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Wood working, metal working, ceramics/pottery, etc.
CommunistCow
Abstract MetalThingyRegistered User regular
Abstract MetalThingyRegistered User regular
So I haven't seen a thread dedicated to things like wood working and metal working so I thought I would start one. Recently I've been learning things like welding and air brushing and I thought I would put these things to good use making some tables and other things that are hopefully artistic as well as functional. I hope some other people around here love doing this sort of stuff as much as I do.
So here is a dump of things I've done over the past 3 months:
End table made of beetle kill and welded 1" steel square tubing.
End tables:
Coffee Bar cover welded steel:
My first coffee table. 2" steel square tubing and steel sheet for the top.
My double sided coffee table. 2" steel square tubing with a rust patina on one side and airbrushed solvent dyes on the other:
Acrylic air brushed on galvanized steel:
Solvent Dye air brushed on galvanized steel.
So here is a dump of things I've done over the past 3 months:
End table made of beetle kill and welded 1" steel square tubing.
End tables:
Coffee Bar cover welded steel:
My first coffee table. 2" steel square tubing and steel sheet for the top.
My double sided coffee table. 2" steel square tubing with a rust patina on one side and airbrushed solvent dyes on the other:
Acrylic air brushed on galvanized steel:
Solvent Dye air brushed on galvanized steel.
No, I am not really communist. Yes, it is weird that I use this name.
CommunistCow on
+2
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I think it would be ridiculously hard to do work on small things with oxy-acetylene.
Edit: I'm wrong apparently you can gas weld small things. See my post below.
With what I currently own, my other options would probably involve copper and solder (I really do mean micro-scale, like, a few centimetres, so maybe that would be strong enough?).
Copper is easy to cut/shape with hand tools, and can be joined easily with silver solder. The techniques for brass and aluminum are out of my experience, but I think the materials are similar.
@Anialos: I'm located in Denver. I have absolutely no idea what shipping would cost for this kind of stuff.
I've been contemplating making stuff specifically for sale and maybe selling it on places like etsy. If anyone happens to have any advice on trying to sell stuff like this please let me know. Also I guess if any of you are really interested in buying stuff, PM me and I might be able to make stuff for you. Personally I'd rather make/sell stuff for people on the forums than some random people.
I just finished my kitchen table that is made out of beetle kill and aromatic cedar with welded 1" square tube legs. I'll post a picture of that sometime soon once the sealant dries.
Edit: Does anyone have any critiques or observations about the acrylic and solvent dye airbrushing?
Primer
First layer of paint.
Distressing
Finished
In place
Next we will need to spray paint the desk white.
Heres my own little shop.
I freelance here and their, but mostly on other peoples stuff.
Here's some of the projects i worked on, nothing in this is of my design.
And heres what i do to pay the bills.
Im one of the guys that builds them and welds about 25% of it.
In the past months iv been mostly doing bike frames. But i recently decided to take on a desk contract and kitchen counter top.
I'm rather curious what is that thing you are welding for your "day job."
You should un-spoiler all those images.
What i build at my day job are called i think, tankers (citerne in french).
This is one of largest one iv build so far. Took about 3 weeks.
edit: also, I'm planning on building my own computer desk for my apartment... not sure if this is the best idea but as long as I don't have to cut up too much i'll enjoy doing it.
Do you have a general idea how you want to go about it? If its your first time building something out of wood, I would highly recommend getting some advice. Building a table/desk out of wood is a bit more complex then just 4 legs and a flat surface.
But if you know how to work a all that and im just being condescending, that's cool too.
Either way, what kind of wood are you thinking of using ?
http://www.nycresistor.com/2012/07/06/9-volt-battery-chain-anodizer/
rough cut 1"x4"x8' beetle kill
Planar and jointered the wood.
routered all the edges and then used an oribtal sander with 100 grit and then down to 320 grit.
Sorry I forgot to take a ton of pictures during the frame process. I got 32' of 1" 16 gauge square tubing. Cut it into 4 pieces of 48", 4 pieces of ~31", 4 pieces of 11", and 2 pieces( the middle supports) of ~29".
I used a drill press to put holes in the top parts of the frame so the wood could screw in.
I used a horizontal bandsaw to cut the top and bottom frame pieces into sections with 45 degree angles. I then used a square to make sure they were at 90 degree angles and MIG welded the top and bottom frame. I then tack welded the 11" leg pieces to the bottom using a 90 degree angle magnet to make sure they stayed in place while welding. I then set the top part of the frame on, adjusted the legs a little bit since they were barely tack welded on and welded the legs completely to the top and bottom. I then added the two middle supports.
Sealed with Sculpt Nouveau's Ever-clear 2 part urethane resin applied via brush. (Note if you use this stuff make sure to wear one of those full body disposable coveralls that covers the face, use a respirator, and eye protection)
I used 1 1/2" #8 screws through the frame into the wood. For reference the wood ended up being a little under 3/4" after planing and sanding. I used broken pieces of a paint mixing stick to space the wood properly.
Finished product. Wood sealed with Vermont Natural Coatings - Polywhey Natural Furniture Finish.
Just your average 4 1/2" angle grinder with a 60 or 80 grit disc. I left them that was as an aesthetic choice. I've seen a few pieces of furniture sold in stores and boutiques that were finished like this. I contemplated trying to use some sort of black/grey patina + some light sanding to try and get it all looking uniform, but I decided against it in the end.
Bombs: As you can see a few posts above, I did grind all the surfaces on the frame of the kitchen table I made. I did that all with the angle grinder before welding it together and then re-grinded parts after welding. It really does take quite a bit of work and I'm sure it would be a fuck-ton easier with a sand blaster. Maybe I'll get one of those some day.
I'm still playing around with the aesthetics of the things I'm making and I'm not sure I want to make them all the same. Up next on the project list is a long narrow metal frame table with a concrete top. Still not sure how I plan on finishing the metal on that. I doubt it will be grinded and shiny like the kitchen table. I think that would clash too much with a grey concrete top. Then again I might throw some color into the concrete when I make it or maybe I'l do an acid stain.
I've done some general wood working in the past, though usually just making shelving units for our garage. This would be the first time I make something that needs to actually be used by me on a day to day basis.
Really, I just want to make something that is simple, but big enough for a monitor, keyboard, studio speakers and maybe have some writing space to one side and it seems like that should be cheaper to make than order from a store...
(sorry for bringing this up again after like 2 weeks- I didn't know this thread had a reponse to it.)
As Bombs mentioned, bead or shot blasting would help blend everything out nicely, though it would get rid of the mill scale, and require a protective finish afterwards. You can also use patinas, like you mentioned, with or without blasting, depending on what look you're going for, though I could write about 30 pages on the subject.
Summarily, you have some nice work here, but you can really make it look better with a little bit more care in your choice of finishing.
Blerg, I've been so busy with the new house I forgot about responding to you.
I was using a flap disk on an angle grinder to grind down the welds; I wasn't using paper disks. How would you blend the adjacent material? At least with my experience using the angle grinder there wasn't much variability. Either the greyish look from the mill scale is still there or it gets ground off and looks shiny. So I figure my options were to only grind the corners or I grind every surface of the metal. In my experience at least with the 60 grit flap disks grinding every surface is quite a bit more work. I don't think I will realistically be able to use a sand blaster on any future projects. Do you have any recommendations on a different tool or different type of abrasive to use with the angle grinder to make the work quicker?
Took some left over 1"x6" beetle kill boards and did some 1.5" rips on a table saw. I then used a miter saw to cut the pieces into random sizes. I then laid them out and tried to set pieces in such a way that I would get more contrast and avoid having blue pieces next to blue pieces and white next to white. I then used some wood glue and clamps and clamped this together. The clamping was done in two sections and then both sections were then glued and clamped together after they had separately dried.
After everything was dried I ran the piece through the table saw to cut off the long sides and then it was small enough that I cut off the short sides using the miter saw. I then used a table router to round out all the edges. After all that was done I used an orbital sander on the whole thing going from 50 grit to 120 to 220 to 320. After that I went over the edges a little better with some 400 grit hand sand paper.
Sorry I don't have many process pictures of making the frame I was in a rush when I was making it. I took some scrap rectangular metal bars that were in about 6' sections and put them into a scroll bender and bent them. I actually didn't use the scroll bender as it was intended I just kind of used it to hold the piece and then just used the leverage to bend a small section then I would move it and bend the next section. This could probably done with a table clamp. After this I took the long lengths of the square bar and selected sections I liked and then used a metal chop saw to cut them to the appropriate size. I just used some left over 1/2" square tubing and round metal bars for the top of the frame. I used a drill press to put some holes in the square tubing so I could screw the top in there.
Sorry for the wide angle picture it has distorted the perspective a little bit making the frame look different.
Screwed the wood top to the frame.
I sealed the top before putting on the frame with 3 coats of tung oil based sealant. Even though it was probably unnecessary I did use a damp cloth to raise the grain and then sanded that down with some 400 grit.
Questions:
I've found a couple of sites that have a ton of beginner tips and projects, the best I've found so far being ana-white.com/. Most of her stuff is just simple straight lines and beginner joints. Do any of the more experienced woodworkers here have other sites or resources to recommend?
A lot of "do-it-yourself" sites use a Kreg Jig, and it looks pretty idiot proof. Anyone used one?
My first project is a console table from West Elm my wife fell in love with. I'm pretty sure it's just 4x4s five deep with a "repurposed" finish. I only see six cuts and two joints on it, so I'm hoping it comes together pretty easily.
Second project is a headboard, which seems like it could be as straightforward as I needed it to be.
EXCITED!
I'm also not sure where you get 3x3, but it sure ain't Home Depot.
P.S. $430 is stupid expensive for that simple piece of furniture.
Edit: Where are you getting the 3"x3" measurement? If you really want some pieces that size you could get a 4"x4" and cut it down some with a table saw and then if you have access to one you might be able to fine tune that with a planer.
E: I guess I could also glue-up two 2x4s and shrink them down. Hmm.
You can find heat/pressure treated 4x4s at Home Depot which are OK for indoor use. Just don't get any chemical treated wood for indoor use.
Description and other pictures here.
I really, Really want to learn to do this kinda stuff, I should have tried it more while at school.
You can still learn. I've heard that some community colleges have welding or metal working courses.
Copper and bronze shaggy loops with lobster clasp
Gun metal and gold shaggy loops with lobster clasp
Gold and gun metal shaggy loops with lobster clasp
A small multicolor spiral bracelet with bronze toggles
Copper and bronze byzantine with bronze toggles
Bronze byzantine with bronze toggles, rings are too thin for it to sit well though
A toggleless gold box chain bracelet
Gold and gun metal box bracelet with lobster clasp
A set of copper and broze simple big-medium-small-medium bracelet with lobster clasp.
Gold single row dragonscale necklace with lobster clasp
Copper box chain earrings, all earrings are on copper hooks, all mobius (and the spiral) rings are anodized aluminum
Light green watermelon mobius earrings
Darker green watermelon mobius earrings
Rainbowy mobius earrings
Brown mobius earrings
Red and black mobius earrings, made two sets of these
Mass of mobiuses
Handmade Jewelry by me on EtsyGames for sale
Me on Twitch!