First Water Feature

As it is one of the things I want to create, here is my first attempt at making a water feature. Simply it is a brass tea pot on a single leg, with a ring at the bottom. The ring is bent from one piece of 22mm, and joined with a socket made into one end and soldered. The cross piece has 2 reducers (22mm to 15mm), to fix into a hole in each  inside of the ring, and a T piece in the middle that rises to the tea pot at the top. A drain cock at the back is then soldered into a hole, also used as the inlet from a pump.

Face in Silouette

Do you know how long it takes to rub down and polish copper plate? I should have put a stop watch on the job, coz I don't either, but it was a long time.
I first cut off a square of plate, then marked out the face, (it's all I can draw), cleaned off the gunk on both sides, (hard work). Then cut out the face with snips, rub down with very fine wet & dry emery paper. Do it to both face and off cut.
The base is made from a piece of 15mm and an off cut from a previouse job, all rubbed and smoothed as before.
Then two small right angles and all solderd together, polished again and finnished.

Little gas torch

To-day I went out and bought a little gas torch, normally used for soldering electrical parts and wiring, but I'm going to be using it for getting those finer bits of soldering to look a hell of a lot tidyer. With the great big thing I've got its like cracking a small nut with a sledge hammer. Trials start tomorrow.!!!!!

Box with inner tray

I got a little stuck as to what to make, I'd done a little with pipe, I wanted to do some thing a bit different to challenge me a little. I know what I can try, I'll make a box with a lid. So off I go measuring and cutting, then soldering. There thats the box made, now for the lid. So off I go again measuring and cutting, then soldering. Tied to fit lid to box, and yes it did'nt fit on top, it nearly fit inside. A bit of filing and tapping later I had a nice snug fit. What I had done was to measure the inside instead of the outside of the box. So off I went again measuring and cutting, then more soldering. Job done. Now to polish it all up, what a job that was. Any way all done now as you can see.

Names in Wire

I thought I might try my hand at writing with wire. It was a little tricky to start with, trying to get the wire into a shape that looked like a letter, as I wanted it to look like I'd written it myself with a pen, not just letters made up then put into place. Anyway I came up with this, I know it's my name but this method can be used on any ones name.

So Far So Good

Now that I have done three pieces and my soldering is getting better and, some ideas are coming in, I want to try and widen what I am trying to do. I know that I should be moving step by step, but now I have a feel for what I am doing I want to try more and more.

With luck, if people think that my creations are worthy, they may want a piece for thier home or garden. The thing that will be the difficult bit for me will be to put a price on the pieces that I make.

In time I hope to be making bespoke pieces for people who would like something just for them.

"Kettles On". My third piece

The idea for this came from all those old western movies, where all the cowboys are sat round the fire waiting for the kettle to boil for a brew.
The kettle is made of brass, (not made by me). The base is a piece of plate solderd to a spring bent piece of 15mm. The fire wood from 22mm. And last but not least the flame from oddments of plate.