Moai Head

[Shootr]

Cut some ears out of 1/2" plate and started shaping them.





I'm looking up eletroetching, I'd like them to have a simple tribal/maori/aztec kind of pattern on them.

[jfk92]

Speaking of...


EDIT: Staring at this while enjoying a potent beverage, I won't be heartbroken to stray away from strictly Moai and let this become what it wants to be. I'm sitting here wondering how cool it would be to have an English wheel to try and roll cheeks in the face sheet.

Shooter - ever thought about a Harbor Freight plannishing hammer? They are pretty cheap, you just need a decent size compressor to run it (would think 26-30GAL sufficient) and a good set of ear protection. Got one years ago - while I have only messed around a couple of times it seems to do a solid job of shaping flat pieces into curved ones!

[52 Ford]

Shooter - ever thought about a Harbor Freight plannishing hammer? They are pretty cheap, you just need a decent size compressor to run it (would think 26-30GAL sufficient) and a good set of ear protection. Got one years ago - while I have only messed around a couple of times it seems to do a solid job of shaping flat pieces into curved ones!

Planishing hammer, English wheel, shrinker-stretcher, Hausfeld style bender, Beverly shears, ring roller, slip roll, finger brake, and maybe a spot welder should all be on the to-get list. Oh, and a bead roller.

Edit: add a swage block or two to the list. https://www.centaurforge.com/Swage-B.../products/194/

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[Shootr]

Haha - and a warehouse to put it all in...

[52 Ford]

Haha - and a warehouse to put it all in...

It's not THAT bad. The slip roll and the brake are the only big tools.

As far as storage, you could probably fit all of that in a single 12X12 foot area.

I made a multi-purpose pedestal to mount grinders and whatnot on. 4X4 square tube with a flywheel attached to the bottom for a base. As-is, it's sort of "tippy", but once I get the shop done, it's getting anchored to the floor.

I can take a piece of steel (or wood) that fits inside the tube, attach a flat surface to the top, then bolt a piece of equipment to it. To swap it out, I have a 1/2" pin that goes through the 4X4 tube and the "shank" of the mount for whatever piece of equipment I'm using. Pull the pin, lift it up, swap it for something else.

My idea is to have a few more of these 4X4 tubes integrated into my (not yet built) grinding workbench. That way, depending on the type of work I'm doing at the time, I can have the bench (it's going to be 12 feet long) configured so I can just go from one grinder to the next quickly. Say I'm making knives, I can have a couple 2X72 grinders, 1" belt grinder, then a buffer set up. If I'm doing fabrication, I might want a 2X72, a 10" belt sander (yet to be built), a disc sander, and a bench grinder. I dunno.

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[Shootr]

As good as it gets - 10 x 20 carport cover and most everything on wheels.





Not shown: 2 x 48 belt grinder, plasma cutter, **** hanging from the ceiling. It's also the only path from front yard to back. No complaints - it's all I could ever hope for.

[whtbaron]

As much as I'm a tool junkie and like spending other people's money, the openess of Shooter's shop has always scared the beegeesus out of me. I think adding a bunch of big shiny stuff would just be an invitation to disaster. I think he's on the right track... simple metal working and beat it into submission with a big hammer.

[N2 Welding]

I’ve read about easy grind “EZ Grind?” filler metal for Mig/body work. Makes me wonder if that would make the grinding and smoothing the edges easier without removing too much base metal? Sub’d. Other thing I’d think might help is using either a smaller grinder like a die grinder or Dremil not sure on spelling. Some other things I might of thought to try is to weld from the inside first to beef up the base metal on the inside edges first then weld the outside before grinding down. I know welding the inside won’t always be easy or possible especially if the top and bottom is not removed from that cylinder.

There are so many ways to skin a cat. For example Cut to shape the inset face material to over lap the cylinder by 1/4” to 3/8” and fold over the edge around the outside of the cylinder and weld it to the cylinder away from the opening so you would essensially be overlapping the material. Could use at your advantage to give the edge of the face opening some blended lines vs cut in edge look. Just throwing ideas out there. None of which makes it any easier to do but might be fun to try and learn from. That might not be best though if you are Shooting for clean lines see what I did there lol.

[N2 Welding]

Ahhh, Super Bee - my dream car!

All good advice - thank you for taking the time to provide it. Yes, I'll be cutting out the thin and move up to at least 18/16ga as Pat suggested. Trick will be bending it without a brake - just some clamps and the edge of my table lol.

But that's next weekend - still recovering from the debacle - I'm fragile like that

I’ve seen fabricators score the backside of material along the bend using a cut off wheel to make bending a lot easier.

[Shootr]

Had a little time to work on it this weekend. Went with a lovely drop of 3/16" from the metal mart for the face. Don't tag me on the welds - I was stitch welding the forehead and nose.







Really dug in the beads, hopefully enough that this time when I smooth them out there's enough meat.

Forehead and face done. Chin, lips, ears left.

Plasma cutter working great, but still 100F here and I tripped the duty cycle once.

[John T]

It's a shame your welding skills are so terrible.

You have great artistic vision but the time you spend trying to "smooth out" crappy welds is basically a waste of time.

You should really try to get better at welding.

the face is 3/16" ?? you should have no problem laying a nice weld bead..... that "stitching" is just ridiculous and making more work for yourself.

again, I like the vision, But you need more practice.

It will save you time in the long run ... and also produce a better end product.

[whtbaron]

I have 2 spruce trees behind my Dad's old house on the property, one planted by my Dad and one by my aunt when they were kids (probably late 30's, early 40's). One got struck with lightning about 8 yrs ago and is now dying. Your totem poles have inspired me to do something with the remaining trunk other than just cut it down. When you are sitting there with drink in hand, contemplating your work, go ahead and get a smug look on your face for convincing me to take on more work...

[Shootr]

In the house before this one, there were two mulberry trees in the front yard. The previous owner somehow killed them, cut off every limb, and left the 8ft tall trunks sitting there.

I was on Craigslist trying to find a wood carver artist that would come and turn them into totem poles. Unfortunately there just aren't a lot of those folks in the desert .

To this day I can't walk past mine without patting it for karma - I'm so happy I stuck it out and finished it.

[whtbaron]

I know a guy that's into chainsaw carving.... not too bad at it. I might call on him for some help. He made this one for me after I donated some burls to the cause.

[Shootr]

That's the ticket!

[VaughnT]

I'd leave it just like that. He looks like a grumpy old man about to chew some kid out!

[motolife313]

Looking good and nice welding too. I really like it maybe one day I’ll make one. Keep up the good work brother!

[whtbaron]

Serious bummer.... you would think after 500 yrs in one spot you'd be good...

[Shootr]

Heck, more like 900 years.

I do find it a little hard to believe that in all those centuries, there's never been a fire there before.

I'm reading a volcano started it - they must have pissed off the gods...

[VaughnT]

I'm calling BS on fire damage to those rocks. It's a grass fire. At worst there's something small woody shrubs that amount to exactly jack squat in terms of heat output. There's no way the fires would have gotten hot enough for long enough to cause cracking on rock that big.

Keep up the good work, Shootr. I'm looking forward to seeing how he comes out!

[whtbaron]

But it's on the internet... it has to be true...

[CAVEMANN]

Strayed to the dark side during the spring building a wood play house for the grandkids. Then a little r&r touring the South with the missus and my son.
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Kind of nice to take a break - recharges the juju to get making some stuff!

This won't be like the totem pole, probably another ashtray.

At least you got the right hat! You've got a good eye for art & that will be cool when you're done.

[Noviastar]

that looks like fun. can't wait to see it all done.

[Shootr]

I dig it...

[NotaVegetarian]

Looks like my son dog Tess a mountain cur, fine dog