Shootr's New Adventure - Totem Pole Build

[Lis2323]

--- just like eating an elephant!

Sorry to go off topic but I had to Google that. It is illegal to hunt/kill elephants so I suppose the the only way one could eat it would be "poached".


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[Shootr]

After a nice breakfast and walk around the local farmer's market with the missus - I took a deep breath and got to work on the tank. I ground off the weld seam and the rest of the paint, then spent a good amount of time just playing with the eye size and position, same with the mouth and nose - it was worth the effort - I like the proportions better now.



I made a cut across the forehead and down the center and started banging. A couple more relief cuts to allow the edges to come together and a little more bashing, then I called it enough.



Next I laid in a piece of flat steel and tacked it in to fill the gap. Fully welded the seam above and below and cut the excess off. Instead of grinding it flush to the forehead I left a bit of a brow. I want to stare at it for a while to see if I like it or if I'll go ahead and grind it flat.





It's as far as I dared take it but the end result I am quite pleased with. (I didn't ruin the bottle - or blow myself up lol). Tomorrow I want to start on a nose and the mouth. One bite at a time

[VaughnT]

I knew it would work!


Small bites, maybe, but you'll get there in the end as long as you keep chomping.

[Shootr]

I knew it would work!


Small bites, maybe, but you'll get there in the end as long as you keep chomping.

I can't thank you enough for taking the time to share your experience and help me out. This thing is so much fun to work on - the hours today just flew by. Thanks again man.

[psacustomcreations]

It looks great so far.
If you still have that hand held propane torch, you can experiment with heat shrinking. Try to use that on the areas you want to flatten or shrink.
Here is one video on heat shrinking car panels that shows it pretty well.

He has sped up a really long video but if you go to 2 minutes or so, you can see what he is doing.



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[Popeye an old miner]

This thing is gonna be neat see done, have fun doin this I be watchin, cant say I can give any advice I never did this kind of stuff but it looks intresting

[Shootr]

Free-hand cutting 45's in tubing is not a skill I've yet acquired... I took a 2-3/8 fence post and tried to cut a pie slice out of it so I could fold it into a 90deg elbow. After the third utter failure I gave up and cut the 4th one all the way through, spun one piece around and tacked it together.

Next I had to figure out how to bend the forearm around to meet up at the leg. I went with a series of kerf cuts and that kind of worked - but in reality it took a lot of tacking, mashing, grinding - repeat.

3 hours later, I had one arm done.



Hard to get a pic of it, the edges of the arm are too blended into the body. Once I finish the other arm and fingers I'll see how it looks. Maybe cut a line with a cut off wheel to outline the arms.

Cigar and spa time.

[Shootr]

Ha, I also wanted to cut one of the ring gears to make a pair of ears. Apparently the manufacturer has their heat treat/hardening process nailed. That sucker is NOT going to be cut with my portaband!

[whtbaron]

Zip disc will usually work where the saw won't... but it could take a while...

[Kevin Morin]

Shootr!
That "fish hat" is an Orca !!! (symbol) not too many fish with big mammal teeth and horizontal tail to match horizontal white stripe in dorsal fin!!!

The knees might could-a been done by orange-peeling the top ends of the two half pipe leg outlines?

Cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK

[Lis2323]

Shootr it WILL dispense beer, right ??


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[jrporter]

Nice work on the forehead - was wondering how you were going to get it done. Go for the Orca if you get the time!

[Shootr]

Shootr it WILL dispense beer, right ??


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Maybe version 2.0...

[Shootr]

Shootr!
That "fish hat" is an Orca !!! (symbol) not too many fish with big mammal teeth and horizontal tail to match horizontal white stripe in dorsal fin!!!

The knees might could-a been done by orange-peeling the top ends of the two half pipe leg outlines?

Cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK

I like that texturing idea - thanks. Now that you said what it is, is does indeed look like an orca. The teeth were throwing me off lol.

[Kevin Morin]

Shootr,
was referring to a pipe dome end technique not a surface texture of the knees of your sculpture.



the same method works (easier) with half pipes and they result in the same pipe wall being used to form the 1/2dome end that the fittings you showed - do. but welding to a sched. 40 pipe half -orange peel end cap- is much easier than welding to the thin sheet metal fence post caps?

Cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK

[whtbaron]

Interesting... but getting back to texture... if you do want a rough finish there are products for replacing the rock guard on older Ford's etc. or bedliner materials that can be painted.

[Shootr]

Shootr,
was referring to a pipe dome end technique not a surface texture of the knees of your sculpture.



the same method works (easier) with half pipes and they result in the same pipe wall being used to form the 1/2dome end that the fittings you showed - do. but welding to a sched. 40 pipe half -orange peel end cap- is much easier than welding to the thin sheet metal fence post caps?

Cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK

I appreciate the response but the legs/arms aren't true half pipes. The arms are flattened and the legs are cut less than half so anything I wind up capping them with will be made by just winging it.

[Shootr]

Another day, another arm...and ears.

[Shootr]

Interesting... but getting back to texture... if you do want a rough finish there are products for replacing the rock guard on older Ford's etc. or bedliner materials that can be painted.

The zip disc worked great on the gear for the ears. I might try cutting up one of the grinding balls and see how it looks for the knees and shoulders.

[VaughnT]

The knees and shoulders can be made from sheet metal easy enough.

All you need is a ring cut from a pipe that's got an ID the diameter you want. Then heat up some sheet steel in your forge and hammer it into the pipe section to form a hemisphere. Use your zip disk to cut the hemisphere to fit the body.... and boom. Done!

I regularly forge 1/8" steel like this, and it's easy enough. Anything thinner than that is almost too easy. Thinner sheet also means you don't really have to do a lot of heating to aneal the sheet while you're dishing it to shape.

If you like, you can make a proper dishing stump from an inverted gas cylinder. They're very handy to have around the shop anyhow, so making one isn't exactly a waste of your time for doing this one-off project. I made mine short enough that I can use it while I'm sitting down, but you can make taller versions that are on wheels.

Everybody should have a Metal Stump in their shop!

[whtbaron]

If you don't have access to a stale dated cylinder, guys have been known to make those dishes out of a tree stump. Not as handy for welding attachments to, but it will work in a pinch. That flat slapping hammer he's using is one I made out of an old broken leaf spring.

[Shootr]

The knees and shoulders can be made from sheet metal easy enough.

All you need is a ring cut from a pipe that's got an ID the diameter you want. Then heat up some sheet steel in your forge and hammer it into the pipe section to form a hemisphere. Use your zip disk to cut the hemisphere to fit the body.... and boom. Done!

I regularly forge 1/8" steel like this, and it's easy enough. Anything thinner than that is almost too easy. Thinner sheet also means you don't really have to do a lot of heating to aneal the sheet while you're dishing it to shape.

If you like, you can make a proper dishing stump from an inverted gas cylinder. They're very handy to have around the shop anyhow, so making one isn't exactly a waste of your time for doing this one-off project. I made mine short enough that I can use it while I'm sitting down, but you can make taller versions that are on wheels.

Everybody should have a Metal Stump in their shop!

Crimany, I lost count how many tips I got from this one video! I'm in a weird position in that lately, I've been telling myself "you don't need more tools - just build some sh!t" But then I see things like this and it's quite clear how much easier it would make my work. I guess it's down to the LWS to see if they have any condemned bottles!

Thanks for posting it. Youtube search engines suck buttermilk. I'm always searching for "welding tips", "welding tools", "blacksmith tools", etc - and it keeps throwing the same 10-15 videos at me.

[Shootr]

If you don't have access to a stale dated cylinder, guys have been known to make those dishes out of a tree stump. Not as handy for welding attachments to, but it will work in a pinch. That flat slapping hammer he's using is one I made out of an old broken leaf spring.

The one in the video looked like wood - maybe a section of stave from a liquor barrel. I almost thought the baseball bat was a joke - that's a little too much for me lol.

[Shootr]

I picked up a scrap bbq-sized propane tank for free yesterday for the next figure (when I get to it). But while cruising the OfferUp sites I came across this type of grill:



If that doesn't look like an orca, I don't know what does! Now to find a cheapo one lol.

[VaughnT]

... I see things like this and it's quite clear how much easier it would make my work. Youtube search engines suck buttermilk. I'm always searching for "welding tips", "welding tools", "blacksmith tools", etc - and it keeps throwing the same 10-15 videos at me.

Sometimes it's a matter of not knowing what tools are out there. When I search youtube, I try to keep things open-ended in the search terms. Too specific makes it too specific, if you get my drift. I'll search for "making a fender" even though I don't care one iota about making fenders. The techniques the guy uses are pretty much the same as I'd need for forging heavier stock and it opens up more options for videos. For awhile, I was on a "tinsmithing" kick and it was fun to watch for interesting tools in the background. I was surprised at how many new videos it brought up that had nothing to do with tin-working, and that led me down the path of copper-smithing, auto-body work, etc. It's like the search algorithm is just waiting to drop more videos, but won't do it unless you shake things up a bit.

Once you've made a metal stump like in the video, you'll kick yourself for not making one sooner. With a slapper and a couple bats, you can do some crazy shapes in sheet metal and it really opens the floodgates in terms of what you can build. Wooden dishing stumps are great, of course, but there's something to be said for the heft of a steel stump. When I made mine, I back-filled it with all kinds of crap from the shop and about 30# of sand -- keeps it really stable and deadens any ring it might have. Just need to get a wider base on it so it doesn't rock as much.