Hand-Made, Traditional American Wooden Flagpoles since 1985
How We Make our Wood Poles
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Hennessy House® uses hand-selected clear vertical grain Douglas fir which we obtain mainly from the Williamette Valley region of Central Oregon, an area known for its superior quality supply of this hardest of Conifer species.
We store our wood in our humidity-and-temperature-controlled walk-in "humidor" at our plant in Loyalton, CA. To maintain the equilibrium wood moisture content at the ideal 12% for making glue-laminated engineered structures, we keep the humidor at a minimum of 65% relative humidity and 70% degrees. The wood is "stickered" (boards held apart by half-inch cross slats) and stacked to promote moist air circulation which prevents it from drying out and cracking or bowing.
Random length boards are selected based on slope of grain, color, overall appearance, and straightness to be "finger-joined" together. Through this process, we are able to create straight boards, free of defects up to 45 feet long. Next, the boards are planed to a uniform thickness, which also prepares the surfaces for glue lamination.
Two boards the length of the project will then be tapered lengthwise with a specific butt and tip dimension. This is done with an automated beam saw which travels on a rail system along our custom 48 foot steel table. We are able to precisely taper the two boards in a way that the wedges, or "cut off" pieces, glue-laminated between the two tapered boards, create a perfectly square, precisely-tapered hollow flagpole "blank".
The blank is then glue laminated and clamped for 24 hours on a perfectly flat steel beam with a custom clamping system that allows us to apply equal pressure along the entire length of the glue lamination at six inch intervals.
The blank is then prepared for the lathe by cutting the four corners off at a 45 degree angle along what will become the top three-quarters of the pole, or the tapered round portion. The blank is locked into the four-jaw chuck and the head stock of our lathe. The lathe is expandable to 45 feet and the entire pole rotates at twelve RPM while a cutting head which turns at 15,000 RPM cuts as it runs down the pole with a taper set by the operator.
The lathe makes a series of rough cuts then a final smooth cut, shaping what will become the finished tapered round portion of the pole. Each cut takes eight minutes per foot until the pole is ready to begin sanding. The octagonal portion is the transition between the square butt and the tapered round portion. This octagonal portion represents the top one-quarter of the bottom one-quarter of the pole, or 1/16th of the overall length. This part is cut on the lathe with the chuck locked at 45 degrees to the square butt. Then, with the pole turning again, the tip of the pole is cut to accommodate the pole's cap or "truck" with its two pulleys for two halyards (rope loops) if desirable (our standard pole packages are pre-rigged with one halyard and the owner may add a second halyard if desired).
Poles are then moved to the final finishing stage where they are hand-sanded, cleaned and either painted or stained. For painted poles we apply two coats of white primer base followed by three coats of top quality high-gloss enamel finish. For natural clear finish poles we apply five coats of marine-grade satin finish stain to seal the wood.
Finally, the poles are sealed in clear plastic wrap, cushioned with micro-foam padding wrapped around the pole at close intervals along its length to protect it from abrasion, and placed into a sturdy spiral wound heavy gauge shipping tube. The tightly nested poles are then locked into their tubes with screwed-in wooden plugs at either end and ready to be transported to their final destination.
Please call toll-free 1-800-285-2122 for more information. Thank you!
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