Newest Gong, and you won't believe the trade!

[rlarkin]

So, a contractor friend of mine is packing it up and moving to Oregon.
He wanted one of my gongs, so I made him this one. In turn, he gave me a COMPLETE Victor Journeyman set-up with bottles and a cart. Said he didn't want to lug it around since he never uses it. The rosebud and welding tips have not seen any gas!
Learned something cool on this gong. For the clanger, I uses a 3" square plate, 1/4" thick, with the corners rounded slightly. If it contacts the bell just right, 2 of the corners will contact a split second apart which produces a really different ring.

[strube1369]

Really pretty work. And a good tip on the clanger. Thanks!

[Blacksmith]

Very nice work! If you don't mind sharing, what is the finish? I paint mine, but I like the looks of that one.

[rlarkin]

To finish, I start with paint stripper to get as much off as I can.
I have a pair of single roller roller stands that I clamp together to place the rollers about 3 inches apart, parallel to each other so I can lay the bottle on them and spin it.
Starting with a 36 grit flap wheel I take the rest of the paint, metal texture, and all the stamped numpers off. Then switch to a 120 grit wheel to clean it up.
Lastly, I use a 36 grit disc on the die grinder and run continuous passes from the base of the neck to the bottom, is as straight a line as I can around the entire bottle.
The color is just heat applied with a #1 welding tip. I blow air up the inside to help slow down the running of the colors for better control.
Then I apply 3 or 4 coats of clear.
The effects of light on the sanding marks is really cool. Almost like movement when you walk around it.
The first time I attacked this one with the heat, I didn't like the way it was coming out, so I used the die grinder and ERRASED the color and started over.

I saw the guy that got this one yesturday and he said the first night he had it hung, the wind came up about 2:00am and woke him. He had to go outside and take it down so he get back to sleep!

[mnt]

Gong looks great. Clanger idea is a good tip, but that trade is unbelievable. Nice score.