TEETER TOTTER

When an old faucet with no purpose, looks at me from the floor of the garage wheels start turning in my head, and yesterday that is what happened. Disassembled the faucet, looked at the parts, and then my mind creates an image of what all the parts could be. Here is what I came up with for this old discarded brass faucet. I actually had fun putting it together, thinking about children, having fun on the playground. who would of thunk a hot and cold shut off could be turned into a child. I hope someone out there at least likes it, but I think it is just a fun piece, and made the day of creating worth it. Looking forward to posting something new in the days to come, and hoping for some new and unusual discarded metal to come my way!

Yo have to admit , they do look like they are having a fun time.

SOME NEW ART

  Well here are a few things that I have made in the past few days, I think i need to be on the look out for more discarded metal. Be reminded all the metal is found and for the most part I do not try to make the art perfect. maybe your interested in something you see, if so send me an email and I will be glad to sell you some "junk art"

a crab on the bottom of the fish art.

Full view of the fish art

Mother & Father, two children lets call this "family"

A few plumbing reducers welded together makes a good dog bust, must be raining because his tongue is out to catch rain drops.

This little bee is titled "Bee Scared"  a reducer, 3 way air chuck adapter and a few brass threaded insert and same scrap for wings and it is ready to fly to its new home, this little guy has been sold.

nothing like a few rings of metal and a few more scraps to get my wheels spinning, and poof  an early bicycle appears.

Here is a wind turbine that actually spins

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NEW JUNK ART

Well with the advent of spring comes warmer weather, hyacinth &  daffodils, forsythia in bloom, Grass is getting greener,the human race seems to have a renewed spirit after their spirit has been oppressed by old man winter and the follies he has thrown at us. Here on Cape Cod right here in my two car garage amidst the lawn tractor being fueled up and removing the snow plow off of the ATV and putting it on the back wall to rest until old man winter calls again. I have pulled the MIG welder off the shelf and repositioned  all the discarded metal I have collected, "JUNK ART" is my game and the season is now open. Although no piece of work I do is ever complete until it is sold I jumped in and created a few pieces in the past two days and feel invigorated, ready to take advantage of the months to come and get my imagination in overdrive. Here are a few pictures of my latest creations which I hope you will enjoy looking at and knowing that the metal used is not on the side of the road, filling dumpsters, or being buried in some dump.

Here is a used brake rotor as a base from my truck, coiled metal found on the side of the road as seaweed, discarded galvanized building plates from a construction site made into fish and a few nails and two nuts creating a crab on the ocean floor.



two of those discarded galvanized metal plates joined to create "THE BOMB" I took the liberty to paint it and letter it for effect.




There is nothing like an owl screeching through the sky looking to snatch up its prey. Here are two nuts for eyes, a few hammered nails for claws, and a joist hanger for wings. a little brown paint and some gold around the trim and eyes and beak help bring this guy to life

Until next time leave a comment of what you think, It would be nice to hear the good, the bad and the ugly comments. I hope everyone has an enjoyable spring.

RECYCLING ~ THE GARDEN CALLS.

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  Some of the seeds we will be planting this year.

  
• It is that time of year, although we had snow today, Spring is upon us, and time to start thinking about getting your veggie garden going. I am always thinking of ways of recycling, and this year I found a neat way to re use some packing material that we get, you may know what they are they replaced peanuts. The small bags of air that protect things when they are shipped can be used to help start your plants.

The other day I had 3 yards of what my wholesale stone yard calls "potting mix" it is screened loam and cow maneur mixed together.  I have been using this mix for years for some of my customers as well as for planting around our yard. buying this by the yard saves a considerable amount of money  compared to buying bags of potting soil, and adding amendments yourself.

Packing air bags

Plant mix  soil with vermiculite

Using a big tupperware container, I screened out any little twigs out of the soil and collected it, I added vermiculite which I have an abundant supply of, but you can get at any garden center. Vermiculite will add in aeration of the soil as well as increase water drainage and also keep the soil loose so any nutrientsyou add will be evenly distributed throughout the soil.

Packing bag being filled with soil



Using a pair of sissors cut the top of the bag off and now you have a pouch, fill the pouch that was formerly an air bag. once filled it will be ready to put your seeds in.

bags ready ti put seeds in.

one and a half weeks and presto

As you can see I used a box to put the bags in that I filled with soil. once the box is full I plant the seeds in the bags. once they germinate and start growing and establish a root system I will take the plants out of the bags and transfer them to the garden area.  I hope this little blog gave you an idea of an alternative way to use some of that packing material that might sit in a bag or box, or that would be destined for the trash. Happy gardening.

 What a Joy to see my grandson plant one of the bags of peas.

TIS THE SEASON

A sure sign of winter coming to a close, at least here on Cape Cod, is The sighting of the "Garden Bug" migrating back to it's birth place, the garage.  From The yard where it over winters under  the gray days of winter, and the accumulation of snowfall that has fallen from its skies.  This means that the garage is ready to start production of metal art from discarded metal found all over the great sandbar of the Atlantic. As time allows this season (2011) is showing promise of some usual and unusual metal art forms being created. Keeping in tradition of recycling I will use no "new" metal, all must be discarded. Stay tuned if you are interested. Happy forthcoming spring to all. ~ Lou @ DIME ART!  (DIscarded MEtal ART)

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COLD CAN CRAMP YOUR STYLE

Pretty unusual title for a craft type blog, but when welding is involved, there are not too many places you can move your welder. Welding in the living room has proven to make for some horrific times! as a firefighter, I have seen first hand "welding in the house" NOT GOOD!  Basements also do not offer much ventilation, and again  would be considered in the house. So when welding outside in 20 degree weather will bring a nice chill to your bones, I guess it is time to stop until it gets a bit nicer out. So I am taking some time to pre plan some projects with material I have found. and as always I need to remember my mission, "JUNK METAL ART" sort of limits my productivity also. So winter is upon us, my quest for scrap metal in full swing, I hope to resume welding when the weather is kinder to me. HAPY NEW YEAR 2011 to all.