Atlantic salmon

[shirazman]

Heres one of my salmon i make for the birds. I cut out 2 identical fish shapes from 1mm steel doubled up. Then I sit over a block of wood and start beating them with a ball pein hammer till they bow out enough. Once this is done I weld them together then add fins for details

 

[gordon stephenson]

Very,very nice work, Is it stainless or mild steel? let the heron try to take that from your pond!!

 

[shirazman]

Its just 1mm mild steel. I priced some stainless the other day... for a 1mm 2.5m x1.25m they want £108 plus vat....Crazy prices. So what i do now is go round scrappies and pick up old kitchen hoods and splashbacks. Got a good load just now so watch this space for some stainless sculpture. Tell you what though its bad enough bowling 1mm mild steel out with the hammer.. not looking forward to stainless but gonna give it a go

 

[stuvy]

how did you do the tail fin detailing? angle grinder just rolled lightly over it? looking lovely either way

 

[shirazman]

all you do is turn down the plasma to about 20 amps then quickly score it over the fin. It gives a great effect. Tried it also without the earth but this only works with the Parweld and not the Hypertherm for some reason. You can also do it with the gouging feature on the hypertherm but to big a gouge for this work

 

[stuvy]

cheers for that mate i thinks its time a plasma cutter went on my shopping list

 

[zx9]

Superb, can I ask how big it is? And are you going to display or exhibit it or is it a commission piece?

 

[chunkolini]

Another nice piece of work.
Hw big is it?
I made a few fishes like this when I started out but just did not get on with the panel bashing bit.
Have you tried exhibiting any of this stuff yet?
Chunko'.

 

[Dev]

So what i do now is go round scrappies and pick up old kitchen hoods and splashbacks.

there is a really helpful guy at my local scrap dealer who would put stuff to one side for me when I was getting bits to make a gas bottle burner for my brother.

Only problem is now he wants me to make one for him too so I sort of feel I can't go back till I do

 

[strube1369]

Very impressive work!

 

[shirazman]

Superb, can I ask how big it is? And are you going to display or exhibit it or is it a commission piece?

it's life size, about 15" long. If you look at my golden eagle pic this is the one i use for her talons. Ive been asked to exhibit some of my stuff at a local art exhibition coming off this summer

 

[shirazman]

Another nice piece of work.
Hw big is it?
I made a few fishes like this when I started out but just did not get on with the panel bashing bit.
Have you tried exhibiting any of this stuff yet?
Chunko'.

Ive been asked to exhibit some of my stuff this summer at an art exhibition.
Its life size, about 15"
I know what you mean about the panel bashing.. take's it out of the wrist

 

[Dev]

Think you're up to making a dog for the next eagle?
http://www.coastrider.net/news/national-news-spain/16452-eagle-attacks-british-woman

A 43 year old English woman named as Suzanne Dodd had an extremely unpleasant surprise recently when she was out walking her two dogs in the countryside near to Benalmádena near Mijas in the south of Spain. An eagle swept down from the skies and tried to make off with one of the two Jack Russell terriers. According to reports in La Opinión de Málaga the dog was dragged off by the head towards a nearby quarry but Ms Dodd managed to get the dog free by grabbing one of the eagle’s wings and kicking it shouting at the bird that it was not going to fly off with her dog. Her actions made the bird release her dog but she received a nasty looking peck on her hand from the frustrated bird.

 

[chunkolini]

What drove me mad about panel bashing was get one bit fine and another bit has gnoe to the dogs ad infinitum.
I realised that there is a skill that needs to be earnt and decided to avoid it all together.

 

[shirazman]

What drove me mad about panel bashing was get one bit fine and another bit has gnoe to the dogs ad infinitum.
I realised that there is a skill that needs to be earnt and decided to avoid it all together.

I did a good few years doing loads of complex leadwork so the theory of where to hit the metal is pretty much the same for steel. Essentially you are stretching the metal. You need strong wrists and the patience of a saint

 

[blacksmithstris]

That salmon is great! Awesome work!

I hate doing cold work, so true, very hard on the wrists, hands, can feel the vibration up your arm, definitely not good for your body!! Ever tried hitting it while it's hot? Metal moves easier, quicker.