Welding 101

Or more appropriately, welding for dummies.  There is something magical about taking raw materials like sheetmetal, rebar, and bolts (pictured)

and turning them into garden art.  Luckily, I know a fearless metal artist.  I say fearless because, would you let me weld in your garage, when I have had no prior experience?  I think I only blinded her once or twice (starting my weld without warning her to put her helmet down).  We assembled my art project about halfway, so this is just part one.  Here is the one of the beasts I worked with:

And here is the other:

I think she said the cutting torch was oxy-acetylene (the one with the green tank).  How is that for a vocab word?

I conceived this big idea after learning of a gardener that had used rebar rammed into the ground part-way, sort of like a jail, to keep the moose out.  Additionally, I saw on a Master Gardener tour last year that some practical soul was using cheap plastic pinwheels to frighten moose off with some success.  Very cheerful looking, too.  Voila, rebar and sheetmetal pinwheels!  A couple of people stopped by the garage and checked things out.  There was some amused skepticism about how the durn things would look in the garden.  "At least it's not a gnome or something like that," said my welding guru.  Well spoken.

Did I mention I got to wear a leather button up shrug?    

Next time maybe she'll let me wear the leather apron/chap combo...stay tuned for part 2.