How to Weld Garden Art
Picture yourself creating decorative gates and fences, garden fairies, copper salmon, eagles or anything your mind's eye can conceive. Welding garden art from raw materials is an art form anybody can learn. Bronze, Iron, steel and copper can be fashioned into all kinds of conceptual designs. With a few simple tools you can conjure to your heart's desire. Keep it easy, or make your garden sculpture as intricate and your tool collection as extensive as you choose.
Things You'll Need
- Scrap metal
- Torch
- Welders chalk
- Nuts and bolts
- Welding table
- Welding hammer
- Wire brush
- Bench vice
- Power grinder
- Welding helmet
- Metal-shaving chisel
Instructions
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Getting Comfortable with the Medium
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1
Consider using a thin, easily maneuvered metal and a small soldering tool to get comfortable with the medium, the tools and the safety gear. This is uncomplicated to learn and will guide you toward creating metal garden art with fewer glitches and injuries than jumping in with heavy metal, costly tools and pricey mistakes.
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2
Keep in mind that welding puts you in close range to a flame.Take all safety precautions in your workplace, and make certain your workstation has plenty of room, good aeration and a sufficient power supply.
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3
Decide what kind of garden space you wish to create: spiritual, abstract or wildlife.
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4
Settle on size and whether the welded piece will need to be placed on a sturdy base or be free standing. First, do some sketches; start with a simple design like with a leaf or frog. If you start with a towering totem, you may get overwhelmed.
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Research what kind of welding torch you need. Beginners can happily get by with a welder that is 110-volt until they are more experienced. Then decide on the thickness of metal you are comfortable handling. A hobby-welding substance of choice for shrewd beginners is mild or low-carbon plain steel. It is economical and can be acquired as sheet, bar, plate, tube and wire. This versatile metal is fairly easy to cut, saw, file and weld.
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6
Outline your actual size drawing on paper, like a sewing pattern. Then, using inexpensive welders chalk, outline the blueprint drawing onto the metal piece.
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Use your imagination when taking into consideration the materials for your metal design. Take scrap metal, and make something distinctive and individually yours. Use a torch to cut out the piece. The more intricate the design, the more you will need a plasma arc cutter or laser. If this is your first time, design a garden art project that does not have tiny complicated cuts.
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8
Cut the pattern out, and grind the edges smooth using a metal wheel grinder. Craft the more elaborate details with a hammer, metal-shaving chisels and drill bits. Secure it to your base using appropriately sized bolts.
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9
Join a welding group, either online or find a local welding community where you can learn, share and grow as a welding garden artist.
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Tips & Warnings
If you don't know how to weld and do not care to learn, put metal in harmony with your garden by using nuts and bolts or wire to secure pieces together. Think outside of the box. Use pieces of junk metal, and refurbish them into magnificent garden art.
Take a welding class at a local community college.
Remember that rust is steel's enemy.
Always wear a protective helmet.
Do not do any welding without some education and research.
