Metal Sculpture & Carvings

So I have made a couple of echidnas (spiny anteaters) and to display them I need to make a bunch of ants. The aim is to make a dozen or so, but I want them all different, using junk items that hopefully, are recognisable in the finished ants. Here's Ant #1 - couple of wheel nuts, nails and a footpeg off my son's old stunt BMX bike. Eleven more to go. Any ideas Das?

Here's a piece I made for a friend that had lost her Father just before Fathers Day 2015. His was a mechanic, his fave bird was the hummingbird, and fave flower the sunflower. Of course I would've like to have spent a few more hours on it had it not been for a deadline.

Assassin bug. Head is on a spring and moves have a little cleanup to do but I really wanted to post it.

Here is the almost finished spider. I'm thinking of making a web behind it and there are a few small tweaks I want to do then it will get sealed and be done. I like trying to add forged elements to sculptures, this one is bolts as legs, spinnerets ( abdomen legs) pedipalp (mouth legs) , and chelicerae (fangs). Yes I looked that up lol. Hope it's creepy enough for the title. At the moment it's about 17#. I was initially concerned it would be back heavy but is balanced really well. 16" long by 13 1/2" wide.

Finished this last night. Boss wanted a butterfly for his daughter.

I found this pic., but there was no link to its origin, so please give my high praise to whomever created it! I love using old items to make new art, this is amazing. It says it was made entirely of old shovels. On a side note, I've been coming to iforgeiron for a few years now, but never wandered to the section, what a fool I've been! There's no much more to read and inspire me! I love it...

Hey guys, thought you might like to see this octopus I made recently.

You wouldn't want to stub your toe on this guy. There's some weight there. My son is a fitter for a mining company and he gave me a heap of old bearings from some massive pump he reconditioned. They fit together pretty well for the body of this hippo. His head is a piece that is used to hang the glass insulators on power transmission lines. It was heavily coated with zinc and took some acid to remove it. Those heads look a lot like the head of a moose too. Now, there's an idea ...

Hello all. Still playing with animal heads... Last night I was working on another husky and realized I didn't have the right sized eye punch, so I threw the head in the vice and took my grinder with a wire wheel on it to clean off the scale. As I was working (and paying attention) I noticed these heat colors emerge so I quickly dunked it in water to hold the colors and think I may call it quits here even though this is technically unfinished... My brother has worked at the University of Michigan for the past 20+ years so this may end up being a Christmas/B-day present....

Found a couple of pairs of scissors and some ball bearings and figured they would make interesting bird heads. A few chisel point things off a plough and a bunch of horse shoes and I made these two waterbirds. Found an old clutch for a nest to stand them on and some balls from a ball mill for 'eggs'. A clutch of eggs you might say. The heads are mounted so they swivel and you can make various attitudes and expressions. I thought they would look good next to our fishpond, looking for prey with scissor-like beaks. And why Brazilian waterbirds? Well, that's what it says on the tails. Pictures follow, not necessarily in the correct order:

Just finished this 'bits and pieces' bird. The beak is the handle from a garden pruner and it opens and closes. He's called Stanley. His name is stamped on the drill brace neck. I make the feet oversize for stability and give them an awkward look with the knock-knees. Not meant to be a serious sculpture, but they do add some comic relief to the garden.

I put together this sculpture of two long-beaked waterbirds just to show that a sculpture can be as simple or as complex as you like. The recipe: One pair of rubbish slip joint pliers ... separated. Two telstra galvanised line hooks ... acid dipped. Four short lengths recycled 6mm rod. One old bike sprocket. P.S. They do stand straight - a bit distorted by camera angle.

Just an elephant. His head and tail rotate on a single shaft so he can pose a little.

Present for the wife's birthday .

Been trying to get this little junk-art Joey finished to complete my family of kangaroos. Made the effort today and got him finished. He's now ready to join his Mum and Dad. The inside shot shows him after being clear coated. I added the brass locks for a bit of colour. Might call him Lockie. Here are a few pics of the little guy:

After I got the idea for the paws more came to me and I had to make it. Only thing I'm not sure on is how to make the head. I plan to make more because they are cute. This is stretchy position.

Been busy making roses. By chance they lay nicely on the leaves so it's how I've been making them.

Here is a recent project that i completed before Christmas. My son asked me to make a fish out of horseshoes but i didn't like that idea too much. So this is what i came up with. It was a gift for a friend of his that really likes to fish. To say he was stunned by is an understatement as well. His kids flipped out. I was very happy how it all turned out.

Hey all, my mother in law wants a metal gnome, I am looking for help with ideas?? I have seen clay Spencer do one on his treadle hammer but don't remember what all the tools and dies looked like. Any other ideas would be great.

Here's another try to answer: Yes, it's a pity all those previously posted photos are no longer available to us. I think I posted a pic of some scorpions a long time ago. So what's your next project, Das? I'm currently working on making a Joey kangaroo to complement the buck kangaroo and the female which I have already made. I want the complete family, as I am having a junk sculpture exhibition here in March next year. I'm going to have a 'critter' corner too for the crawlies; scorpions, spiders, grasshoppers, mantises, ants etc. and a big ol' mosquito which I have already done. Might have to pinch your centipede idea, if that's OK.

Please let my know what yall think of these.. I use copper, brass, and tin sheets mounted on 3/8's square bar. Thank You

A commission for a friend. It's version 2.0 because I messed up the legs and claws of the first version. Learning experience lol. Anyway. Here she is. just under 20" long and had to be under 7" wide to fit on the shelf he has.

Saw this, I wonder how long it took to come up with this idea?

Another couple of christmas gifts. This was my first attempt at making these and im pretty happy with how they came out. My only issue is that when i took the pieces from the forge and quenched them into the water the copper turned black. It was a tough black that took alot of hand sanding to remove and even so there is still some there. Anyone have any tips for me on how to either avoid this happening or how to more easily remove this stuff.

Just an artistic view of a centipede in sculpture.