rebar wire frame arch

[duhicky]

so heres my first thread,
I am a boilermaker by trade and do plumb, square, and level all day long. For this project I used my eye, grinder, and stick welder. This is my first real attempt at a sculpture. It is my whimsical take on two dead oak trees that had grown together and been weathered away and are covered in snow in ice.

The weather hear in Montana did not cooperate as we had record breaking temps from 36-50 degrees all week so I couldnt get the snow and ice to set properly. I also couldnt make it as tall as I wanted due to some pesky powerlines in the path to get it to the lake.

I used 1/2" rebar, bent it all by hand and welded it together with 5p+. The archway was for my wedding along with a bunch of other stuff I built for my now wife. Hope you all enjoy the pics and arent to hard on me as this is my first real scultpute.

 

[duhicky]

heres a few more pics

 

[Capt Chrysler]

Kool!

Congratulation


Capt. Chrysler

 

[readhead]

That looks great. Very nice work. Did you use weldable rebar?

 

[Thumper68]

Congrats on the wedding!! Looks like your art turned out nice.

So which one of you is fire and which is ice?

 

[duhicky]

@readhead. . . I just used the cheap rebar the local lumber yard had. I wasnt worried about it structurally. It has awful grain structure but is dirt cheap plus added a little texture over just using round stock.

@Thumper68. . . she is both fire and ice

thanksyou guys for your encouragement! Here is a couple more things I threw together. The bar is all out of my brothers burn/garbage pile and the sleigh was for her gram who is in a wheel chair.

 

[readhead]

I have consulted with a few artists around here who came to us when they started having weld failures. If there is stress on some members we have seen freeze/thaw and wind fracture the welds. Weldable isn't that much more expensive and you will see a huge difference when you start welding stuff together.

 

[BD1]

COOL !!! or COLD ! That arch is awesome, the flames and snow must have really been a hit at the wedding. I some hope the wife reimbursed you for your hard work.

 

[Toxicscrew]

Nicely done!

Did you run propane line for the flames?

 

[404]

Love it. The sleigh is straight out of a Disney movie. The old good ones when Walt was alive.

 

[duhicky]

I have consulted with a few artists around here who came to us when they started having weld failures. If there is stress on some members we have seen freeze/thaw and wind fracture the welds. Weldable isn't that much more expensive and you will see a huge difference when you start welding stuff together.

Thankyou for the info. I will probably go that route if i do this again. i noticed right away it wouldnt let me run downhand. when i did it would crack out, not down the center of the weld as usually seen but one side of the rebar or the other

COOL !!! or COLD ! That arch is awesome, the flames and snow must have really been a hit at the wedding. I some hope the wife reimbursed you for your hard work.

OF COURSE! Also if you notice the base just happens to be 82"x16' 4"channel with 3" channel and 3x3x3/16" angle on 24" centers. Wonder why I had to make it so big? now for some axles

Love it. The sleigh is straight out of a Disney movie. The old good ones when Walt was alive.

Thank You! Thats a pretty awesome comparison!!!

Nicely done!

Did you run propane line for the flames?

the M is scrolled out of one piece of rebar that I then wrapped tightly with 7/32 cotton clothesline cord. Took almost 90'! I then soaked it in a mix of unscented lamp-oil and white-gas(coleman fuel). It was windy so didnt last as long but when we were testing it we were getting about 5 min. of burn time.

Thanks again for looking and the encouragement!

 

[duhicky]

heres the M soaking, a test run, and the cocktail. I went 5 to one oil to gas then had it sprayed with white gas right before we started.