Staking outdoor stuff

[Scratch]

I made this big heavy address sign for a customer. It was made from 12"x 4" rectangle tubing, 1/4" wall, 3 feet long. A very simple piece. I just capped off the top end, cut out some numbers out of 1/4" sheet, painted the numbers silver, then started a rust finish on the tubing. The numbers are held in place with 1/16" thick rare Earth magnets. I came up with a way to stake it to the ground that worked very well, and thought I'd share it with you all to keep in the back of your mind for possible future projects.
Here's what it looks like on my shop floor:

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Here's what it looks like installed at the customers house:

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What I did was I pounded one of those studded T-posts into the ground like this so it was no taller than about 35" high. (This was outside my shop testing for stability, I also painted the post before I sent it to the customer)

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Then I cut out a piece of 1/4" sheet that would fit easily inside the rectangle tube, it has a T shaped slot in the center. I'm not sure what to call this piece so I'll call it Bob.
Bob was 3" x 11" IIRC.

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I painted Bob and slid him on top of the T-post. He stays right on top where I want him like this:

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Bob keeps the rectangle tubing from twisting or falling, and locates the top of the piece. If the T-post isn't set in the ground plumb, it doesn't matter. Just pick up the bottom and slide it left, right, forward or backwards until it's plumb with the top.

Worked pretty well and is very solid.

[djreiswig]

Neat idea. You could make another piece like Bob (name it Bill) with an additional notch so it will slide down the post and weld Bob inside the tube slightly below the cap (before welding the cap) and weld Bill inside the bottom of the tube. Then the tube couldn't move around on the post of it were to get bumped. It would always be vertical.

[plasmanewbie]

Hey Scrtach, awesome looking address sign and great idea on the stake! Makes sense and super simple