70 years old now) it was a lot harder physically to build and move to its final site than i expected.
So before I forget what this epic construction was like, here are my reflections.
________________________________
The Idea to Build it:
I got the idea to build it one day way back in the early 1970s when i saw the movie for the first time.
I just got the feeling that "one day..." I would have it built.
But then 60 years goes by and you suddenly find that you are running out of time, so you better get busy.
And then, out of the blue I found myself taking home 3 sheets of OSB plywood that were left in a junk pile.
The moment I saw then sitting in the junk pile I had the idea to make the Monolith I had always dreamed of owning.
-------------------------------------------
The Design:
I took all my ideas for how to build the Monolith from this RPF forum.
I had known of a topic here where a guy shows how he built his own Monolith, and he made it look simple.
I took a close look at the photos he had posted, and I wrote down things, and I took what i learned and used it to come up with a new design based on the free materials I had.
i did not want to spend any money of the project so i was limited to what I had laying around my own backyard to work with.
___________________________________________
The Build:
I remember the day i placed a 2x4 on the foor on my garage and just sat and looked at it a long time.
In my mind I went over many ideas on what to do next...and then after that....and then after that....
I sorta built the whole thing in my mind several times before I stood up and began to start the real work.
Right away I had to constantly make changes to the design I had in mind as I learned that I have limited tools, and no real experience with building anything out of wood.
I remember that in my mind I had the idea to finish one side, then just flip everything over to do the other side.
That was the plan.
But I soon learned that as each thing was added to the construction the weight grew more and more heavy.
it soon became clear that flipping the Monolith over to work on the other side was now not a 1-man job.
Once I had the basic shape of the Monoligh finished, I decided that I did not want to and sanding or paint things in my garage because it was going to make a mess...
and so I decided to move the Monolith more close to the site it would be positioned at in my back yard.
and thus I decided it was time to move things.
___________________________________________
The Move to the Site:
the move almost killed this old man.
I flopped the monolith on top of some little garden trailers, and started to pull everything into the back yard.
it was about the hottest day so far, and I would stop to rest on the ground every few feet of the move.
it was a hard, hard thing for my old body to do.
I was very much afraid that my wife would find my body laying next to the Monolith in the morning.
The site I was pulling things to was about 300 feet of more from my house, through a woods that had a very curved path.
The trailers I had the monolith sitting on top of were not wanting to go the same way I wanted to go....
Much cussing was involved.
But.....I made it!
__________________________________
The Painting:
I just painted the Monolith a flat black color.
But I did then also ad a coat of epoxy to the monolith in the hope it will help against the weather for years.
________________________________
Digging the hole:
I dug by hand a trench that was over 5 foot deep, and about 5 foot long, and 2 foot wide.
It took me a few days to dig, and I had to cart away all the dirt, so this was again very hard for this old man to get done.
But I got done.
_____________________________________
Standing It Up:
again....almost killed me.
But I did get some helpers, and we got it standing up with the aid of a Skidsteer.
However along the way we did smash the monolith a bit....but....we got it standing!
____________________________________
The Cement:
I had to pump rain water out of the trench a few times.
for some reason the rain just never stopped during this whole project, and it slowed the work down by a good month i guess.
But finally I was able to start mixing the bags of cement.
I think i used ab out 50 bags!
This was the first real money I had to spend on this project, but it had to be done.
I was happy to see that 2 days after the cement work was finished we had a bad wind storm with winds over 60 mph here, and I was worried about things, but I walked out and saw the Monolith still standing proud!
____________________________________
Final painting and landscaping:
it will never stop needing to be maintained Im sure.
The paint will need a fresh coat every few years...and I will have to add some repairs Im also sure now and then too.
But I built a very small little fence in front of the Monolith to be the hint to guests to not go leaving finger prints on the black paint.
I will have to add a few flesh bags of wood chips around the area to hide my foot prints, but after than i dont think i will need to do much more this year
Last edited:
alan molstad
Sr Member
The Monolith sits near the back part of my yard.
There is a garden path that my guests will be walking on as they tour the many things I have set up for guests to view.
The videos show what a new guest will see as they walk closer to where the Monolith stands.
enjoy....
There is a garden path that my guests will be walking on as they tour the many things I have set up for guests to view.
The videos show what a new guest will see as they walk closer to where the Monolith stands.
enjoy....
alan molstad
Sr Member
approaching from the North
alan molstad
Sr Member
Approaching from the South
alan molstad
Sr Member
A new idea:
Could I make the Monolith appear to be hovering in the air if I placed a mirror under it the way the Star Wars effects people made a speeder appear to fly without wheels?
Could I make the Monolith appear to be hovering in the air if I placed a mirror under it the way the Star Wars effects people made a speeder appear to fly without wheels?
