Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 13

referring to poles set in the 1940s that were tagged with
 o-op in metal letters.  is the ural lectrification
Administration, the New Deal program that loaned
money to get electric co-ops started.
" I always wanted one, " Larry says. " We were changing
one out one day and I thought, 'I want that chunk of pole.'
It's just the history. You know, the co-op is 85 years old
this year. It's hard to believe we've still got stuff out there
that old. It's the history, and the craftsmanship and the
pride they put into it so that it is still up there and still
being used. "
Larry's growing interest in the history of his co-op dovetailed
with the retirement of many of the co-op employees
he's worked beside in his 29 years as a lineman.
Inspired by the look of the old REA poles, he
started creating retirement gifts that would keep
alive the memories those retiring linemen had of
repairing storm damage, building new circuits and
basically keeping the lights on for members.
His collection of old power line hardware included
several pieces with the kind of craftsmanship no longer
made. Larry mounted the old brass hardware on
a piece of barn wood and hung it in his garage. He
liked the way it looked, and the creative juices started
to o.
" I had this Dremel (a rotary grinder) out here one day
and I just looked at it and thought, 'You know, I bet I
could put somebody's name on one of those insulators.'
So, I got to messing around with it, and it kind of grew
from there, " Larry says.
He started by adding names and dates to insulators.
Before long he had designed a unique piece of art crafted
from barn wood, a short piece of pole sliced in half, a
piece of a crossarm with an arc sawed out to match the
pole, insulators and various pieces of hardware used in
linework. Working by hand with his Dremel and a woodburning
pen, he carefully carved names into surplus red
porcelain insulators and burned into the crossarms and
barn wood names, years of service, light bulbs, lightning
bolts, union logos and other tributes to the recipients.
As Larry's artwork began appearing at Laclede Electric's
four offices someone asked arry hat kind of laser he
used for the engraving. Larry replied that he was working
by hand.
e said he figured that as a laser arry says. e
told me about his machine and I kind of got to looking into
it. To do one of these by hand, it takes me an hour, hour
and a half. My hand gets numb. I eventually decided what
the heck and I got one. It's made it a little easier but I can
still do them by hand if someone wants one that way. "
Through trial and error, Larry taught himself how to
set up the computer-controlled laser and rotating table
to engrave names on insulators. He uses red and brown
insulators that are obsolete for today's lines. Depending on
how deep he sets the laser and how fast it moves, the color
of the engraving can change from white to gold or tan. No
two turn out the same.
Larry shies away from anything collectible or with sentimental
value. " I've had guys say, 'I got one from some outage.'
If it means that much to you, I don't want to touch it.
Because I don't want the responsibility of screwing it up. "
The list of those he's made line art for is growing longer
daily. Once he took care of Laclede's current retirees he
went back and made art for lineman he worked with who
have long been retired. In one case he used wood from the
last pole he and one of his friends worked on.
One beautiful blue insulator he engraved is special to
Larry. It's a memory of his father, a 40-year telephone lineman
who taught Larry how to climb poles.
He made another piece as a wedding gift for a lineman
and his new bride. " I put their names on insulators and
I put their last names on the crossarm. I put established
and the year, all in aluminum letters. " Then he crafted a
hidden bracket that hangs the crossarm from the wall as a
oating shelf.
One proud recipient of a Larry Taylor piece is
Hartville
former Laclede Electric Manager Marc Roecker, who
retired May 31. " Larry's work is really cool because
it reects the electric cooperatives arc says.
" When you get it in your hands you see it is
made out of an old pole. There's an insulator, a
crossarm and it's engraved. There's an actual
pole number. It's very nostalgic. "
As word spread of Larry's creations, linemen
at other electric co-ops around Missouri
began ordering their own pieces. So far,
his work has made it as far away as Louisiana and Massachusetts.
And while no two pieces are alike, they have
one thing in common: Larry's signature and L.T. Line Art
engraved on the bottom.
Line art isn't the only thing Larry turned his creativity
toward. On the job, he saw the need for a lineman tool
that would hold the loose tail of a line that is being spliced.
He dreamed up a solution to the problem, had a machinist
make a prototype and sold the idea to Utility Solutions Inc.
The tool is called the Rex Clamp, and Larry will get royalties
from a portion of the tool's sales.
" My brain is always a going I guess, " Larry says. " Trying
to come up with something new. "
You can contact Larry at 417-259-1094 and see more of
his work on Facebook by searching for L T Line Art.
Larry made this piece for John Arnold, a former Co-Mo Connect line
foreman who now is a safety instructor for the Association of Missouri
Electric Cooperatives.
OCTOBER 2023 | RURALMISSOURI.COOP 13
http://www.RURALMISSOURI.COOP

Rural Missouri - October 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - October 2023

Contents
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - Cover1
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - Cover2
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - Contents
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 4
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 5
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 6
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 7
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 8
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 9
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 10
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 11
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 12
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 13
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 14
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 15
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 16
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 17
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 18
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 19
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 20
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 21
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 22
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 23
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 24
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 25
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 26
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 27
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 28
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 29
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 30
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 31
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 32
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 33
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 34
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 35
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 36
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 37
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 38
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 39
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 40
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 41
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 42
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 43
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 44
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 45
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 46
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 47
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 48
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 49
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 50
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 51
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 52
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 53
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - 54
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - Cover3
Rural Missouri - October 2023 - Cover4
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