www.artinsteel.co.uk - Artinsteel methodology

My intention here is to give a brief introduction to the methods I use in laymans terms. If this fires you up to learn more there is a superb resource on the following link. The Uk welder site is a facility used by many metalworkers and welders, there is a shop selling equipment and a forum that can provide a fascinating link to the weird world of welding and welders humour. To see more click on this link http://www.ukwelder.com/wk_menu.php this link takes to you the 'Knowledge' section which covers all varieties of welding in comprehensible language.

I stared of metalworking doing a night class in basic Oxyacetylene welding, In this method Acetylene is burned with oxygen giving a flame of around 1600C, this used to melt the steel directly together, these gases can also be used for Brazing, where steel is joined together with brass, similar to soldering. I do a lot of brazing partly because it is effective on a very small scale, gives a very smooth result and has an attractive finish that contrasts with steel. Below is a photograph of me assembling a brazed joint, the brass filler rod is entering the picture from the left side. yes it is a very hot process.

brazing

Below is a photograph of a John Dory Fish, showing how brazing can be used both decoratively and structurally.

fish sculpture

When I started welding I was reccomended to start on the Oxyacetylene process because it gives the practitioner a much better understanding of the behaviour and handling of metal than other more processes. I am glad that I took this advice.

The next process that I taught myself was Mig,( Metal Inert Gas) Welding. In this process a wire is spooled through a torch and melted into the workpiece using an arc generated between the torch and workpiece, being sheilded from oxygen by an inert gas (argon). This is a far simpler process to get to grips with then ocyacetylene, as evidenced by the next photograph, my son Cedric aged 8 at the time. In ten minutes he was laying a reasonable bead of weld, it took me two weeks to get that far.

welding

This a process that lends itself to the homeworkshop, the equipment to start is fairly cheap and easily available. My first Mig welder was a Clarke 130amp unit that died after 6 years of extreme abuse, highly reccomended to the beginner. I use Mig welding both structurally and decoratively, below is photograph detailing this on the eye of one of my large fish.

fish eye

My next investment was in a Plasma Cutter, a fantastic tool that will cut any metal cleanly ,easily and safely, probably the nearest I will ever get to having a raygun. It works by blowing compressed air through a torch with an arc in it and produces a small 'flame' of plasma at I think 6000C. it leaves a cut in steel about 1.5mm wide, here is a photograph of a collection I made for some friends having a charity event.

collecting box

A technique that I have developed for myself is one that I call Overwelding, in this I build a structure out of bits and pieces of metal and then Overweld the whole surface with the Mig welder to give a an almost organic surface made from the steel as it sets. A very hot dirty and noisy process but one that gives a great result. Some traditional metalworkers do not approve of this type of work because it uses what can be seen as industrial processes. There follows a series of photographs illustrating the 'Overwelding process. In this series I am making the head for a life sized sculpture of a man.

First I cut out a series of profliles with the plasma cutter.

sculpture

Then I spot weld them together before Overwelding the whole structure to to give a unified surface. This picture gives some idea of the heat involved

metal sculpture

When this process is fisnished we are left with some grotty surface deposits of impurities and oxides.

sculpture

But following some aggressive wire brushing we are left with the finished item, definitely worth the effort. I particularly like this process because I have some control over the result, but there is an element of the final result being out of my control.

welded sculpture

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