Family Tree

[jimjimmac]

I had a request to come up with a family tree of some sort to be used as a Mothers Day gift. I used one of Jason's trees (Cascade Metal Design) and put this together. The cutting depicts mom and dad 's tree sprouting roots to new, little trees, one for each of the kids, Cole, Kali, and Landon. It is 14" x 24" on 16 ga. I have to get better at picture taking

[larrycameron44]

Just beautiful jimjimmac

[Arc Innovations]

Thats really cool! Did you just use a copper patina for the trees?

[steelfx]

Beautiful Coloration! Very Nice Work!

Bill

[jimjimmac]

Thanks for the encouraging comments. As I said in my initial post, I wish I was better at taking pictures or had a better camera. The picture does not do justice to the actual color tones through the clear powder coat. Even though my name is not Schmidt, I told my wife that it was so nice that maybe we should keep it for ourselves, but 80 bucks is 80 bucks.

The initial application was the copper, then oversprayed with the torch effect, then neutralized. Bill at SteelFX sells the chemicals. Here is how I do it. The most important thing with applying the chem is timing. Be fast with the copper, I mean real fast on larger applications. If you can't cover the whole thing in about 3-5 seconds or less and then rinse it, you might lose the nice copper tone and drift into a pinkish color. Shake it after rinsing, but leave it wet, and with the torch chem, hit an area that you want with a shot of spray and watch it start turning a burgandy color. Double hit specific areas that you want to transform into the blueish colors. If you let it go too long, it will turn a greyish blue/black. When you get the colors you want, rinse it again. The more you use this technique the better you will get. Also, by using spray bottles to apply the solutions, there is always overspray, like on the frame around the whole thing. I got the 2 inch sanding disk out and re-ground the frame to get it back to bare metal. Then powder coated it clear.

This is an easy cutting to modify with different names for those who are interested. I will share the DXF, but like I stated earlier, I used one of Jason's trees that were in one of his downloads, so I don't know if I can legally post it.

What say you, Jason? Bill, expect an email.

Jim

[steelfx]

Jim...I am impressed! Your explanation of timing & speed with the Copper is crucial. That's why I use
a pump-sprayer for the Copper & have my water supply (garden nozzle) in the other hand. The other chemicals
aren't so fussy as far as speed goes, but the copper is really instant.

And, you don't want to re-coat or re-spray the copper in the same area, either. Once the Copper hits the surface of the polished steel, you're done! Hit it with the water!

Again, Nice Work!

Bill