Metal Musician Sculpture

Artists draw from a variety of sources for their inspiration, and Luis Guerrero is no different. As a child he spent a lot of time with his grandfather who was a welder by trade. Guerrero learned the skill and he too became a welder. Guerrero's inspiration for his craft comes from his love of music and the musicians themselves emulating their passion and talent. He started visualizing piecing together images of his favorite musicians. He then went one step further and made them into solid objects. Guerrero chose the material closest at hand–scrap metal resulting in eclectic and fun sculptures.

Materials:

8" channel pipe
3/8" chains
diesel pump camshaft
1/4" round rod bearings
inner diesel pump parts
round metal bar
12-gauge 1/8" sheet metal
wide channel iron square
2-part epoxy clear acrylic
random scrap motor parts
welder
gloves
welding mask
plasma cutter
steel welding table

Steps:

1. Search for scrap metal parts at junkyard or scrap metal yards.

2. Start sculpture by making the legs out of one-inch pipe. Cut to desired lengths.

3. Tack weld both legs to steel welding table leaving a small gap between both legs. This will create a stable foundation for the sculpture.

5. Weld the camshaft piece to the center of the round bar for the body of the sculpture.

6. To make the arms, cut two equal sized lengths of 3/8-inch chain links and weld one piece to the right and one to the left of the body. The links will be hanging down for the moment (figure B). The arms will be welded into position after the guitar is made.

7. Weld on a governor piece from a diesel fuel injection pump to the top of the camshaft for the head (figure C).

8. Weld ball bearings on top of the head to create the eyes (figure D).

9. Draw a guitar shape on sheet metal and cut out the design (figure E).

10. Weld scrap metal parts on to the guitar shape to resemble guitar strings and other guitar parts (figure F).

11. When completed, weld the back of the guitar to the lower portion of the body.

12. Place the chain link arms in desired positions around the guitar. Each link will need to be welded into position in order to give the illusion that the sculpture is playing the guitar (figure G).

13. Cut the sculpture from the welding table with a plasma cutter.

14. Weld the sculpture onto an eight-inch channel iron square base (figure H).

15. For a finishing touch, spray or brush on a two-part epoxy clear acrylic to the entire sculpture. This will provide a nice sheen to the sculpture and will protect the metal from rusting.

E-mail: luis@aychispas.com

Website: www.aychispas.com