Scrap metal art or projects

[steelsurgeon]

That hand is awesome! 1/4 mile of wire in that one?

Steelsurgeon - Your work is great. Is that regular aluminum electrical wire? Do you have any idea what alloy it might be? I have a decent amount of it that is pretty heavy gauge but did not realize it could also be used as filler.

Thanks guys! That hand has a lot of wire in it. It rather large...larger than my own hand. It has a lot of hours in it, as well.

It is common electrical wire. I'm not sure what alloy it is, but because of that, I figured that it wouldn't be good for welding anything where the proper alloy mattered. So, it was used for these sculptures. I'll bet it is a good grade of soft wire for it's conductivity.

Here's some good reading...

http://www.aluminum.org/resources/el...oks/electrical

Rich

[steelsurgeon]

Here's another one...it's an igloo and a snowman..It's hard to photograph, but there's a little man inside the igloo waving "hi". He's in the last pic...







Rich

[psacustomcreations]

Two weeks ago I had a good weekend and sold quite a few pieces. I had to spend the last couple of days making a few more bells and pieces of yard art. I have craft shows for the next four weekends so I need to re-stock my inventory. This pic was from yesterdays work. I also ended up spending today making six more bells out of fire extinguishers that are not shown.

[ManoKai]

@ psa - brilliant! Your work rocks the casbah bro.

Not to impose, but do you tend to source/acquire your Al/Steel cylinders via CL or "offline"?

[psacustomcreations]

@ psa - brilliant! Your work rocks the casbah bro.

Not to impose, but do you tend to source/acquire your Al/Steel cylinders via CL or "offline"?

Thanks. As far as suppliers for tanks, I get them from pretty much everywhere.
I have been to every dive shop from Washington DC to Virginia Beach looking for old ones. I try to hit them up once a year. I usually only pay $7-12 each.
I make lamps out of extinguishers and trade them to a guy that tests and fills extinguishers. He is also a good source for SCBA's and other tanks.
I have also had good luck with people giving me cylinders. They see my work at the craft shows and just want to get rid of the old cylinders in the garage or closet. I must have received 10 scuba tanks for free that way. I also picked up 5 full size (5'tall) CO2 tanks for $80 total that way.
I did get a lot of 15 old steel 72's tanks for $5 each off craigslist.

[Jimmy_pop]

Attachment 1216711

Just finished this one..

5 foot tall by 5.5 wide.

I saw that in person at the powdercoater. very cool!!

[ManoKai]

@ psa - really appreciate your candid response. Will see if we can rip some Al variants for you. Mahalo.

[Equilibrium]

Very nice. Particularly like the golden finish on the hanging wind chime to the far right in your last photo.

[psacustomcreations]

@ psa - really appreciate your candid response. Will see if we can rip some Al variants for you. Mahalo.

Check my posting in the big a## wind chime thread for a video comparison I did between aluminum and steel cylinders.

[kevinacaron]

This is a newer one for me..

The body is a working bug zapper!!

[kevinacaron]

I like how with one turned out also..

All found objects..

[DSW]

Not to impose, but do you tend to source/acquire your Al/Steel cylinders via CL or "offline"?

Mano, check with any shop that does hydro's. They usually have a bunch of failed cylinders they'll sell cheap. Most times they'll want the cylinder cut in half or drilled to show that you don't plan to reuse it as is for gas.

[ManoKai]

@ DSW - thanks Doug. Will do.

[Insaneride]

Thanks guys! That hand has a lot of wire in it. It rather large...larger than my own hand. It has a lot of hours in it, as well.

It is common electrical wire. I'm not sure what alloy it is, but because of that, I figured that it wouldn't be good for welding anything where the proper alloy mattered. So, it was used for these sculptures. I'll bet it is a good grade of soft wire for it's conductivity.

Here's some good reading...

http://www.aluminum.org/resources/el...oks/electrical

Rich

PSAcustomcreations, you do alot of nice work.
Steelsurgeon, You got some nice work also.
SWells, that old rat truck is off the hook.
I like this thread

As for the alloy of aluminum electrical wire; I have some old telephone pole wire that I used for filler . I thought it was CP Aluminum because it was so maleable. It did have one guy wire (spring steel?) in the strand per code/strength/span but the rest of the strands appear to be commercially pure and should be for conductance IMO.

The problem with CP Aluminum is; thieves like to rip it off wherever they can. This causes problems when electrical wire gets ripped off so, modern aluminum is doped so that recycle places wont take it. I dont know what they dope it with but I think it would be detrimental to the conductance. I think the older stuf is CP aluminum tho.

[Insaneride]

Heres the modern alloy.

AA-8000 series aluminum alloy conductors have properties that are significantly different from the old AA-1350 aluminum conductors. To confirm your cable has these conductors, look for the designation “AA-8176” on Southwire’s cable print legend. For other aluminum building wire products, make sure there is an “AA-8…” followed by three other digits.

Heres the link

http://www.southwire.com/commercial/...ireHistory.htm

[psacustomcreations]

This is a newer one for me..

The body is a working bug zapper!!

Kevin, is that a nickel or quarter at the front left foot? Do you have any side view pics?

[kevinacaron]

That is a quarter.

I will look for other photos...



All I have.

The last one the light is on...

[Bob]

Split the cylinder up the sides almost all the way to the top, making 3 different width pieces. That way the gong hitting these pieces will make 3 different sounds.

[psacustomcreations]

InsaneRide, Thanks for the compliment and info on the wire.

I was supposed to attend an arts and crafts show in Williamsburg, VA today. With the 100% chance of rain and the fact my daughters boyfriend decided to drive from Michigan to Virginia last night to ask me for permission to propose to her, I thought it would be a good day to stay home.

I ended up making these bells out of one of the full size CO2 tanks I picked up. Once I stripped all the old paint off the tank I found out it had been made in May 1944.

[Equilibrium]

Just re-viewing this thread for ideas and realized I missed a few posts.
--
steelsurgeon> Your fist is positively amazing! That's something I've not seen before. Absolutely positively awesome!!!
--
kevinacaron> Love your rusty road runner!!!

[psacustomcreations]

Here is the completed humidor I made out of an old scuba tank. The customer will provide the cedar that goes inside as well as the moisture sensor. I was going to use a moisture sensor with a probe. I planned to drill out the dip tube, run the probe wire through the burst disc area of the valve and then place the display on the tank. That way you can see the humidity level without opening the humidor. They decided just use a humidity sensor that sits inside the humidor. They won't know the humidity level until they open the tank.

[psacustomcreations]

I posted some of this in the "Show what you welded today" thread but am going to post a few more pics

Even though it is early in the season I had a friend/co-worker ask me to fix the snow plow for his ATV. He had abused the heck out of it and this is after it had been straightened so I can get dimensions. He gave me some legs for a trampoline and asked if I could use those and make it work. He had a minimal/almost zero budget and said he would pay me with jars of honey from his beehives as well as some maybe some deer. The legs and edge of the blade were completely destroyed as well as the runners/pads or whatever they are called. My helper was there watching me work.

I ended up buying a stick of schedule 40 1-1/4" pipe and a stick of 1/4"x2" flat bar/strap.

[psacustomcreations]

My helper got tired so he took a nap, plus some weld pics

[psacustomcreations]

I used the Bridgeport to mill out the slots for the feet. Plus some pics of the completed plow

[reccymech]

I am always envious of those of you who have the talent to make such amazing pieces.

Yep, you can add me to that list as well.