Creating Welded Sculpture

1 BASIC TOOLS OF WELDED SCULPTURE Origin of tools Basic tools The nature of oxygen and acetylene Regulators Welding torch and tips Cutting attachment and tips Eyes and hands Working clothes Basic hand tools Metal Basic shop Later additions American Welding Society Safety Rules 2 BASIC WELDING TECHNIQUE Setting up your equipment Lighting the torch Flame and heat control Running the bead: exercise one Running the bead: exercise two Seams and joints Pipe welds Compound joints Cutting metal Welding various metals Melting points and flux for various metals 3 CONSTRUCTING ABSTRACT SHAPES Five categories of abstract shapes States of form Constructing geometric shapes Constructing a cube Constructing a tetrahedron Coordinate planes Constructing a globe Constructing an angular free form 4 CONSTRUCTING ORGANIC SHAPES Constructing an egg Constructing a tree form Constructing an onion Constructing a clam Fish form A final note on the pitfalls of geometry 5 MODELING SOLID FIGURES Tools Armature "Men, women, and children" Filling in the volume Modeling the torso: front plane Back plane Body contour Head and neck Position and movement Arms Hands Positioning the arms Feet Bases 6 FINISHING THE SCULPTURE Buyer's view Cleaning bronze and nickel silver Texture Patinas Cleaning and preparing steel Basing with wood or stone 7 WELDED STEEL SCULPTURE WITH THE ELECTRIC ARC Different types of arc welding Clothing Technique Advantages of arc welding for the sculpture Where the arc cannot be used Making shapes Found object sculpture Geometrical sculpture Finishing arc welded work "The arc welding, shop" 8 WELDING LARGE SCALE COMMISSIONED WORKS Clients The design problem Making preliminary designs Client vs. artist Making a sketch in metal Estimating the costs of the commission The contract Making the scale model Enlarging to full scale Full scale armature Installation Ideas and beliefs build the cultural shell 9 SOME NOTES ON THE ECONOMICS OF FINE ARTS Keeping yourself alive Public and private support The business of art Exhibiting your work 10 GALLERY OF SCULPTOR-WELDERS 11 BEYOND THE CYCLE OF LIFE BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX