DIY
How to make your own peace pole
This page tells how to turn a wooden post into a peace pole. A scrap 2 by 4 was used for a couple of these photos. I prefer larger wood for peace poles though. A 4 by 4 will do, but a 6 by 6 is better. For tips about choosing the wood, click choosing lumber. For photos that show the difference between a 4 by 4 and a 6 by 6, click Plaques.
Getting Text on the Pole
This usually is the first thing about which people are concerned. There are several options for accomplishing it. One is making your own templates for free as described below.
Making Templates
On a computer printer, printout a full-size template of the translations. A normal printer will not print out anything longer than a 14 inch long legal page. Divide the translation into three sections, each shorter than 14 inches, and then tape the three pages together to make one long template, like the one seen below left.
Set the templates
on the pole. Drag a pencil or ballpoint pen on top of the letters heavily enough
to leave an impression in the wood. The impression is the rough guide for your
paintbrush. You can either draw the outline of the letters or just draw the
center line of each one. In the photo below right, I drew the
center line of each as a guide for my brushstrokes.
For some languages that do not use our alphabet, following the
center line might not provide all the information you need. It
can be more useful to outline the characters so that you see when the brush
stroke should be wide or tapered or have the end squared off. But for most
languages, it is much easier to run the brush along the center line.
Click to enlarge
Normally there would be only a light impression in the wood made by the pressure of the pen or pencil on the paper, with no actual pencil lead coloring the wood. But that did not show up well in these photos. So I ran a pen through the impressions to make them visible in the photo.
There is no reason to be afraid of languages like Chinese and Korean. When I first was working with Chinese, I sought out native Chinese people who could help me learn about their text. If I asked them to write a certain word for me, they pulled out a ball point pen and jotted it out on a scrap of paper the same way I would in English. Calligraphy and typesetting in any language are more precise and exacting than handwriting. But hand painted letters in Chinese and other languages have the same intelligibility as in English. Just trace a good pattern and they will be fine.
Paint
Click paint for information on preservatives for the wood and choosing paint for the text.
Paint the letters over the lines with a small paint brush. An artist's supply or a craft shop has such brushes. You might want one kind of brush for languages like English that evolved on printing presses and another kind for languages like Chinese that evolved on the end of a brush.
The brush in the top of this photo is the one I find most useful. It is called a "quarter inch angular shader." It is a flat brush. The square edge allows a precision useful in duplicating text. Springing for an expensive one of these can make a big difference in how your pole turns out. This isn't the place to cut corners. Buy cheap wood and cheap paint if you want, but pay $20 and get a good brush.
Adhesive Templates
Shown is a template on a peace pole ready for painting in the letters.
Another way to get the text on your peace pole is to use adhesive templates. That way it comes out as though it had been typeset. It gives you the freedom to paint borders on the letters or put a wash of colors on your brush and give it a grain. Or to paint bouquets of flowers to fill in the letters, since you cannot go wrong with the shapes of the letters because of the templates. I can make those for your for $25 each. Click adhesive templates for more about those.
* * *
Paint isn't the only way to get text onto wood. An example of an alternative was sent to me by a woman who used a magnifying glass for that, a natural form of Pyrography (artistic burning). That can be seen at burning text. However, paint takes less time and lasts longer.
Cutting the Top
Some people leave the top square. Others put a cap on it. But if you are going to cut a pyramid or other shape into the top of your peace pole, this should be done before anything else.
Cutting a pyramid into the top of the peace pole is not hard to do. You don't even have to have the right tools, although they help. Just measure, cut carefully, and if it doesn't come out right, you can cut another inch off while trying again. Someday when I get time I'll post photos of this process (if you want to see those now, tell me and I probably will get inspired). It can be done with a circular saw or a hand saw. And the measuring can be done with any ruler if you don't have something that marks a 45 degree angle.
Planting the Peace Pole
In the world of peace poles, they don't say "install" or "erect." They say "plant" peace poles. To see some ways to plant peace poles, click peace pole planting.
Longevity
If you did a process similar to this, but did it on an aluminum or fiberglass post, with the right sanding and priming and the right kind of paint (not house paint), it could last fifteen or more years. House paint on wood lasts seven to ten years, possibly twelve. If longevity is important to you, my resin peace poles are not painted and will last at least twice as long as paint, possibly three or four times as long, depending on the setting, and they are only $145.
Plaques
I also can make copper language plaques that you can attach to your wooden peace pole. They will outlast the wooden post and can be moved to a new one someday. The plaques see at right are mounted on a five-sided stainless steal peace pole. This is the way the plaques look when new. Rain will cause greens and blues to develop. I will mount some on a wooden pole to show here soon.
The center language is Georgian. Left is Korean. Right is Hindi.
Responses
I am developing this page in response to your questions and thoughts, so email me at the address below with any you have. That will help me make this more useful for people making their own peace poles. My phone and email are at the bottom of every page.
If do-it-yourself projects appeal to you, lots of other how-to information can be found at http://www.knowledgehound.com.