My 6 year old daughter was 'bugging' me for a caterpillar and my 4 year old boy also wanted a bug, so I made these for them yesterday. I made the snail for my parent's as they let me set up my shop on their farm. I have seen a similar snail being sold on ebay before, so I thought I would give it a try. It's a good little practice piece for someone with as basic skills as I have using rebar(cheap and readily available). The caterpillar and centipede/millipede hybrid were both made from 1/2" round bar.

Those are great! I'm sure all recipients will be very happy. I'm definitely going to have to save this pic for later. Thanks for posting.



Mitch

nice! i like em all - thanks for the photos ;0

cute! I like the rebar snail

Those are coool! Entomology rocks! My kids don't like bugs :(

those are really cool mind if i use the snail i have been wanting to make some snakes and stuff and that snail rocks

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

Jose, please feel free to use anything you like. I can't claim ownership of the snail as I saw one for sale on ebay once and decided to give it a go. Please be sure to post pictures of your finished project.

Really really cool. Definitely gonna try an make some for the little ones.

Those are pretty cool, Mark. The snail would be a great demo item that wouldn't take long to make and would be great for the kids. Thanks for sharing. :D

Nice critters you made there :D

Nice bugs! And I know what I'm saying because I'm an entomologist by profession

How did you attached legs and antennae to the main body of the sculpture? Silver soldering?

Thanks again folks.

Caotropheus, thanks for not pointing out the many inaccuracies with my bugs. I realize there are many (I have my B.Sc. in Biology). I fastened the legs the lazy man's way. I drilled 1/16" holes and siliconed the wires into place. If it just sits on the shelf, the silicone seems to hold them in place fine.

Dang! I was hoping for a blueprint on jump welding teeny tiny legs onto a bug, or drawing them out from the main body.............. :rolleyes:

Heh-heh, with my rudimentary skill set I'm probably the last one that you would want a blueprint from.

Actually, I could just do my usual trick and mess up a whole bunch of arc strikes with a mig and just cut off the wire at the right length... :rolleyes:

That is a possibility. Other possibility is to weld those thin legs with TIG equipment. I've seen a guy once TIG welding tiny diameter pipes into some component of a vacuum machine, and people I guarantee you this fellow was not welding, he was making poetry !...

Cool Mark, nice stuff I really like that snail !!

very cool!!

I was recently given a bunch of 15M (approx. 5/8")rebar drops from work and figured I would do a little bit of change to the snail design and I came up with this.

nice, i like the other snail as well, all though the simplicity of the first one is nice!
i like the caterpillar etc aswell!

Mark, since you posted the first pictures, the snails have been a favorite with the kids and the kids at heart. I'm always asked to make more. I like the new snail and will give them a try too.

Thanks!

Mark <º)))><