Welder and welder are different, and if for some it is hard work with which they earn a living, for David Madero welding is an endless field of creativity. However, in order not to starve to death, creativity must still be able to sell, so David tries his best not to repeat himself, to preserve his identity and work without sparing himself.
It's hard to describe how impressive the works really are David Madero (David Madero) - No photograph is able to convey the grandeur or grace of his statues. But, talking about himself, David says that he does not consider himself someone outstanding. “I don’t consider myself a good welder technically. Actually, I never learned this craft, I just grew up surrounded by all these tools - my father was a welder. So it turned out somehow by itself, intuitively. But I trying to fill in my gaps. "
"Until today, I have not yet met a more talented metal sculptor than my father. He started working in this field back in the 1950s, he was a real talent." On his website, David often uploads the process of creating his sculptures. “I do this on purpose. Clients rarely think about how much effort and work has been invested in creating a sculpture. They cannot see all this noise, metal scrap, heat from the welding machine, burns, it is difficult for them to imagine all this atmosphere in which the work is created. Clients feel that the sculptures are immediately created shining, with perfect shapes and on a pedestal. That's why I add a video about the creation process to the site. "
The fastest and most reliable way to attach metal parts is electric welding. Anyone can learn to handle it. Having bought or an inverter, as well as having spent half a pack of electrodes to gain practical skills, you can safely try to create crafts from metal with your own hands. Installation of structures, repairs in the country, the manufacture of garden tools and much more from this moment becomes available.
The first metal crafts
Many people now have welding. Often the device is purchased in case of construction or repair. Not even necessary for yourself. If the need arises for him, you can call a self-taught neighbor or a familiar welder-specialist. After the completion of the work, the unit is simply idle.
But sooner or later the moment comes when you should make up your mind and try to cook something yourself. There is nothing wrong with that, there would be a desire. The main thing at this stage is not to get burned and not to catch bunnies, and experience comes with practice. If there is either a country house, there will always be an application for welding. With its help, it is possible to solve the problems of territory development much faster.
Not always and not everything can be bought in the store. To weld a gate, to build a base for a bench or a table, to "grab" a hook to a metal post for attaching a rope or an additional support for weaving grapes is kind of a trifle, but it seems inconvenient to call a welder on this occasion. So you need to master the basics and solve everyday problems with your own hands.
Basics of welding
Of course, it's not worth taking on serious work with responsible connections right away. You can practice on a piece of scrap metal. The first step is to learn how to ignite the arc and hold it while maintaining a constant working gap between the workpiece and the electrode as it burns out.
After that, you need to work out the technique of forming a weld by fusing a layer of metal onto a flat surface. Then you can proceed to adjusting the current for different thicknesses of the workpieces being welded. Welding is a technique of joining two metal parts, based on melting their surfaces at the junction. In one piece, they are connected by adding a layer of bonding material of the electrode.
The current is chosen in such a way as to ensure that only the surface layer melts without the formation of holes. It is better to master the technique on electrodes with a diameter of 2.5-3 mm. They must not be old and must be dry, otherwise the first experience will most likely be ineffective, which may discourage learning to create crafts from metal.
Welding makes it possible to correct minor and sometimes serious flaws in work or installation errors. It is enough to cut the "tack" seam, and the parts are disconnected. After cleaning the place of unsuccessful welding, the process can be repeated.
Material
Any owner of a country house or owner of a summer cottage will surely have metal waste on the farm. These may be the remains of pipes after the installation of a gas pipeline, water supply or heating systems. The real owner usually does not throw away the remains of the channel or pieces of reinforcement. You can also find used nails, bolts and nuts.
Such scrap metal very often becomes material for new repairs or improvement of the old one. Surely you will find in the garage or shed outdated garden tools, chains, old dishes, as well as spare parts from a car, motorcycle or bicycle that have not yet been handed over to collection points.
All of this can be used to make useful and practical metal crafts. With your own hands, with the help of welding and available assistants, you can repair old garden tools or make new ones from waste, taking into account personal experience, your preferences and business conditions.
You can equip comfort in your backyard without buying new equipment. From used, but still strong metal, you can build a base for a country table or bench. Finding the right particle board sheet for your table top and bench board is no problem. Racks can even be made of substandard inch pipe.
If there is a supply of material, you can swing on the swing. It is better to make the structure capital, with concreting of the base. You need two sidewalls of angled welded pipes with bridges for rigidity. The more massive the swing seat is, the larger this angle should be. Jumpers can be welded at ground level or even below so that they are not visible.
Hangers are best made from chains, but a reliable rope can also be used. The beam for fastening must be massive. A thick-walled pipe, a piece of rail or channel is suitable. It is best to fasten the frame parts and hanger brackets by welding.
At any cottage, with rare exceptions, there is a brazier or other similar device. A couple of logs for sitting, an old stump as a table and burnt bricks to restrict the fire pit and stack skewers - for some, this may be relaxation, but it is better and more convenient to use a more perfect structure.
The brazier can be knowledgeable. It can be brought with you to the dacha, it can also have a permanent place of registration with the possibility of transporting it to the place of storage. For such a solution, a brazier from an old steel barrel is quite suitable. It can be made on your own and you can do only with a grinder and a drill. However, it will be better and easier if you use a welding machine.
The empty and washed drum is cut along the vertical centerline into two halves. Legs from a rod, fittings or pipe sections are welded to one part. The top part serves as a hinged cover and can be mounted for convenience on welded on old door curtains.
Crafts made from thin sheet metal can be fastened by welding only after gaining some experience. In order to reliably weld the parts and not burn a hole with the electrode, you should select the welding current accurately and work with short tacks with constant control of the seam quality.
Metal sculpture
The garden around the country house is not only an area where trees and shrubs are grown for picking fruits and berries. It is also a place to relax! Garden sculpture will be a great addition to the well-groomed plantings.
It may not necessarily be made of concrete or plaster. For a person with creativity, there are no boundaries to express it. If at the moment only a welding machine, half a pack of electrodes, scrap and a desire to create are at hand, then from all this you can build an original and unique composition. Moreover, the complexity of the execution can be different.
It depends on the available material and on the idea. In one case, such metal crafts for a garden can consist of a dozen different, at first glance, incompatible parts of different origin and purpose. In another case, it can be made up of hundreds of the same type of repeating elements connected by welding into a three-dimensional model.
Where to get ideas from?
This question cannot be answered unequivocally. Someone, seeing in one place accidentally found details, imagine how they will be combined together if they are combined into a common composition. Another purposefully drives to a scrap metal collection point and wanders around the mountains of this trash in search of a suitable part for the chosen sculpture.
You can get ideas or just take someone's already implemented idea as a basis from specialized book publications that are dedicated to metal crafts. There is nothing shameful in creating the thing you like from the available materials at the household.
In any case, do-it-yourself metal crafts, created according to an existing drawing or sketch, will be original. Welding is not about copying, but a kind of creativity. Anyone that is made with a decorative concept and repeats a pattern or composition is perceived as a kind of masterpiece.
Safety engineering
To prevent DIY metal crafts from serving as a constant reminder of bad welding experience associated with a burn or injury, care should be taken. It is strictly forbidden to work without a mask or visor, otherwise you can get ultraviolet irradiation.
A protective suit will protect clothing and body skin from flying sparks and splashes of molten metal, and tight gloves or gloves made of dense material will protect your hands. It is not recommended to knock down the scale from the seam without protective glasses, sharp fragments flying in all directions can get into the eyes.
Keep a bucket of water and a wet rag handy when working near wood or surfaces prone to fire. Accidental sparks or electrode residue bouncing off and falling on such materials may cause smoldering and subsequent fire. When working indoors, attention should be paid to proper ventilation.
"V1.ru" - information portal of Volgograd
[December 15, 2019]
Quite unexpectedly, I came across the Facebook page of a Japanese artist-sculptor - Noriyuki Saitoh. Link to his profile - www.facebook.com/noriyuki.saitoh ... Looking at this page, I realized that Noriyuki is engaged in sculpture and in 2018-2019 he created miniature sculptures of insects from bamboo. He also transfers his skill to his students.
[December 11, 2019]
The working title of this sculptural composition is "Chukotka". I received an urgent order from my Chukchi friends in October 2019. The composition was supposed to represent Chukotka at the Days of the Far East in Moscow in early December. I had to speed up the workflow and make a rather large (3 meters high) sculpture of a walrus and a couple of seagulls in a short time.
[December 10, 2019]
Fair on Novy Arbat: 12/04/2019 - 12/08/2019.
Festival at the Expocentre: 12/10/2019 - 12/14/2019.
Days of the Far East in Moscow is a large-scale event in which all 11 Far Eastern regions are represented. In 2019, this event is being held for the third time, and this time the trade pavilions of the Far Eastern fair are located in the very center of the capital - on the territory of Novy Arbat. I brought there a sculptural composition "Walrus and seagulls" created especially for this event and one of the Chukchi dogs.
It was not possible to take good photos from the scene, so I suggest looking at photos of the sculptural composition
Usually the word "welding" is not associated with beauty, romance or high art. But welding is not only iron frames, bridges and pipelines ... In skillful hands, the metal melting under the welding arc can take any shape and turn into flowers, animals, graceful statues and decorative elements.
Appreciate the works of Kiev resident Dmitry Kushniruk, made by the innovative method of artistic titanium welding. They captivated not only the visitors of the exhibition in Kiev, but also became a sensation at the shows in Helsinki, St. Petersburg and a number of US cities.
No less amazing are the creations of the Russian Yuri Shurupov, who, using plasma cutting and welding, creates fantasy sculptures that have already adorned more than one private collection.
The works of Grigory Dochkin, the head of the school of welders at the Institute named after V.I. Paton. He creates graceful flowers, vases and boxes from cold metal.
Artistic welding captivated the craftsman in his youth when working on the structure of the "Lunokhod". Different temperature conditions make it possible to obtain interesting color shades on the metal, which prompted the idea of \u200b\u200bthe possibility of creating unusual sculptural works. The idea was brought to life. See what happened.
One of the most interesting areas of metalworking is art welding - a method of manufacturing original steel products that are distinguished not only by their high strength, but also by their unique appearance.
With the help of artistic welding, you can create both decorative objects and things that perform a practical function. The production process is carried out using an argon burner.
The most popular products that are created by welding are practical household structures, furniture and decorative items.
Household items include elements of fences, gates, as well as small items like boxes, containers for food and other things. The method of artistic welding allows not only to give the desired shape to the product, but also to create an original pattern or texture on the surface.
Metal professionals can make decorative and coffee tables, chairs, hangers, shoe racks, and other things that have a practical function and are used in the home or outdoors.
Such artistic furniture has an original look, with proper processing it is not afraid of moisture, withstands heavy mechanical loads, and has a long service life.
The cost of artistic welding cannot be called low because of the material used in the work. It is mainly titanium and stainless steel. Zirconium is used to obtain shades of colors.
Artistic welding allows you to create a variety of items that serve for decoration. These can be animal figurines, ornamental details for decorating walls, ceilings, columns or arches, details in the form of flowers, plants.
The number of options to choose from depends solely on the wishes of the client and his budget, as well as the style features of the interior. Most often, decorative objects created by welding are ordered by people living in luxurious cottages and who want to demonstrate a sense of taste and originality of design. But everyone can afford a small stainless steel craft.
Benefits of welded products
One of the main advantages of things created using artistic welding is a beautiful and original appearance.
This method allows the manufacture of hundreds and thousands of finished products and parts that can serve a practical function or serve solely as a decoration. Welding allows you to get graceful and attractive objects that are impossible to repeat exactly.
Although it is a relatively new art form, unlike forging, it is gaining more and more attention. One of the centers of artistic welding is the Paton Institute.
Another advantage of iron products made using art welding is their high strength and reliability. Such items, be it ornaments for decorating a fence or outdoor furniture, are not afraid of increased mechanical stress, have a long service life, do not require specific or complex maintenance, preserving not only physical qualities, but also appearance. For additional protection of art products, special formulations can be used to repel dust, dirt and moisture.
Metal crafts work well with other objects and materials, including brick, block, stone, and wood.
If, for example, welded decorative elements are intended to decorate a fence or gate, they look great in combination with corrugated board, red and facing bricks, concrete and other materials.
Furniture created by art welding looks beautiful in a classic interior, baroque, Romanesque, Greek style, and small items can decorate a room designed in the High-Tech direction.
Tools and drawings
To engage in artistic welding using rolled metal, the following devices and equipment are required:
- a device for manual argon-arc welding (non-ferrous metals and stainless steel are cooked with it), a torch for it, a filler wire and an argon cylinder;
- paper. Without it, it is impossible to draw drawings with the definition of sizes and small nuances that are difficult to take into account when rendering without a plan. However, in the modern world, you can use computer programs;
- stationery for marking (pencil, ruler, protractor);
- work surface, which must be made of materials resistant to high temperatures and flame.
Before starting work on artistic welding, it is necessary to make a drawing and think over what size the product will be, what it is intended for, with what style it should be combined.
The finished image is only part of such a drawing. In addition to the sketch, it is necessary to draw individual parts, indicate the connection points and their number, consider the object in several planes.
Main job
At this stage, the master chooses the material. So, for small and graceful figures or sculptures, titanium can be used in its pure form or with small additions of zirconium, which gives the products a special shine.
If artistic welding is used to create a fence, wicket, furniture or other large objects, steel is usually used as the base material. The stainless steel construction is not susceptible to the negative effects of moisture, resistant to random and directional impacts.
After determining the materials, shape and dimensions, the master, using a welding machine, makes the desired item.
Depending on the complexity and size, artistic welding can take from 1 day to several weeks.
The surface can be polished, engraved; in some cases, individual fragments are decorated with tarnishing flowers. This is an effect in which the steel surface becomes iridescent and iridescent, and is achieved through exposure to high temperatures. After the product is ready, it should cool down.
Safety and processing nuances
Like any other welding work, artistic welding requires strict adherence to safety rules.
Improper use of the equipment can get an electric shock, partially or completely blind when exposed to ultraviolet radiation or dross, poisoning with vapors arising from metal processing, get burned as a result of material melting or accidental explosion of a cylinder.
Such consequences are dangerous to health and life, therefore use a mask and protective clothing... It is best to choose a product with chameleon glass, which changes the degree of darkening depending on the amount of ultraviolet light that hits the surface
Before starting to weld steel, it is required to free the place of work from foreign objects. It is better to start experiments in artistic welding with products of a simple shape.
It is also necessary to study well the welding technique in order to firmly connect the structural parts and spend a minimum of time on it.