It's the start of a new Era for the Troon Round Table Santa Float.

Starting early 2022 the team came to the understanding that the Santa Float was due for an all out refurbishment. Unfortunately the storage location and very bad weather has left our beloved Santa transportation in worse for wear. So it was decided that we would salvage what we can and start again, building a brand new float for 2022.

Collecting the new Trailer

With a not so short 14 hour round trip to Corby, two of our members collected what was to become the new base of our Santa Float and Sleigh.

Framing out the new trailer

The new trailer design has back lit acrylic panels and this required the new trailer to be outfitted with a wooden frame that the signage could be attached.

Choosing the new sleigh design

This was something we needed to get right first time so after a scavenge through google pictures for ideas we managed to design something ourselves using photoshop, and this was the design to become the Santa's new Sleigh.

Projecting the design

The easiest way we could get the design onto the required wood was to use a projector. Waiting until the sun started to dim down slightly we managed to get it lined up nicely in a way the design could be stencilled onto the wood.

Smoothing off the edges

After both the sides were cut we then proceeded to start on smoothing the rough edges with a router to give us a nice curve. A small bit of sanding after made the job a good one.

First test of the new sleigh

Fairly impressed with what we accomplished so far we decided to stand one of the side pieces up on the trailer to give us a better feel for what we are building.

Framing the sides

Having two sides to frame together, we needed to cut double the wood for each part all measured to the same sizes, this was then laid out on the workbench on top of the newly cut sides.

A Santa float sandwich

When we were happy with the first side being screwed together, The whole thing was then flipped and the other side done to match giving us a sort of sandwich.

Joining the sides

Now we are getting somewhere; cross struts were cut to length and screwed into place to reinforce the new structure what was now starting to resemble a sleigh

Attaching the front panels

Next job on the list was to cut and attach all the front facing panels, this would complete the general design of the sleigh and allow us to prep the sleigh for painting.

Santa can finally sit down

And the back rest of the seat has been fitted along with the extra side panels. Lots of sanding and routing to get the wood nice and smooth for Santa.

Do More - By Joining Us

New signage for the trailer arrived thanks to Owen Kerr, so that was fitted and also a small alteration to the lights so that they still can be seen.

Cutting out some Speaker Holes

Time for the speakers; after marking up of some circles to the size of the speakers we then got to cutting the holes out. A wee test fit to be sure after.