The lead ranger, Marion asked me to make something to shade the bins. I worked through several designs. The assistant refuge manager, Leo wanted a canopy of sorts. Using Google Sketchup plus local coordinates (lat, long) helped with requirements gathering. I modeled different sizes and shapes. Then played with "time of day" and "day of year" sliders to understand where shadows fell.
Prototyping on computer was extremely useful. The cost was several days. Much cheaper to iterate on screen than build anything. Plus winter's the wrong time of year for testing. So computer simulation was very helpful. We quickly understood what would and what would not work well. For example, a canopy tall enough to walk under would require a pretty wide roof. Probably west side walls as well to effectively provide shade from mid to late summer, noon to mid afternoon. Even sitting on open fence with lattice for the side wall it was too obtrusive.
So I focused on something "just big enough" to do the job. I decided metal would better match the bins aesthetically. The color turned out to be less chocolate and more burgundy. Sutherland's in Port Isabel stocked Rustoleum 2X rattle cans of Kona Brown which matched quite closely. Much better than plain brown in traditional cans, which I tried first. But they apparently got a bad batch of 2X Kona. The spray cans kept clogging internally - not the nozzle. That lead to multiples trips back exchanging defective product until I finally got it done. They made it right in the end so I really appreciated their customer service.
I welded up a gable frame using square steel tubing that we had on hand. Apparently left over from some other project, some time ago, as the tubes were heavily rusted. Grinding them down I discovered red paint under the rust which made quite a dusty mess in the shop that day. But they cleaned up well and bolted nicely to the bins.
For the top I found some surplus metal screening. The screen was painted black but the original paint didn't stick well in many places and flaked off revealing bright, shiny steel. A magnet didn't stick so it must be stainless. To help paint stick I scoured them thoroughly with a wire wheel.
Since we had a metal brake I folded over and doubled up the edges. That made edges both stronger and smoother. Then I made bends to achieve the gable shape I wanted. Since the bins leaned 30 degrees forward, I made the gable pitch the same for aesthetics. For tamper resistance I riveted the cover to the frame and carriage bolted the frame to the bins.
I think it turned out rather handsomely. Like me. Ha!
