Very first paying job - maple leaf screen

[beefy]

This was a custom design for my very first customer, my first step to getting out of this crap excavation game. It's a corten steel screen in this case. The lady already has a leaf screen on her property but there's not many leaf cutouts in it. She wanted more density of both cutouts and the leaves on top.

The brown leaves in the image are the dropout leaves put on top of the screen. The small holes are for welding these leaves from the back of the screen. You can't see the small holes in the image because the top leaves are covering them, but you'll see them in the DXF.

Don't have any lead ins or outs in the leaf cuts. Just place your pierce right at the "stem attach point" if you know what I mean and the pierce is not noticeable. You also get dropouts leaves without the lead ins/outs in them, so they are ready to be welded on top.

Dimensions are 2440 x 1100. The plate came standard as 2440 x 1220 but they wanted the height shaved down a bit.

Keith.

[SeanP]

Good idea,,,,they are nice shaped leaves,,,will keep hold of that thanks.
How much more does corten work out compared to hot rolled? would like to try it sometime.
Cheers
Sean

[aicomp]

Very nice Beefy. What is Corten? Great when you get that first job.

[someguy]

Very attractive screen, thanks for sharing.
We sometimes have issues with inconsistent cuts, on Corten, I think it must be the oxide on the surface, do you ever have problems cutting it?
Thanks.

[larrycameron44]

Very attractive screen, thanks for sharing.
We sometimes have issues with inconsistent cuts, on Corten, I think it must be the oxide on the surface, do you ever have problems cutting it?
Thanks.

I cut some corten the other day for a bamboo screen. Cut great 3mm thick. I belive but not sure that is stands for Corrosion tensile, shotened to cor-ten. Used to make containers for ships, truck decks outdoor sculptures etc.

Larry
NZ

[beefy]

Sean, I was gobsmacked at the low price (same price as the last mild steel sheet I bought a while back ) but then I have no idea how its quality compares to genuine Corten. The guy in the steel suppliers didn't even know calling weathering steel "Corten" is like calling a vacuum cleaner a "Hoover". He'd never even heard the term "weathering steel". Therefore he certainly wouldn't have had any idea what brand of weathering steel it is.

Aicomp, "Corten" is a specific brand of weathering steel. I believe Cort-ten means corrosion & tensile. It has a few goodies mixed with it which makes it a higher tensile strength, and when it goes rusty the surface "seals" and doesn't rust any more. I think shipping containers was/is one of its uses but metal artists use it a lot for rusty art.

Someguy, I think Muzza mentioned about having some problems with some crappy weathering steel from India. He had cut problems and returned all the sheets. I haven't even looked closely at the cuts yet, cut it last night and it's still dark at the moment. Hope the steel I got is not the sheets Murray returned

Keith

[beefy]

Looks like we were posting at the same time Larry

[SeanP]

That's interesting, thanks for the info, I will look into seeing if it's available here.
Cheers
Sean

Sean, I was gobsmacked at the low price (same price as the last mild steel sheet I bought a while back ) but then I have no idea how its quality compares to genuine Corten. The guy in the steel suppliers didn't even know calling weathering steel "Corten" is like calling a vacuum cleaner a "Hoover". He'd never even heard the term "weathering steel". Therefore he certainly wouldn't have had any idea what brand of weathering steel it is.

Aicomp, "Corten" is a specific brand of weathering steel. I believe Cort-ten means corrosion & tensile. It has a few goodies mixed with it which makes it a higher tensile strength, and when it goes rusty the surface "seals" and doesn't rust any more. I think shipping containers was/is one of its uses but metal artists use it a lot for rusty art.

Someguy, I think Muzza mentioned about having some problems with some crappy weathering steel from India. He had cut problems and returned all the sheets. I haven't even looked closely at the cuts yet, cut it last night and it's still dark at the moment. Hope the steel I got is not the sheets Murray returned

Keith

[muzza]

Well done Keith, you have my number if you need any info. The wrong stuff that two suppliers got me had the appearance of cold rolled and a similar feel about it strength wise, ie soft in comparison. I don't think they would have sent it back across the big paddock so you should be right but they may have, they offered it back to me for $30 per sheet. My old supplier got hold of a coil from the US, arrived last month so I ordered 4 tonne, they gave me half which I shipped over and the other half will come in the next shipment in a couple of months. The steel supplier I generally use here has actually sent two guys to me to buy it from me as they can't get it.

This is a link back to the previous thread on Corten http://www.plasmaspider.com/viewtopic.p ... ten#p87039
Murray

[Proballz03]

thanks for posting!

[beefy]

Well done Keith, you have my number if you need any info.

Murray

Thanks very much Murray, appreciated.
I think there was one, maybe two times when I thought of a question to ask you, but I was scared I might be interrupting you. You definitely seem to be busier than me LOL.

When I first saw the ladies existing screen and looked at the cutouts welded on top, I didn't like it because the people that made it had drilled holes in the leaves and welded the leaves to the screen via these holes, then ground the weld flat (ish). It was quite obvious to the eye and spoiled the screen a bit I thought.

So I thought I'll do better than that and not desecrate the leaves in any way, and instead I'll cut the holes in the screen and weld from the back. Ha ha, now I've found out that's a bit harder to do. You have to position the leaf on the front, somehow hold in in position, then go round the back of the plate and weld through the hole in the screen. Easier said than done when you're by yourself. Nobody's at home now so I'm farting about doing this by myself one by one. It would be a lot easier if one person holds the leaf in position while the other welds it on from the back. The other thing is the plate is standing vertical while you're welding, not lying flat which would be easier.

I won't rest until I've figured out a way to do this quick and easy by myself.

Keith.

[muzza]

Nothing's meant to be easy.

When I'm doing them like that Keith, I drill 2 holes and then clamp the leaf on with a spacer of about 2 or 3 mm with a hole either side of the spacer and then plug or rosette weld from the rear. If you weld them on flat up against the other metal, when it rust it grows and tries to push the leaf away, with a little gap the water can run through and any growth through rust doesn't bother it.

This little sample Inukshuk I did might help explain it.
Murray

[beefy]

[quote="muzza"]Nothing's meant to be easy.

When I'm doing them like that Keith, I drill 2 holes and then clamp the leaf on with a spacer of about 2 or 3 mm with a hole either side of the spacer and then plug or rosette weld from the rear. If you weld them on flat up against the other metal, when it rust it grows and tries to push the leaf away, with a little gap the water can run through and any growth through rust doesn't bother it.

This little sample Inukshuk I did might help explain it.
Murray

Too late, they're on.

Ah well, I've gave the customer exactly what they wanted and that's how their existing screen is so I think I'm in the clear, phew. I would have thought that with "corten" steel it shouldn't be an issue because once the surface rust layer has developed, it seals itself against further rusting. I can see normal steel just getting a thicker and thicker layer of rust as time goes by.

That's a great little nugget of information Murray, thanks for that and it's going straight into my screen and layered sign archives.

Keith.

[muzza]

Corten will still rust if it's in contact with timber or soil when it can remain wet or moist so it's not totally impervious to rusting away.
Murray

[aicomp]

Aicomp, "Corten" is a specific brand of weathering steel. I believe Cort-ten means corrosion & tensile. It has a few goodies mixed with it which makes it a higher tensile strength, and when it goes rusty the surface "seals" and doesn't rust any more. I think shipping containers was/is one of its uses but metal artists use it a lot for rusty art.

Thanks Beefy,
I am going to see about getting a sheet to try.
I cut a couple of the leave from your design for my Daughter. They are great.
Thanks,
Mike

[beefy]

Corten will still rust if it's in contact with timber or soil when it can remain wet or moist so it's not totally impervious to rusting away.
Murray

Cheers Murray, never knew that. So much for the "sealed" surface.

I did see a building once and the entire outside was weathering steel (trying not to say "Corten" which is a brand). It actually has some pitting here and there. I wonder if different brands have different corrosion resistant properties.

Don't know what brand mine is but it was cheap. I went to another steel supplier to get some angle iron, and asked them about corten. First thing they said is it's extremely expensive so I didn't ask anymore, but maybe it was higher quality.

Keith.

[james.davis]

Has anyone sealed it for use inside like wall art? What did you use? By the way a sheet of cor-ten 16g 4'x10' here is about $200.(more than double cold roll ) .
Thanks for sharing,
Jim