Rusty fountain

[bubba9459]

This fountain was the prototype for the green sculpture, I wanted to try the compound curves on some scrap first.

I love the rust formations, they change every day.

The ball is copper, it's an old float valve.

[SavageSunJeep]

how did form up the part below the ball?

[bubba9459]

It cut the two sides out of 1/8" , then I cut a 3" wide strip for the front, and a 10" strip for the back.

I welded both sides down to the table, then started welding the front strip on, about an inch at a time, after every inch of weld, I had to re-clamp the next few inches.
I cut a bunch of cheap c-clamps in half, and welded them on.

The front was pretty easy, the back one was the hard part, I had to roll it to the basic shape, then start welding, clamping, and welding, etc, etc. In a couple of the inside curves, I had to drill through front,and back, and use a threaded rod to pull it in tight, The bar clamps I was trying to use just wouldn't hold with all the tension, and irregular angles.

The easy way out would have been to trace the shape of the back, but keeping it 10" wide through all the curves was fun !

Before I decided to add the ball, it went about another foot higher and came to a point.

[nocheepgas]

Looks pretty cool, how long before it rusts through?

[bubba9459]

I think the rust is working like a protective coating ( Like cor-ten steel ) If I chip off a piece of the heavy rust, the base metal has a nice black coating.

Maybe the copper has something to do with it,

[Wade]

It looks good. I like it.