Plasma Project Spring Garden Flower | MillerWelds

Plasma Project Spring Garden Flower

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The perfect springtime project to start growing your metal garden.

SKILL LEVEL:Beginner/Easy

TIME COMMITMENT:1-2 hours

Here's what you'll need to get started.

Tools and Materials

Cardstock/Cardboard (to make template)
Pen/Marker (to write on paper and metal)
Scissors (to cut out template)
Scrap metal sheet (18g - ⅛-“. mild steel, or other metal; depending on size of desired flower, it is recommended to use a minimum of 1 ft. x 1 ft. of material)
Scrap solid rod (¼-in. or other desired size of mild steel solid rod, or other metal similar to sheet material)
Plasma cutter (Spectrum 625 XTREME)
Welder (Multimatic 220 AC/DC)
Grinder with cutoff wheel/Chop saw/Bandsaw (to cut ¼-in. solid rod as needed)
Safety lenses/Shield (clear)
Safety lenses/Shield (shade 3 or 5)
Gloves
Welding jacket or Sleeves

Tools used in building but not required:

  • Miller 30 FX Arc Station Table (modified)
  • Head/Hair covering

 

WARNING: READ AND FOLLOW ALL LABELS AND THE OWNER'S MANUAL.

STEP BY STEP

Person tracing a pattern onto a sheet of material at a workbench

STEP ONE:

Make a template of a heart shape using cardstock/cardboard and pen. Template may be either drawn freehand or traced using a heart shape of the size and shape desired.

Metalworker uses a metal shear to cut a piece of paper

STEP TWO:

Cut out template using scissors.

Metalworker crafting heart shapes from sheet metal

STEP THREE:

Use the heart template to draw at least eight similar hearts on sheet material (draw 10 hearts if adding leaves). Be sure to use a pen/marker that you can see on your material through shade 3 or 5 protective lenses/face shield.

Cutting hearts out of metal sheet with plasma cutter

STEP FOUR:

Use plasma cutter to cut hearts from the material. Clean cut hearts as desired (optional).

Assembling metal hearts

STEP FIVE:

Assemble metal hearts with each point touching in the center, upside down.

Welding hearts together

STEP SIX:

Weld four hearts together from the back side.

Welding hearts together on the other side

STEP SEVEN:

Flip four welded hearts over and weld four more hearts to the front. Welding each heart at a ~45-degree angle will give appearance of depth/3-D layering.

Welding the center of metal flower

STEP EIGHT:

Add texture to the center of the flower by (1) welding a "pad" to build up texture by welding a circle as large or small as desired surface area for texture of center of flower, (2) drop welding machine amperage down to lowest setting and weld a series of quick “tack” welds to cover "pad."

Welding metal flower stem

STEP NINE:

Cut, bend and weld solid rod/stem to backside of the flower.

Welding the base on metal flower

STEP TEN:

Add base to flower (optional).

Welding two leaves on to flower stem

STEP ELEVEN:

Add leaves to flower by welding 2 hearts to stem (optional).

Welder draws signature on flower

STEP TWELVE:

Sign the base by dropping welding machine amperage down to ~20g preset settings to “draw” signature on base of flower (optional).

Completed welded scrap metal garden flower

Alisyn Palla, Artist and Owner of Meraki Metal Works
Alisyn Palla is an artist and owner of Meraki Metal Works. She has also been a licensed attorney for the past 20 years. In early 2023, Alisyn decided it was finally time to “jump in” and see what she could do creatively. Since she took that leap of faith, Alisyn has been hired to create for restaurants, public art installations, custom gates, and commissioned art pieces as well as showing her work in galleries and art exhibits. Metal is Alisyn’s favorite medium, but experimenting with other challenging construction materials and obscure mediums has pushed her creative boundaries in ways she never imagined.
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