Weld a Spoon Flower!

Create an attractive trash-to-treasure flower to put in your flower bed or urban garden! This is a neat little metal sculpture project that you can complete in just a few hours, but will add some permanent shine wherever you plant it!

Credit for this idea goes to an unknown metal artist I saw at the 2009 Rochester Lilac Festival. Drop by next year and see if you can find him.

http://www.lilacfestival.com/

And if you don't mind, please rate this Instructable and leave me some critical feedback!

Step 1 What You'll Need

Materials
1.Silverware- For this flower, you'll need 8 large soup spoons, and 2 forks. It's easy to pick up used silverware at minimal cost at garage sales, commission shops or auctions. The thicker and heavier, the better. Just make sure your flatware is stainless steel, and not your mom's long lost heirloom silver collection. Silver is worth far more in whole form, and it won't weld properly anyways!

2. Ladle Scoop- You'll need one stainless ladle scoop, either from a broken ladle, or perhaps liberated from a used utensil. A similarly sized stainless steel cup or bowl could work as well.

2. Metal Rod- Any sort of steel scrap you have laying around will work- or you can buy 1/2" steel re-bar at most hardware stores.

My costs for this project have hovered around $3 for the silverware and steel rod.

Tools

1. Welder- I use a home-built microwave in the true DIY spirit, but MIG or TIG would be much more precise. The design of the flower could be adapted to use a spot welder too. By the way, this project is a great excuse to build a welder! See the links below.

2. Weld Rods- I cannot justify the cost of stainless weld rods on a project that should only cost
$3-5, so I used some 3/32" 6013 mild steel weld rods I had lying around. They do not do a beautiful job, but most of the welds are hidden. I would recommend using a similar cheap, mild steel weld rod for cost reasons, but you can use whatever you want!

3. Clamps- At minimum, you'll need a clamp or two to hold things in place while you weld. Some vie-grip clamps would be ideal. As you'll see, I found it easier to use some large steel pieces to hold the spoons in place. Bottom line, use what you've got.

4. Hacksaw- to cut the silverware.

DIY Welders
http://www.instructables.com/id/Weld/
http://www.instructables.com/id/SolarWelder/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Microwave-Transformer-Homemade-Welder/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-Spot-Welder/

Comments

[robsmtbike]

I just made one of these.. i had problems welding the spoons together and only ended up with 4 petals. I used the handles from the spoons as the leaves.. Thanks for the idea..

[WhyHello]

cool :3
clever gift too :)

[cdawisconsin]

Just added this project to my favorites. Learning to weld is on my "LIST"

[gracediyer]

This makes me want to learn how to weld.

[hippiecoffee]

so I tried the lowest setting on my wire feed welder and just a tack weld and keep melting my spoons. any Ideas I also tried JB weld and came apart in the heat

[redhoss]

Dude, I made one of these years ago except I flattened out my spoons. I also made a humming bird,butterfly and a stork (scissors for the beak).

[bazookaromz]

 so beautiful! great job :)

[got2bskilled]

I would love to see one that spins in the wind! Very NICE! I wish I could weld~

[spylock]

Youre right,one could put a slight angle on the spoons and put a bolt through the middle and have spinning spoons.

[guitarman63mm]

Bravo, I may just make this tomorrow with another 'layer' of spoons!

[porcupinemamma]

well done!! check out this cool site

http://my.opera.com/dantesoft/albums/showpic.dml?album=43454&picture=507001

[LymanB]

Great project! I'd love to see this as a wind-driven decoration.

[l8nite]

really neat project but what caught my eye was the welder, can you do an instruct on it or at least some photos and explanations?

[Germy]

Nice project and great instructable. Instead of forks for leaves, you could try curling and welding on the other half of a few of the spoons.

[thepelton]

Just make sure it doesn't collect water that could serve as a hatching place for mosquitoes.

[Robocody]

Cool...

[ML2009]

Nice looking project but you may want to consider different materials or a different method of attachment. Welding stainless steel produces hexavalent chromium vapors. Even if you're welding outside, you'll be breathing in hexavalent chromium and getting covered in it.

See Wikepedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexavalent_chromium and read the section on Toxicity.

[blrplt1]

While hexavalent chromium is a danger while welding stainless, your exposure welding a couple of these would be miniscule- assuming proper ventilation. Should you decide to go into the "flatware-flower" industry on your own, that's a different story. That said, good point, and a mask or basic respirator would be a good equipment choice for this project.

Here's an interesting bit on OSHA limits and protection methods for higher volume industry:

http://www.ewi.org/pdf/company/news/Hexavalent%20Fumes.pdf

[valhallas_end]

Was that the booth with the eagle made of silverware, and the dragonflies and such with cheese grater wings? I always thought that guy had some impressive talent - I could barely lift one of his statues a few years back - a full-sized heron of all kinds of cutlery. I've wanted to play around with this stuff for years, but have yet to get a welding rig...no room to work. Nice 'ible though.

[blrplt1]

Could be, but I didn't see anything other than variations on this flower. Might be someone else. You've given me some ideas though!

[Calorie]

That came out looking nice. Well done.

[wgrazier]

Wow! I love this project. I haven't welded since highschool and I probably won't do this but it looks gorgeous!!!