Heres a six legged  dragon fly I made a while back,  good and rusted, compared to my horse shoe version. I suppose it just goes to show you can use different styles and materials in your art/sculpture.  It also shows how one can change and adapt to new ideas, like my next dragon fly I'm working on that may reflect some great input I found on IFI sculpture forum.  Scott.

 

 

I like it.

I like it Scott and it gives me an idea. Just a couple little changes like pipe for the tail some propane hose and a couple fittings and VIOLA a person could have a stern drive DRAGON fly. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Stern drive haha... nice!  And It would add some flare to the piece.   I'm working that idea into a upcoming project I have for sure...

4 hours ago, zadvorney said:

I like it.

Thank you!

Stern drive. Ugh. Lol. I like it Scott. The pipe T works great for the head. Always looking for more inspiration lol. Actually I love seeing what others come up with since I love scrap art. 

Nice! Six legs is good!

Those pipe tees are really handy. I use them all the time for crazy birds eyes. Gotta burn the gal off them first though.

Thanks you two.  Aus, that tee was a gas/black pipe one and It had some kind of nasty coating on it that ranks right up there with galv.  Now I burn off any suspect coatings outside with the rosebud.  I love crazy looking eyes on metal sculpture and have found if you use herringbone gears to tack on them they ook even crazier!  Scott.

Just a word of caution ( for the sake that some that read this may not know) that it can be dangerous to burn off galvy, or suspect coatings. I know a soak in vinegar can eat galvy off and is much safer. I use diluted muriatic acid and it seems to usually work quicker. Then rinsed in baking soda/ water solution to neutralize the acid and it's ready to go.  For anything like this, proper PPE and disposal/ neutralizing of chemicals should be used. 

There, safety note done.  

 

I I had to look up a herringbone gear  now I know.  

2 hours ago, Daswulf said:

I know a soak in vinegar can eat galvy off and is much safer. I use diluted muriatic acid and it seems to usually work quicker.

Soaking galvy in vinegar (acetic acid) turns the zinc into zinc acetate, which is the same stuff used in zinc tablets. Don't know what Zinc plus HCl equals, but muriatic acid is certainly more dangerous to play with than household vinegar. 

Note, however, that if you get horticultural vinegar (often sold as a weedkiller) which has a stronger acetic acid content, it's a LOT more caustic than household vinegar.

19 minutes ago, JHCC said:

Soaking galvy in vinegar (acetic acid) turns the zinc into zinc acetate, which is the same stuff used in zinc tablets. Don't know what Zinc plus HCl equals, but muriatic acid is certainly more dangerous to play with than household vinegar. 

Note, however, that if you get horticultural vinegar (often sold as a weedkiller) which has a stronger acetic acid content, it's a LOT more caustic than household vinegar.

From what I can find the reaction creates hydrogen gas ( H2 ) and and zinc chloride ( ZnCl2 ).  I do this outside and ( for safety sake) should have mentioned that the gas produced is flammable. So don't do it near any fire or sparks.  I also keep the plastic container covered but not sealed. And again, use proper personal protection equipment.  

No doubt that vinegar is safer. I haven't tried the horticultural vinegar yet. I'll have to find some and give it a try. ( and maybe kill some poison ivy too)  

  I have never tried this, but I'll give it a shot.  Most any chemical/acid/material is safe if you have respect for proper safety procedures and ALWAYS read MSDS (which is being phased out out for a NWO system, btw).   I know a guy that uses sodium hydroxide (LYE) In a big tub to clean rust and grease from parts.  He even heats it up, claiming it is more effective.  No/poor ventilation.  Tried to advise him but you know...  I dont visit his shop much anymore.

 

6 hours ago, Nodebt said:

 tack on them they ook even crazier! 

  Sorry for my poor spelling and lack of roof reading before I hat the send botten.  I'll try to do butter in tge future!  Scott.

 

 

  Sorry for my poor spelling and lack of roof reading before I hat the send botten.  I'll try to do butter in tge future!  Scott.

Oj, yiu dew tjat. 

I hear ya!

4 hours ago, Daswulf said:

 I haven't tried the horticultural vinegar yet. I'll have to find some and give it a try. ( and maybe kill some poison ivy too)  

I said it's sold as a weedkiller -- I didn't say it works as a weedkiller! 

Don't bother with it. It'll burn the leaves, but it won't kill anything with deep or extensive roots.

Extensive roots...  Field bindweed roots reach -20 to -30 feet below ground level.  I grow organic and I wish there was something that would obliterate that stuff from the face of the earth.  Using a tiller on it is like pruning most plants, it promotes growth.  It loves to grow up through my rabbit proof chicken wire garden fencing and creeps up the tomato cages..  

Nodebt,

Try this,

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/weeds/controlling-bindweed.htm

& also this should prove useful.

http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7462.html

Good luck with the project.

SLAG.

Thanks SLAG.  This may help, I looked at both and bookmarked em, but due to past experience, forgive me if I'm skeptical.  I'll try anything at this point.  I hear there are reports of this sh!/*^₩¤><%ty vine/plant growing out of the burnt out containment hole at the former fukoshima power plant.  Scott.

10 minutes ago, Nodebt said:

Thanks SLAG.  This may help, but due to past experience, forgive me if I'm skeptical.  I'll try anything at this point.  I hear there are reports of this sh!/*^₩¤><%ty vine/plant growing out of the burnt out containment hole at the former fukoshima power plant.  Scott.

That's because Fukushima only melted down once. It takes repeated applications to kill bindweed. Maybe boiling Roundup? It sounds like quite a challenge to eradicate. Buying a surplus  boiler (thaw truck) might be a way to make a few bucks. Drive a couple ground points in where the bindweed grows, give it some 240f steam repeat in a few days as needed. Might be a decent business even.

Thanks for MORE interesting things to read tonight Dan, I'm still trying to get a handle on chiral molecules and haven't even opened the other links.

Frosty The Lucky.

Nodoubt and Frosty,

Killing bindweed requires repeated application of fertilizer or cutting the plant back. The weed has an extensive underground root system that can supply "food" to grow new shoots. If a gardener is persistent and regularly cuts the new shoots down as soon as said gardener sees them, the plant will eventually run of energy and also nutrients and die. For some weeds this persistence is required over a long time.

I know it works.

The worst case I ever learned of was a farmer who took about 8 years to finally eradicate bracken ferns on his land. Bracken is one of the worst weeds of this genre. But it must be removed. Because it is toxic and it poisons livestock that eat it. It also causes cancer. He kept cutting the plant back wherever he saw it. And eventually, the plant came back less vigorously year by year. The first few years the exercise looked hopeless, but he kept at it. He eventually won. 

Bindweed's root system runs very deep so eradication is difficult.

Plants are resistant to irradiation. And roots that are deep underground would probably survive.

Frosty, I'll p.m. you concerning chirality and mirror image chemicals shortly.

This topic is fascinating but a little off of blacksmithing, but it may be of interest to many denizens here.

Regards to all.

SLAG.

Roots go down up to 20 feet

Me again,

The roots can go as deep as twenty feet. The plant also has underground stems called rhizomes.

They store a lot of "food", nutrients, minerals and water. It's no wonder it is so hard to eradicate.

Cheers,

SLAG.