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My dumb question of the month coupon

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Steve B

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Jan 3, 2012, 12:57:21 PM1/3/12
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I (actually it was SWMBO) recently saw some purely dazzling wall art. It
was made of brass looking rod, gas welded together, then had leaves and all
manner of little things cut out and flame heated to get different colors.
She's already imagining stuff in the 400 square foot range.

Is there a book or sites that will walk me through this?

What type of metal is this? Is this all done freehand, or done on a plate
as a backup? I can see a lot of it is pure talent, and mighty fine welding,
but as I say, anyone can do anything with a few thousand hours practice.
I'd like to try some.

Steve


BobH

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Jan 3, 2012, 6:30:23 PM1/3/12
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There is a lady down in Tubac, AZ that makes stuff like that out of
copper sheet and wire. Her studio is open and you can walk in and watch
her make stuff.

BobH

Steve B

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Jan 4, 2012, 11:53:24 AM1/4/12
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"BobH" <wanderingmetalhe...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:je030...@news1.nntpjunkie.com...
Not sure if I'll ever be there. I did see a guy in a mall doing it one
time, and he was breezing right along, just working with a very small gas
rig, and a small variety of hand tools.

To me, the colors are going to be the hard part. I have seen some dazzling
pieces, and the colors are what make it. Some are obviously heat created,
and some look like acrylics or even powder coat. All that is a science of
its own.

Steve


BobH

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Jan 4, 2012, 7:21:22 PM1/4/12
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I watched the lady making some vines for a while and she cut the leaves
out by hand and used a small O/A torch to braze the leaves to copper
wire. She was coloring it by heating the leaves. It was nice work.

It was a few years ago and I have forgotten the name of the place, but I
could find it easily. I looked on Google Satellite photos, but there
were few names in the area.

BobH

Steve B

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Jan 4, 2012, 8:36:06 PM1/4/12
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"BobH" <wanderingmetalhe...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:je2qc...@news1.nntpjunkie.com...
Some of the stuff I have seen like this is absolutely dazzling. There was
one of a tree at Mt. Charleston Hotel, NV, and it had to be 100 sf+. That's
a lot of leaves. And, I believe the costs would not be too
high...............? I mean, doing it for myself. I would say it's fairly
spendy retail wise. Any idea?

Steve


BobH

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Jan 4, 2012, 9:10:40 PM1/4/12
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On 1/4/2012 6:36 PM, Steve B wrote:
snip
> Some of the stuff I have seen like this is absolutely dazzling. There was
> one of a tree at Mt. Charleston Hotel, NV, and it had to be 100 sf+. That's
> a lot of leaves. And, I believe the costs would not be too
> high...............? I mean, doing it for myself. I would say it's fairly
> spendy retail wise. Any idea?
>
> Steve

I don't remember prices at all on it, sorry.

BobH

RoyJ

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Jan 4, 2012, 10:49:49 PM1/4/12
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The stuff I've seen is copper sheet, brazed to either copper coated
steel welding rod or brazing rod. Shapes can be either flame cut, plasma
cut, or mechanical cut. Copper will get all sorts of wonderful colors
from the heat.

I've also seen it done in steel. you get some nice colors but the raw
steel rusts quickly. I've also seen things done in tin plated steel,
fancy designs, no colors.

All copper prices are brutal these days but a roofing contractor
supplier might be your best best for moderate prices. You could get a
12"x 10' piece to start with.

If you are looking for bright colors, they may have used jewelry enamel.
This is a powder that melts at moderate temps, really hard bond, huge
array of colors or blend your own. Normally done is a small kiln,
suspect it would work well to just sprinkle it on, hit the opposite side
with the O/A torch. Typical supplier
http://www.thompsonenamel.com/
I'd suggest getting either a larger container of one color like red or
yellow or a sample kit.

Have fun.

MPowell

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Jan 5, 2012, 11:05:48 AM1/5/12
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http://smartflix.com/store/video/1266/Brazing-Copper-Butterflies
This is one of several brazing videos at SmartFlix. Also good welding videos
available at this site.

-- MRP


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