Special Sub-Topic: Scrap Metal Click Here To Play: Scrap Metal

Which of these is the most common scrap metal used for sculptures?

Car parts. Most scrap metal workers use car parts in their sculptures. The main way to get scrap metal is to go to your local junkyard. Some junkyards may have you pay for your scrap metal, but some will just be glad it is gone and give it to you for free.

If you are making a life size deer out of metal, what is the best thing to use for his antlers?

Metal pipes. Metals pipes most resemble deer antlers of the above options. You can easily curve these metal pipes into the desired shape, twisting and shaping them into antlers.

What is the best thing to use for eyes on a (life size human) sculpture?

Nuts. Hubcaps are much too large to use as eyes, as are saw blades. You can use more than just nuts to make eyes, but nuts are the most common material to use. You can use washers, cut metal, or even screws and nails.

Scrap metal can also be used to make completely new things. What must you do first before you form scrap metal into anything else?

Melt the metal. The first thing you must do is melt the metal. This would be incredibly difficult to do on your own. There are factories that specialize in making scrap metal into brand new things. The metal must become so hot you need to wear special suits to handle it from 20 feet away! The melting process will in turn clean the metal for you. Once the metal has been melted, it can be poured into molds to create the item you want to make. Sometimes, high temperature furnaces can be purchased, but they usually do not melt the metal. They simply heat the metal so it is easily moldable with special tools. These furnaces are very similar to glass furnaces, but handling metal is much more dangerous than handling glass.

Which of these is NOT used in scrap metal sculptures?

Standard-sized staples. Paperclips aren't really considered scrap metal. A piece of scrap metal is usually anything metal that cannot be used again. Bent or rusty screws can be used, car engines that don't work can be used, and tin cans can be used. Staples, however, are too small for anything, and cannot be used for any specific purpose in a sculpture.

Which of these would be the easiest thing to make out of scrap metal?

Snake. Snakes are by far the easiest creature to make out of any substance. You can easily take metal pipes and curve them into a coil and stick up the end to look like a snake. The most difficult part would be the head, but you can weld a larger piece of metal onto it quite easily.

Which of these places can you NOT purchase scrap metal for your projects?

Your own garage. Many junkyards and auto repair shops would be happy to sell you some scrap metal. Home Depot also has a lot of metal, so they end up with a lot of scrap. You can buy your scrap metal at these places, but sometimes they will give it to you for free.

Sometimes, scrap metal can do more than just make sculptures. What is the LEAST likely thing to be made by a hobbyist using scrap metal?

Car engines. I know from experience what scrap metal can do: paper holder, paper organizer, piano keyboard stand, pen holder, mouthwash cup, tie rack, pocket silk holder, and can crusher, to name a few of my own scrap metal pieces. As you can see, the possibilities are almost endless, with a little imagination.

If I am making a giraffe, what is the best thing to use for the neck?

Air conditioning duct. Air conditioning ducts can be square, and is the most common, but also come in round. You can use old ducts for a large and wide neck like a giraffe. After you paint the duct, should you choose to paint it, you would hardly even know it was a duct!

There is a special metal cutter you can make shapes with. What is this special cutter?

Plasma cutter. Plasma cutters are unique because they do not use blades. They use a plasma torch, which means inert gases are blown out of a nozzle at extremely high speeds. This gas is blown out hard enough to actually cut the metal. The gas is hot enough to melt the metal directly where it is blown, and is blown fast enough it moves the melted metal away from the cut. This is not a sufficient way to melt bulk metal, it simply melts around the cut. Plasma cutters are very similar to glass cutters that shoot water out to cut the glass, only it is much more dangerous! Plasma cutters are very similar to oxy-torches.