Gargoyle Mailbox
The gargoyle is dead! Long live the gargoyle!
Our original gargoyle mailbox was destroyed (see pictures below), so I built a new one.
The gargoyle is made of cast resin, so it's much lighter than stone. The platform, post, etc. were made from treated lumber.
The side and top of the platform supports were made from treated wood glued with Elmers Glue All (similar to Gorilla Glue - a waterproof polyurethane adhesive). Hopefully the glued wood will hold up in the weather; if not it's back to the drawing board.
The gargoyle is secured to the wood platform with stainless steel clamps (painted, so they blend in a bit).
Here's a closeup, before the wood was painted.
A closeup of the gargoyle before mounting on the mailbox.
The FIRST Gargoyle Mailbox
[July 11, 2014 - addendum]
A mailbox and post assembled from garden statuary.
This was a simple project, mostly assembled from purchased components:
- Garden statuary: Gargoyle
- Garden statuary: Concrete post
- Metal mailbox
The concrete post has a hollow center, so a steel post was driven through the center hole into the ground to stabilize it.
Three holes were drilled into the top of the gargoyle using carbide bits, and three stainless steel rods (previously threaded on one end) were inserted into the drilled holes and epoxied in place. A wooden platform was placed on the top of the threaded ends and locked in place with nuts and washers. The mailbox was screwed to the wooden platform.
Here are a some more pictures:
Mailbox just after installation
Winter
Epitaph
Sadly, our original gargoyle mailbox was destroyed when a driver fell asleep at the wheel, crossed the traffic lanes, and drove straight into our mailbox with a pickup truck. The truck ended up on the far of our neighbor's yard (picture below, after the truck was hauled away). The shattered gargoyle was found two yards away in the Spring, after the snow melted.
Path of destruction
Found two yards away after the snow melted
Addendum - Gargoyle Mailbox Build by John Terry
[added July 11, 2014]
Recently I was contacted by a viewer (John Terry) who liked my mailbox and wanted to make one of his own. In response to some questions he asked, I emailed him the following:
We got the gargoyle at a local garden statuary place, but I think it's pretty common. You might find it at a local garden store or possibly online. Of course it doesn't have to be a gargoyle - any suitable sized garden statue that you like could be made to work I suppose (although we are partial to gargoyles).
Here are some approximate measurements for our gargoyle:
- base: 12" deep 8" wide
- base to top of nose: 12"
- base to top of wingtip: 24"
- "wingspread" (wing tip to wing tip): 20"
The metal rods are in holes drilled 4" - 5" deep; I threaded the top ends so I could bolt them to a wooden base (and the mailbox screws onto the wood base). Alternatively, you could use threaded rod available from your local hardware store. There are three rods - one each just inside the wings, and a third toward the rear (makes a kind of tripod); I drilled straight down so the rods would fit easily into holes drilled in the wood base.
Some other notes that may be useful:
Previously we had a mailbox on a wooden post that was mounted in a concrete "socket". The concrete base works nicely as a base for the column; as the base has a hole in it, I sunk a metal fence post into the "socket" as a guard against the column tipping over (the column is hollow, so it just fits over the metal post). I would think that some sort of concrete or brick base is a necessity, or the column is likely to tip over when the ground gets wet and soft (the gargoyle makes it top-heavy).
Right now the gargoyle just sits on top of the column. However, last winter snow thrown by the road snowplow knocked it off the base (twice!); luckily it fell into soft snow, so no damage. So I plan to fasten the gargoyle to the pedestal somehow - haven't decided how yet (probably I will drill through the base into the top of the column, and use two or three masonry screws to fasten it down).
Hope this helps you - if you have more questions, feel free to ask.
P.S.
There are postal regulations on how high your mailbox can be, how far set back, etc., so you might want to check those online. My postman was a bit unhappy with our previous mailbox because it was too low (after the wooden post snapped off once at the base); he loves our gargoyle mailbox, though.
John was kind enough to send me some pictures of his build in progress, he included the following comments:
- "My pedestal has a hole it it too. I plan on digging a post hole,placing one one those cardboard tubes and filling it with concrete for the footing. This way it's below the frost line and won't heave. 41-45inches it's the finish height the post office requires. I'm going to look for some mortar to adhere the statue to the pedestal."
- "I'm a machinist, so I placed a shoulder on .5 ss and 3/6-16 thrd."
And finally, the finished mailbox in all it's glory (click on any picture for a larger view):
