So I was asked if I could make a hot pot holder in the form of a spider web complete with standoffs. I came up with this today. It's 12" Diameter and I painted it with 2000 Degree heat paint. I'll have to bake it tomorrow when it's dry. Her you go Frosty, functional art. Man this thing was a PITA to do. All the bending and cutting and then the welding and paint. Darn thing took all afternoon.

Nice looking trinket.  How was it in terms of keeping it flat with all the potential welding distortion?  Troublesome or no problem?  Also, it seems to have a lot of feet--Any issues trying to keep them all riding on the surface when finished (as best as can be expected from multiple welded feet)?

In short--any tricks you learned in the process?

49 minutes ago, CTBlades said:

Darn thing took all afternoon.

 

That's probably what the spiders would say every time you brush away a cob web if they could talk.

Lol C-1....probably!

Kozzy, actually it stayed pretty flat as i kept adding clamps as I worked it. I also took the the heat into consideration and just tacked, let cool and tacked more. I think the fact that it was only 40 degrees in the shop and welding on a steel table helped as well but I really don't know. I did get carried away with feet (more for looks than function) and a couple stood taller but nothing a quick hit with the grinder couldn't fix just fine.

lol, Nice work I say!. I should make one of them. been thinking bout a spider web with a spider in it..... wait.... wheres the spider?

 

Thanks Das, the spider is in the pot lol!.....Funny, I just knew someone was gonna ask where the spider was!

The spider could be the handle. 

Sounds like a plan so let's see it in yours!

 

haha ok. Guess that's tonight's project. 

One of the old cast iron skillet makers used to use a spider web logo with a spider made from a pot on it....

I'm going to have to do one out of barbwire for my wife...

Right on Das, right on!

Cool story Thomas, barbwire hmmm that should prove interesting.....I've always wanted to mess around with barbwire but I haven't found any in my scrap dives yet. Found plenty as a kid though lol!

Out here I can find it rusty but still intact; I've done a basket hook with it before.  We get some tough spiders out here too...(ok not by Australian standards...)

I have been hoarding some new barbed wire my cousin had leftover. Tho I have a sculpture in mind to use it for already. 

Looks good Ray. Another little washer and some wire legs would convert the center washer to the spider nicely. For a little twist the spider could be on the far side looking through the web, that way it can be 3D and not make things rock on the trivet. Ooh, it could have a cool seminal marking, not a red hourglass necessarily but something cool.

How did you curve the lateral pieces?

Frosty The Lucky.

I'm trying to avoid galvanized in my projects; hence sourcing rusty barb wire.  Of course my tetanus shot is current

I have to head up to the farm and see what they have kicking around. Really want to mess with some.

Frosty, sounds easy enough. As for the bending, I just heated up a half dozen 12" lengths of old rod and used a jig I made out of a 4" piece of iron pipe in my vice with a hole drilled in it to accept the rod and then just wrapped the hot rod around it. Then just cut lengths as needed. Easy enough!

That's pretty much how I curved rod but I did the whole stick at once. Put a long crank on it and turn the pipe jig, 1/4" rd. bends pretty easily down to about 3" dial.

The trick I learned is to use bolt cutters to cut the pieces, get the angle the same and the pinch is perfect for welding. You can get a really solid weld without leaving anything to grind off. If you have access to a lathe you're set for production without sweating at the crank.

A spider web is probably one of the few thing I haven't made with coiled rd. stock. Made a lot of basket hilts and helms for SCA fighters but that was years ago.

Frosty The Lucky.

57 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

I'm trying to avoid galvanized in my projects; hence sourcing rusty barb wire.  Of course my tetanus shot is current

I think my tetanus shot is current... 

The galvy on the wire I'll be using won't be welded much. I could easily remove it where I will be welding since most of the wire will be made into a tornado shape. And of course proper ppe. 

 

I get my tetanus shot updated on a 5 year schedule rather than the more usual 10; When I told the Dr I was a blacksmith I bet he assumed I was a farrier; but as I scrounge a lot of old farmyard steel I do not mind the extra hassle; Tetanus is not a nice way to go, even if you have an Iconic Bridge to your credit!

Well Frosty it's like this, I used 12+" pieces because that's the longest I could get out of the scrapped yard stands I found for free. If I had bought rod I would have used the whole length. 

A 5 year schedule for a tetanus shot sounds like a good idea doing what we do.

Ok. Here it is. Decided to go with the spider as the holder rather then the handle. Although it's hard as heck to get one good photograph of but "to me" seems cool in person. I did grind the top flat for a pan or whatever to sit on better. 

Clever work, Das. You've really nailed the art of spider making!

Das, that is totally awesome sir. Knocked it out of the park for sure. Like what Aus said, you really have the spiders down pat!

This one was a bit of a pain. Once I got my acetylene tank filled I ran out of oxygen lol so I had to toss this guy in the forge to bend his legs. 

Thanks for the inspiration CT. I hadn't  made a web yet or a trivet. I guess this is both. Doubt my mother will want to be using this guy on the table for thanksgiving 

I ended up mixing the rod bending ideas. It was 3/16" rod and I just grabbed some different size pipe, drilled a hole just over 3/16" in each. Then just put the pipe in the vise and put the tip of the rod in the hole and cold bent it around. And the bolt cutters worked great for cutting it. 

 

Yes sir, using the pipe with a hole worked very well but unlike you young string bucks muscling the rod, I'm old a lazy so a quick heat up in the forge did wonders for the 1/4" steel. Someone once told me to work smarter not harder. 

I wish I had thought of the bolt cutter idea...that would have been perfect....next time!