Sculptural Metalworking with Bevan Weissman
A Recap of what they did:
- Learned the sweet spot of MIG welding - balancing "voltage" and "wire feed" to get that steady buzz, like your head's in a hornets nest. Too much wire makes staccato spatter, too much voltage causes gaps and stalling. The right "proportion" can be dialed up and down to make thick & deep or thin & light welds.
- Learned cutting with the chop saw, cutting with the angle grinders, and cutting with the oxy-acetylene torch
- Learned how to safely turn on and off the oxy-acetylene gas tanks & regulator (clockwise closes main tank valve, but clockwise opens regulator valve)
- Learned how to operate oxy-acetylene torches for cutting (remember, POOP or for us "FOOF" - fuel, oxygen, oxygen, fuel for the order of turning on and off the torch).
- Gas ratios. ~6:1 oxygen:acetylene ratio (~30:5 psi) for cutting.
- Learned grinding with the angle grinders and the bench grinders
- Put all those newfound skills together to collaboratively build a lovely jellyfish sculpture!
- Cut, heat & bend steel sheet for the dome
- Cut, bend, and weld round rod to make tendrils, tentacles, and the "brain"
- Embellish everything with oxy-cutting and MIG welded texture
- Weld the whole thing together
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| April using the Oxy- Acetylene Torch |
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| Jody & April |
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| April Bending Steel |
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| Jody using the Oxy- Acetylene Torch |
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| Wes & Jody |
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| Wes using the Oxy-Acetylene Torch |
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| Wes on the MIG |
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| Wes, Jody & April with there finished collaborative piece. |
I would love to learn metalworking and produce my own work like this. Is there any way to use a process similar to cold heading when working with these types of materials?
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