How To Fix A Sculpture When Your Welder Is Broke

[Scott NC]

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

You would be surprised how much of my stuff is Redneck engineered with bailing wire. Thomas Powers and I had quite a phone conversation about that a couple of years ago. Seems to me he said there is nothing as permanent as a temporary fix.

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sails.

[Scott NC]

  The mantis has been broken for 2 years so I suspect Thomas is right.   Can there be any doubt?

[JHCC]

I'd make a suggestion, but I don't want anyone to bite my head off.

[Scott NC]

   No worries, my mantis's are tame.   JB weld?

[The Jeff]

Could you get an eye bolt around the legs and bolt it through the body?

[anvil]

beg, borrow, or steel,,, a welder and use the proper tool for a proper job?  Just a weird thought for a solution,,, 

 

[Scott NC]

  Maybe I should have posted it under Tips N Tricks, titled "1,001 Uses For Baling Wire" instead.

  Really not a problem that needs solving, as the sculpture has been broken for 2 years but my welder has been working for quite some time since it broke....

  I'll probably get started fixing it tomorrow sometime....  Maybe a fresh start on Monday would be better... 

[Frosty]

Who says wire can't be a component of a sculpture? 

Frosty The Lucky.

[anvil]

Lol, leave it as it is and call it "evolution" 

[Scott NC]

   I name most of my sculptures but not that mantis.  "Evolution" it is.  I really like the moniker, and won't fix it.  I'm curious Anvil, if you were to make a scrap art sculpture, what would you choose for a subject?  Something abstract?  Or a life size Colorado gold miner, all worn out, leaning against an ore cart?  A blacksmith hard at it at his anvil?   Just a what if...

On 7/16/2023 at 1:01 PM, Frosty said:

Who says wire can't be a component of a sculpture? 

  There was a house back home that had an enormous ball of all kinds of wire sitting on the old tree stump.  4' across if an inch.  I drove by it for years but took it for granted.....  I never did stop and ask about it.   Someone once offered to drag some barb wire to Quad State for me but I could not go.

[Frosty]

I don't think I could choose a subject without spending time with the scrap. (I'm not Anvil but I gotta respond) I suppose if I had a steady supply of a type of scrap it'd be easier say transmission and rear ends like Das. I've always wanted to make an ankylosaur from a VW Beetle and assorted . . . stuff. You don't see many of those anymore though and Deb would KILL me if I drug one home. <sigh>

I don't know about a ball of wire but there is, "THE WORLD'S LARGEST BALL OF TWINE," on Route 66. I even remember driving past it on vacation when I was a kid. Dad wouldn't stop for a look though. Dad NEVER stopped, he was always "getting there." My version of going somewhere on vacation is in retaliation to NEVER getting to stop and look at things on vacation. We drove past EVERYTHING on the way to Carlsbad Caverns and BACK one summer. I

Sorry, brings back family vacation memories of Shannon and I sitting in the back seat watching all sorts of cool stuff flash by. <sigh>

Frosty The Lucky.

[JHCC]

What to do when your welder’s broke?

 

PAY YOUR WELDER!!!

[anvil]

On 7/19/2023 at 11:04 AM, Scott NC said:

I'm curious

Boy, that's a tough one. The art part,, fine art,,, is very hard for me to do. It must have something to do with 2-1/2 years of engineering at colo Univ, 15 or so years as a farrier and 30 some as a traditional smith in a Craftsman's roll. I do well, tho majorly a  stress point, getting an idea of what my client likes as a theme, then designing the project around that idea. More times than not, just using traditional joinery to create his idea creates the "art" part. I have a "dangerous"  bunch of knowledge concerning art history for the blacksmiths craft. That enables me to understand the architectural style of the house and the client saying, for instance, " I really like roses" sets the stage for my design. 

But to just walk up to the forge and figure something " artsie" and do it,,, sheesh,,, leaves me shaking in my boots with an empty mind. A blank slate that stays blank. 

I feel far more comfortable wearing the hat of a craftsman, than the chappeau of an artist.

I came across a couple definitions of the two that fits me well. Considering definitions, these are not meant as " the way", but they work for me.

There's fine art and applied art. Fine art has one primary purpose and that's to create an emotion. Applied art has two. It must create an emotion and it must do something. If it's a gate, it has to keep things in and let things out, and it must create an emotion. Lol, the emotion could be anything from yuch to WOW, depending. Applied art is where the craftsman fits in. 

When it comes to appreciating iron that others do, all styles and types grab me, so I don't have a favorite,, art vs craft vs trade. They all stand pretty tall in my book. 

[Daswulf]

The last part stands tall in my book as well. 

I've found people find uses for my art that I hadn't even thought of lol. 

I can do just fine at just finding bits and bobs and forging and or welding stuff up into a creation but I for one shutter more at a commissioned design. Funny how that works for different people. I can definately do many commissioned ideas but some shut me right down with a kind of writers block. 

I've never had an issue selling Any old thing I've made, for the sake of making it,  for the right price. And I hold out for what I feel is a fair price as to the work. 

Some things I thought I would get to keep but someone liked it and wanted to own it for my price. 

Nothing wrong with any structural adhesion as long as it works Scott.

I only name pieces that I feel attached to after I make them. 

[anvil]

Lol, I've had a few people cruise my scrap pile and, with my permission, take stuff. When I visited them later here's my mistakes turned into some pretty cool art! Never been able to do that

[Scott NC]

22 hours ago, JHCC said:

PAY YOUR WELDER!!!

    The scrapyard has all my money!  That and losing Billion dollar lottery tickets.

  Honestly, I was wondering if anyone would catch that....  Correct terminology is important.

On 7/19/2023 at 9:12 PM, Frosty said:

Dad NEVER stopped

  Dad would take just me and my little sister with him on vacations and he had an old manual Ford pickup truck with a bench seat and an older "Smokey" camper towed along behind.  Memories are dim but it was chaos in the cab, sis and I were a handfull, and we didn't get far before he found something of interest to stop and check out.  Looking back, it was probably to preserve his sanity....  I have been on speed vacations before, though.  No fun.  An ankylosaur from a beetle, eh?  You should unleash your inner scrap artist.  We've brainstormed before, the results would be unlike anything unleashed before.  But I know, priorities....

  Anvil, thanks for the time you took to reply to my question.  I guess I was trying to find out what you would like to make if you ever took a whack at it.  You know, some people like butterfies, some elk, some reptiles, the moon, dragons, ect.... 

  I worked in a decorative fence and railing shop once for a short time, but it was all tube and flat bar fabrication.  Sure we had scrolling jigs, benders, ironworkers,  etc... and some of it was fun and I learned a lot but it was all the same stuff (Yes, I have worked many trades and places but my mind can't tolerate the daily grind of doing the same thing ad nauseum).  Not a forge or anvil to be found.  So I move on.  Venturing into your realm, I would someday like to make an entire fence, gates and all, with tenon joinery, rivits, twists, decorative elements all over it for the eye to pick up on and the mind to enjoy.  Not overly cluttered but elements blending into one another, tastefully.  I doubt I have the skill.  I forge small things not worth speaking about.

14 hours ago, Daswulf said:

Nothing wrong with any structural adhesion as long as it works Scott.

I only name pieces that I feel attached to after I make them. 

  This whole thread has me thinking of a sculpture of a full size human figure, all held together with baling wire and other quickie fixes.  But, duct tape, caulk, etc are hard to replicate recognisably in metal....   I have a vision of it's head held onto it's body by baling wire coming up from under the armpits, over the earlobes and back down.  Staples around the neck?

  I don't know why I name almost everything I make.  OCD?    Btw, I had a commission project that blew up in my face.  The Dali Wrench Project.  Only one I ever accepted!

 

 

[JHCC]

15 hours ago, Daswulf said:

pieces that I feel attached to after I make them

Talk about some skilled welding!

[Daswulf]

Scott, just use real duct tape and caulk. Nothing wrong with mixed media sculpture. Could add in rope. 

Duct tape wouldn't survive too long outside tho unless maybe clearcoat would preserve it some. Could use the real foil duct tape. Maybe just paint it a duller grey. 

Lol John. I have kind of welded myself before but it doesn't stick well. I have also jabbed welding wire through the meat of my finger once somehow clearing a jammed feed wire. Still not sure exactly how it happened but it involved threading it through my finger really fast with wire snippers and took a while and a lot of pain to remove.

I also sometimes unintentionally add blood to some work. Pretty sure most of us have done that at some point in making something. 

[Frosty]

7 hours ago, Scott NC said:

I don't know why I name almost everything I make.  OCD? 

Wouldn't that be OCN Scott? Obsessive Compulsive Naming?

"Art," means Man made. Anything made by the hand of a human is art, an artifact, is artificial, etc. 

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[anvil]

On 7/21/2023 at 10:19 AM, Scott NC said:

I guess I was trying to find out what you would like to make if you ever took a whack at it

Francis Whitaker once said " If the eye can't see it, The hand can't make it." I added a bit to it. "If the mind can't conceive it, the eye can't see it and the hand can't make it." 

That was the intro on how I was going to elaborate on the topic. And then I realized it wouldn't fly. Dang it all,, you made me think.  I realized that the answer is a bit philosophical. To be able to take every moment and have it be as exciting, challenging, and fulfilling as every moment when I am standing between hammer and anvil and in the midst of the best of my works. Thats what I would like.

Then it dawned on me. Thats exactly where I'm at right now with all thats happening in my life. Thanks for the very thought provoking question. Theres far too much going on right now to put it into words, but heres a few,,, A mortise and tenon 100 year old timber facade done and waiting for the new flatbed upgrade on my willys PU with rear winch and boom(named the truck "Baby Boomer") to lift it into place. This is being done by a "kid" as crazy as me and living the same lifestyle as I have forever. Yes, the younger generation is good. A solar array nearing completion, a revitalized spring in the process of being developed, river rock already hauled with the help of a 6' 300 # dude who drives a bobcat two sizes too small for him to fit in!! They are amonst a few friends helping and they are all crazy enough to do my design and use my "by hammer in hand" tools and techniques that I have developed over the years as a traditional smith.  Hey, somebody's got to do it, might as well be me.  

But I still have to put into the terms of my definition above,,, applied art. It certainly has two functions,, Its bringing a lot of joy to a few good people and as it develops is just a good place "To Be".  

 

 

[LarryFahnoe]

Anvil, sounds like a life well-lived, good for you. I find the philosophical bent to your conversation with Scott quite appealing. Seems to me that a good part of life is found as one reflects on the why of it all; better still when the result is to influence one's future steps.

--Larry

[Frosty]

Our varying definitions of art reminds me of something I heard a while back, I don't recall if it was part of my TBI therapy or one of the many books Deb bought on the subject. It is, "You can not know what someone means only what they say." You can replace "means" with any term that involves the function of another's mind like "thinks, knows, believes, etc."

Judging by your descriptions our definitions of "art" aren't that much different, enough for a heated discussion if one of us is having a bad day but similar enough.

I think we both differentiate between "fine" and "practical" art. Fine art is only to be observed: seen, heard, felt, etc. an practical art is useful things. 

For me, The simpler a tool is and better it works the higher on MY art scale it lives.

"fine" art is a message and the better it conveys the intended message the higher on my art scale it lives. 

I tend to roll my eyes at folk who think art shouldn't have a practical use.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Scott NC]

On 7/21/2023 at 8:10 PM, Frosty said:

Art," means Man made. Anything made by the hand of a human is art, an artifact, is artificial, etc. 

  So true.   I see art in just about everything man made, with a little tweaking here and there.  It really makes driving a vehicle around a dangerous activity.  Even going for a stroll, too busy looking around at possibilities to bother with sidewalk cracks and sundry trip hazards.  I see art in nature as well, though.   Mabey it's the "Fibonacci effect", hard to improve on Mother Nature.  Or maybe Natural isn't art until some human being uses what they see in something and put their hand to it.... IDK.  The whole universe is an object of art in my book.  I don't think some of my art is "functional/practical" or "fine".  Probably "ou·tré"  Maybe from the 7th dimension.  I think some people may grind their teeth or roll their eyes at some of my stuff....Probably better not stray too far from "problem solving" or it may become a "problem"....  

  

On 7/24/2023 at 7:22 PM, anvil said:

Dang it all,, you made me think

  I'm glad.  You answered my question, leaving no ambiguity.  I like to know certain things about certain people, it is a foible of mine.  Thank you.   You are in a good place at a good time and that's a fine thing, certainly.  I would philosophize with you but my head is still reeling from "Philosophical Razors"..... 

On 7/21/2023 at 7:26 PM, Daswulf said:

Could add in rope. 

  I just love your input and ideas.  And value them most highly...  The rope suggestion leads me to think about a sculpture with it's arms hanging down,  attached with slender metal cables, so they can sway in the wind. 

21 hours ago, LarryFahnoe said:

Seems to me that a good part of life is found as one reflects on the why of it all; better still when the result is to influence one's future steps.

  Well said, Larry.  

[anvil]

 "Philosophical Razors"..... , Is that what you call a close shave?  

When you mentioned your examples, the one of a miner struck home. As a kid we often went to Cripple Creek, my Mom's side home. At Divide was a larger than life sign of a miner and his donkey pointing twards "The Creek". It's prolly still there. That sign immediately popped into my mind. And a dozen or more ways I would make it from iron if it were a commission.  Yet another example, when standing in front of my scrap pile, I see my journey as a smith from then to now. I have always been in awe of those who do fine art.

I believe my definition above came from a good smith in the 80's. I believe it was Pete Mineer. I'm sure I have misspelled his name, but he had much of his work very often in the "Ring". 

Lol,,, Heres a pic of two um,,er,,"Donkeys" debating the definition of art.    I had a 30 year relationship with these two ladies,, mom and daughter.

Thanks for the high 5, Larry!

Scott, perhaps this is a rare example of my photo art.