http://www.alexbealer.org Last comments on page Cotonti Wed, 29 Apr 2026 06:19:34 -0400 Matt and Skyler were at the shop working on a Boy Scout Project. I always like to send visitors home with a Friedricks cross, preferably made by them. Skyler made his the traditional way, but Matt did his with a twist. The outcome was this special looking cross. Today’s young people are such a gift. Just when we think we are passing our experience and knowledge on to them, they show us that we are just beginning to learn ourselves.

]]> Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 -0500 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 -0500 decided to make Fredric’s crosses. Nothing is of my design,
just using techniques that are years old. I started with ¾ inch
square stock approximately 9 inches in length. You have to
start at one end cutting with hack saw or band saw down the
middle approx 3 ½ inches. Then, from the other end and ¼
turn, start cutting down the center approx 5 1/2 inches. The cuts
have to overlap and the more overlap the larger the opening
will be. See figure 1



I found that leaving the head or top part of the cross the same
length makes it easier to make the tab for the screw hole to
hold the cross to the wall. See final photo for tab detail.
Opening or unfolding the cross is much harder using this size
bar that smaller stock causing me to have to reheat more that
once. Just needs to be heated evenly where the cuts overlap.
As it is getting hot, use a screwdriver or similar tool to start
unfolding it, the more you can spread the cuts, the better.
After it was a cross, I then determined what length the
top should be, then using a butcher I cut down 2/3 ‘s from the
front to the back. Then drew that area out to 1/3 and fullered
it to form the tab. See figure 2 and 3.





After that, I used a small ball pein to put texture on the front
surface with some on the sides. I used an angle grinder with
wire brush to clean everything up and applied several coats of
clear lacquer.
I did make one that had 2 drawn out tapers on the arms and top.
That was achieved by having them about ¾ inch or more longer
then splitting them about an inch down the middle. Then drew
them out and scrolled them. See figure 4 and 5.



]]> Sun, 02 Jan 2011 15:52:00 -0500