Stainless Steel Unicorn Sculpture
Introduction: Stainless Steel Unicorn Sculpture
Hi everyone, this Instructables is all about making a stainless steel sculpture. This is my first sculpture and before this, I never made any sculpture, but recently in the past I made a stainless steel coffee table and the construction is just a little bit resembles that table, just giving me some confidence to proceed in sculpture making. To have some idea I first go with a paper version of this sculpture. I didn't make the exact same size of sculpture with paper because I just wanted to have some idea but even you are going to build a paper version that also seems difficult to me first. Once I completed that paper version It really boosted my morale to proceed with the metal version. But truly said even if you made a paper version of this, the metal version of that sculpture is difficult to work with because, in the end, it's metal and not flexible like paper. You can definitely reduce the welding joints by bending techniques but I didn't have a powerful sheet metal bender. The one I have made fillets during the bending so I totally avoid that because this sculpture has sharp bends plus I didn't know the bending angle. Now with a bigger 3d printed modal or a cardboard version can help to know the angles but the lack of tools allows me to proceed with the cut-out version and I stick to that plan only but good thing is that sticking with the plan really works as I wanted to be. If you have any tips for sheet metal sculpture making then definitely let me know. I am ok with welding but sculpture is a different thing I really need to know the tips from you guys. So definitely share your experience with me. Now Let's jump onto the building part.
Supplies
Material and tools needed.
For the material, I go with an 18 gauge stainless steel sheet. Since I wanted to hang it outside so I go with 304-grade steel. Now you can go with any material but if you want high gloss then I recommend you to stick with 304 grade rather than 202.
For the tools, I guess whatever sheet metal tools possible you can arrange that would be good for you but I didn't have so many sheet metal tools and for this, I use basic tools, and I think if you are a beginner then for this particular project these tools are sufficient.
1. Angle grinder.
2. Carbide scriber.
3. Ruler.
4. Belt grinder ( I just made a homemade version for this perticular project).
5. Grinding wheels.
6. Tig welder.
7. 215
Safety equipment.
8. Hammer, mallet.
9. Welding clamps.
10. Pliers
Make sure to use all the safety measures while working don't try to copy my acts where I am not using safety measures properly during the initial tacking process. Argon is not a harmful gas but if you are working in a closed room then it might be dangerous to inhale and cause vomit and other problems, so make sure to do this in a well-ventilated room.
Step 1: ​Generating the Paper Templates
The first and foremost thing to do is to have a paper template. Now I provide paper templates for this perticular build in two different sizes one with flaps and the other is without flaps which are bigger ones and used for stainless steel sculpture. Now to generate the pdf templates you need a software named pepakura designer. The first thing to do is to visit any website for 3d files. For welding sculptures, it's good to proceed with these polygon-type designs because they actually required fewer tools and much easier to work with compared to those curved sculptures. But the software is actually capable enough to generate the pdf templates for any kind of shapes and the process is also the same. So after downloading the 3d Design open the Pepakura designer and import that file. Once you import it asks you about the face which needs to be placed on the top. You can leave it as it is. There is a scaling option that also comes up but initially, you can leave them as it is. So once you import the 3d file go to setting and select change to scale. From here you can increase or decrease the size of the modal. After changing the scale if you click on unfold your entire modal gets to open up onto a sheet. If you want to remove the flap just click onto 2d setting and uncheck the show flap tab. To disconnect any section click ctrl+n and to move or drag use Ctrl+m. Once you are happy with the layout just export it as pdf and make sure during printing, print it at 100 %. Make sure to have two copies of these templates. If something wrong happens you have a spare one, and after the cutting work, it shows you how important it is to have two copies. 215