butterfly mobile

scrollerbear - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - 9:31pm

This mobile has over 140 butterflies. I was so tired of cutting out butterflies. It hangs from an electric gear motor that spins it slowly in someones home now.

» add new comment | thumbnail

Hi Scrollerbear, good to

Bill Roberts (not verified) - Friday, April 13, 2007 - 7:39am

Hi Scrollerbear,
good to have you on here. I'm curious what you use to "clear coat" the copper with after flame coloring? This butterfly mobile must be quite impressive when it can be seen in motion. Can't imagine the time it took to cut all those out. Your the first person I've seen in a long time that still uses a scrollsaw to cut out elements like this. Most seem to have gone to water jet or laser.
thanks for sharing. welcome :)
bill

» reply

butterfly mobile

scrollerbear - Friday, April 13, 2007 - 1:39pm

Thanks Bill,

I am really enjoying "art metal". It is so well designed and easy to do. (Especially for a computer illiterate like me!)

I usually do not clear coat copper unless a customer asks me to. In this climate, copper eventually turns a dark brown/black but I like the changes during the process. Also, any clear coat changes the color of the patina adversely. Most of my work ends up inside out of the weather so the process of oxidation is slow.

If asked, I usually use a baked epoxy clear coat on the copper or steel work that I do.

I have a lot of people who either assume my work is done with a laser or adamantly tell me that it can not be done with a scroll saw. Blades have become very inexpensive. If I use 4 or 5 or 10 or 12 blades it's O.K. I can stack 5 to 7 layers of metal between 1/4 inch plywood to cut. That makes it less onerous than you'd imagine.

I usually cut 2 sheets of 24 gauge cold rolled steel, 1 sheet of 16 ounce copper, and 2 sheets of .032 aluminum in a stack. I can also stack 7 sheets of .032 aluminum at a time. And of course I can cut some types of metal in much thicker size with fewer in the stack. I also do brass, silver, nickel, leather, fabric and paper occasionally.

In earlier years, I used more copper than steel but copper has gotten so expensive.

Every once in a while, I find some damaged full sheets that I can get for scrap price but that is happening less often now.

I have to get busy. I am building steel stands for a friend who does raku pottery sculptures. She has just gotten in to a gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is really excited. I usually don't work with heavier metal so this job is a challenge for me. The stands have to be art work in themselves but not take away from the sculptures. At least I hope that is the case. I have to grind off all of the mill scale, copper plate the steel and then put a green chemical patina on. I will upload pictures of the stands as I get time.

Have a good day,

Mark

» reply