brazing

open studio: building the throat chakra by kelly heaton

The Beekeeper is a large sculptural work-in-progress, to be exhibited as part of Pollination in September 2015.  It is comprised of seven or eight chakras.  Here, I am building the throat chakra out of brass.  In the center (4th image) is a low RPM / high-torque motor that turns the throat, pineal and heart chakras.  The pineal and heart chakras are not shown in these images, but will be featured in later posts.  

open studio: brass skep by kelly heaton

Finishing the brass skep with an oxy-acetylene torch and bronze brazing rods.  Surface color was controlled with torch work and a lemon-salt solution; detail was re-introduced with a die grinder.  The last image shows a system for hanging the 100 pound sculpture, which will premier at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts in September 2015

open studio: welding brass skep by kelly heaton

Top row, left to right: making of the traditional bee skep (from Wikipedia); a stack of welded brass rings; brass rings with a ground surface to create straw-like texture; shaping the segments of the brass rings with a peening hammer and wooden cradle

Bottom row, left to right: welding the brass rings together with an oxyacetylene torch and brazing rods; two welded rings with clamps to attach a third; measuring the uppermost ring, which has been hammered to reduce its diameter, in order to create a tapered top for the skep; a bee skep from a french fairytale

open studio: brazing steel torus by kelly heaton

Brazing a custom connector to the center of a steel torus.  Kelly Heaton, work-in-progress, September 2014