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Route 66: Build your own giant Blue Whale
CATOOSA, Okla.--There's a big Blue Whale in a small lake in Catoosa, Okla., on Route 66. It's an unexpected sight as you come over a rising bend in the road. I had heard there was a whale here, but the scale of the beast is enough to make Captain Ahab think twice about his life's mission. It's 80 feet long and 15 feet high.
Clearly, the Blue Whale didn't just wander inland from the ocean. Someone put it here. It's a maker project on a scale maker projects don't usually achieve. If Make Magazine had existed back in the '70s, the Blue Whale would have been a centerfold model.
In the spirit of DIY, I'm going to help makers prep their own whales. Here is your materials list:
2,650 feet of sucker rod 1,179 feet of 2-inch steel pipe 100 feet of 1-inch pipe 2,520 square feet of plaster lath 126 bags of concrete mix 19.5 square yards of Redi-Mix concrete 19,400 pounds of crushed stone 15 tons of sand 2,454 linear feet of wood 20 pounds of nails Assorted tubing and valvesIf you can find a hardware store that hasn't changed prices since the '70s, the material costs should work out to less than $3,000. You will also need to find a friend willing to donate 100 hours of welding time. Assuming you want to follow the original build timeline, it will only take you two years of work to assemble your own Blue Whale. … Read more
