beammeupscotty Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 I just finished this on Friday for an upcoming beer festival. Yeah, I know it has nothing to do with beer but I have 60 or 70 bottle openers to cover that market. Even though non-beer items don't often sell at this sort of event, I rather like having a table of stuff that is not bottle openers just to show that I am not a one trick pony. I often make this sort of decorative item to give to good customers (I am a general contractor) as a token of my appreciation for the work, after I finish a project. I sell them sometimes as well, but I usually end up just giving them away. This one took about eight hours to complete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 Nice work, mate. I like the lustre and texture you got on those bullrushes, and the snail is a nice touch. They would be iin great demand from gardeners and landscapers. Edit: I just noticed the dragonfly. Cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 beer holders for the lawn chair would sell there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beammeupscotty Posted August 17, 2014 Author Share Posted August 17, 2014 beer holders for the lawn chair would sell there... I toyed with the idea of doing beer holders but decided to focus on openers instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 So you put an opener on the beer stakes. A beer (bottle/can/glass) holder that sticks in the ground next to your seat. Very well done on all counts. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Very inspirative work you have there! I like the plants very much and the mushroom, too. If I may ask: Did you weld the bulrushes' maces on the stems? But the leaves might be drawn down from one piece, aren't they? And what finish did you use? - I really like that bronze-like color. Thanks for sharing. Greetings Gergely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beammeupscotty Posted August 18, 2014 Author Share Posted August 18, 2014 Very inspirative work you have there! I like the plants very much and the mushroom, too. If I may ask: Did you weld the bulrushes' maces on the stems? But the leaves might be drawn down from one piece, aren't they? And what finish did you use? - I really like that bronze-like color. Thanks for sharing. Greetings Gergely The maces, as you call them are lightly welded at the bottom to their stem, which extends all the way through the mace. Sometimes when I make these cattails, I just shrink it on to the stem. The mace is made from 3/8" pipe, the stem 1/4" round stock. The leaves are indeed made from one piece of 1" x 1/8" flat bar. The mushroom is two pieces welded together. For these sorts of welds, I want them to be as invisible as possible so I use oxy/acetylene and an small tip to put them together. Both the snail and the mushroom have a 1/4" pin silver soldered into their bases which is glued in to the stone. With the exception of the legs, the dragonfly is made from one piece. The legs are made from welding rod and are welded together, then welded in place on the dragonfly with oxy/acetylene, then the legs are VERY carefully welded to the leaf, again with the torch. The colors are all just done with a torch, then, in this case, a clear acrylic finish is sprayed on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Thank you very much for the detailed answer. I'd never thought that the maces are made of pipe. We want to redo a part of our front yard and minimize the grass covered surface. So I thought there is a fun and long project to make some sort of "ironic garden" :) I really like your work but I have no idea how to achieve such a light beauty. - Time will show more... Bests Gergely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beammeupscotty Posted August 19, 2014 Author Share Posted August 19, 2014 Thank you very much for the detailed answer. I'd never thought that the maces are made of pipe. We want to redo a part of our front yard and minimize the grass covered surface. So I thought there is a fun and long project to make some sort of "ironic garden" :) I really like your work but I have no idea how to achieve such a light beauty. - Time will show more... Bests Gergely To make those maces you just neck the pipe down on both ends with either a spring fuller or a guillotine tool. Then you cut it off th pipe and grind the ends so they are more rounded. Forge the tapered stem...you need a very long gradual taper perhaps an inch or so longer than the length of the mace. Make sure that the remaining I.D. at the fullered ends are smaller than the diameter of the stem where will pass through the mace end, then drive it in, weld with a torch on the bottom if you feel the need and add the texture to the outside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 This is turning into a real tutorial! Thank you so much! Soon I'm giving it a try. Greetings Gergely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beammeupscotty Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 This is turning into a real tutorial! Thank you so much! Soon I'm giving it a try. Greetings Gergely Go for it. Just figured out how to do this after attending a class...indirectly. I attended a CBA class a couple years ago, primarily to connect with some other people doing this kind of work. They had a project made of black iron pipe which was not really a great project, but it got me thinking about what I could make out of iron pipe. The cattail was one of the things I figured out. Another was a pretty realistic version of a California Poppy. Then I figured out how to quickly make candle cups out of pipe...that proved to be very useful. I have seen people posting, even here I think, pretty realistic looking chili pepper bottle openers made from pipe. It is a pretty useful material and it actually forges really nicely. You can thin it way down and it still holds together pretty well. It is worth playing around with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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