thanks. what i like most about steel and concrete is that you can make them do things that seem impossible.

the concrete block on the top actually has a foam core. i suspended the foam with steel rods in the wood form. still, the block weighs about 80 pounds. the bottom block is solid, with the beam welded to a platform set into the concrete.

the beam actually is two beams welded. i suspect that bending a single beam would stress the steel to the yielding point, thus losing its strength. on the other hand, the weld is fairly thin, and the heat certainly changed the steel's properties for the worse..

i give it a few weeks..

keith

Keith/Man-O-Mettle;
What's next; the tight-rope walk? I think you need to use some color to accentuate the piece against the general green background. Perhaps orange, red and purple? That would really make it "POP"!

Nic East, Jim Thorpe, PA USA
Creativity begins with a novel thought.

For the concrete I have used this https://ecom.granquartz.com/VIA9/viaListProducts.jsp?searchText=rock^epoxy&modifier=SEARCH&reqTitle=TITLE_VIASEARCHRESULT

It is a two part epoxy for stone. Have used it to seal fountain basins. Works like a charm!!

One option might be to use weathering steel (corten) flux cored filler wire. I believe i got ESAB 8100. It's a sprayarc application and it goes on like hot butter, and i do mean hot. Great looking welds though. I'm sure you can get it for stick welding as well, but I've never tried it. Its going to mix with the base metal, so if you can use Corten for the base metal it'd be best, but for what your doing the wire might be enough. If you added a small(1" roughly) gusset in the joints of the girders, you'd take a lot of stress off of the welds, but that might interfere with the look your after.

I always like the natural rusting look of steel, it's got to be my favorite finish.

Jake