How to Fix Welding Heat Distortion - Kevin Caron

#ArtistKevinCaron #WeldingTips

From kevincaron.com - Artist Kevin Caron shows tips and tricks to fix warping caused by welding ....

Kevin Caron has created a test piece by welding together two pieces of 16 gauge mild steel without clamping them down to get a nice warp going.

The first way he counteracts the warping is by welding a bead on the other side of the weld. He's using heat to combat heat! Kevin Caron is able to pull a lot of the warp out by simply welding side-to-side on the opposite face of the metal.

Kevin Caron created an entire 7-foot-tall kinetic sculpture, Genome Project, which you can see at kevincaron.com/art_detail/genome_project.html , by using heat and warping.

Rather than continue that process to take out the warp, however, Kevin Caron turns to another way to deal with weld heat distortion by stepping up to his anvil.

He grabs what he calls a flattening hammer (some people say it's really a shoeing hammer, which is likely because Kevin Caron bought it from an old horseshoeing school), turns the warp upward so there's a gap under the metal, and begins pounding the metal on the anvil. You can hear the sound change as the metal comes in full contact with the anvil itself.

Finally, there are times when your work is so warped, there is only one solution: toss this part into the scrap bin and start over.

Kevin Caron is ready to go back to work, so you have time to check out more how-to videos and his wild sculptures at kevincaron.com

Well, you might want to hang around for another moment and see him work with his most difficult student yet ....


"Inspired sculpture for public & private places."

Artist Kevin Caron has been sculpting full time since 2006. You can see his more than 45 commissions in public and private places coast-to-coast and online at kevincaron.com.

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