Hand plasma cut & plannished Canadian Geese

[Richard Yates]

Hi there. I thought I’d share a project I had done for a client of three life size Canadian geese flying that are actually used as ceiling lights. I used a Cut 50 hand plasma cutter to cut the 1.2mm cold rolled steel for the geese. I wanted it to be as filagree as possible to let light through and to also allow me a easier time of hammering and shaping the pieces. After making the body, wings and feet I plannish them to the 3D shape of the light required and mit them together. I use silver Mica as a light defuser inside each goose. They’re now happily flying in formation on the the clients ceiling here in Australia. regards Richard Yates Richard Yates Sculptor

[John K Jordan]

...They’re now happily flying in formation on the the clients ceiling here in Australia.

Richard,

Thanks for posting this. Those are incredible.

I use my plasma cutter for farm things. People have asked me to cut some silhouettes like a 1000 other people do but I've resisted. Flat is boring - the sense of motion from your sculpture is wonderful. And you must have the hand control of a surgeon!

Do you have a hydraulic plannisher? Please feel free to post more "in process" photos!
Curious about the surface - sand blasting and flap sander? Spray lacquer, perhaps?
I'm inspired by the fillagree look. Now I hear that a big piece of stainless steel sheet calling me from behind the shop!

JKJ

[Richard Yates]

<p>
Hi John. Thanks for the kind words. Sorry about the pictures being upside down or wonky I dont know why its doing that or how to fix it.</p>
<p>
I dont actually have a plannisher. I do not do a lot of steel work on a regular basis ( i mainly carve wood for a living ) if I did though I would get a plannisher of some kind to try to save some wear and tear on myself! Ive just been doing it old school with hammers, ball peens and chisel edge type hammers anything to get the shape, a pipe in the curve of the body to contour it, rebar in the legs and then beat it. It was really fun looking around my shop looking for what I could use to beat the shape in with that I was needing at that time.</p>
<p>
I also cut a gum tree base ( gums are like concrete wood! ) it worked like a kind of reverse anvil and I cut v grooves and rounded groves and different dished out areas on it to create the desired effect when plannishing. and the cool thing is when the wood starts to lose its shape I can just slice a inch off and do it again. Theres a image below of the stump and a cloud I did for another project I did that Ill post next. Youll see that I use vice grips to hold the steel and use insulated gloves to help cushion the blow to my hand.</p>
<p>
The geese are flapper sanded and i used flat black spray paint to accent the areas needed and wipe it off before it really set up to give it a bit of that worn/ soft colored look. Then clear coat polyurethane to preserve the raw steel look and prevent rust. You should definately tear into that stainless steel sheet! You never know what might happen! Regards Richard</p>

[John K Jordan]

<p>
Hi John. Thanks for the kind words. Sorry about the pictures being upside down or wonky I dont know why its doing that or how to fix it.</p>
<p>
I dont actually have a plannisher. ...

Thanks! The picture orientation doesn't bother me a bit. For some reason I can easily read upside down and flip photos as needed.

I don't know how you're going about shooting and posting (there was a thread about this recently you might check: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ideways-on-SMC
Before posting I load all photos into Photoshop or Photoshop Elements for cropping, resizing, and a bit of correction if needed and if one is flipped, rotating and saving them puts it right in posts:

steel_goose.jpg

I'm kind of glad you don't have an expensive plannisher! Gives me hope that I can beat on some steel myself with no excuse that I don't have the equipment! I have hammers and I'm not afraid to use them! I wouldn't be surprised if the stainless wasn't gracefully workable though! For my stainless sheet I envisioned welding it into a "fire pit" (this idea: https://www.bobvila.com/articles/was...hine-fire-pit/) and try some free-hand plasma cuts on the sides.

So far, my only "sculpture" from stainless has been this, also related to fire.

burn_barrel_stainless.jpg

I'm always surprised at how smooth plasma-cut edges are.

The other John Jordan (the famous woodturner) once demonstrated how to shape the end grain in a big chunk of wood to form metals with a hammer. He used an angle grinder to cut a smooth dish-shaped depression in the wood then shaped a steel disk into a shallow dome to make a lid for a turned vessel. He had some smooth-faced hammers made for shaping. Beautiful result! I also thought the way he added color to the steel was interesting: he heated with a propane torch then while hot scrubbed it with a brass brush.

JKJ

[Richard Yates]

<p>
Hi John. I do struggle with IT stuff so I appreciate the help with the pic problems I have! On the stainless how thick is it? I think 1.2 mm is the perfect thickness to plannish. If its &nbsp;a more narrow piece your working or if the piece has mor filagree cuts in it / piercings to weaken it you can use 2mm thick steel. But anything thicker might be a frustrating struggle to work. That stainless would make a beautiful fire pit it would probably develop a lot of that rainbow colouring from the flames itself? It would be worth a go. That is a cool effect but Ive never tried to do it intentially on anything yet. Regards Richard</p>

[Dennis Ford]

Great work. You made that steel come alive.