My dumb question of the month coupon

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

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

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

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

On 1/4/2012 6:36 PM, Steve B wrote: snip

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

BobH

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

'd suggest getting either a larger container of one color like red or yellow or a sample kit.

Have fun.

is one of several brazing videos at SmartFlix. Also good welding videos available at this site.

-- MRP