Jeremy “Jay” Lockett of Kansas City, Missouri will be the first person to tell you that everything he did in his career related to welding was abnormal.
This 29-year-old young man did not study welding theory and terminology carefully and methodically, and then applied it in the safe range of classrooms and welding laboratories. Instead, he plunged into gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) or argon arc welding. weld. He never looked back.
Today, the owner of the fab has entered the world of metal art by installing his first public art sculpture, opening the door to a new world.
“I did all the difficult things first. I first started with TIG, which is an art form. It is very precise. You must have stable hands and good hand-eye coordination,” Lockett explained.
Since then, he has been exposed to gas metal arc welding (GMAW), which at first seemed much simpler than TIG, until he started experimenting with different welding directions and parameters. Then came shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), which helped him start his mobile welding business. Lockett obtained structural 4G certification, which comes in handy in construction sites and various other jobs.
“I persevere and continue to become better and more skilled. News about what I can do begins to spread, and people are starting to find me to work for them. I have reached the point where I decide to start my own business.”
Lockett opened Jay Fabwerks LLC in Kansas City in 2015, where he specializes in TIG welding aluminum, mainly for automotive applications such as intercoolers, turbine kits and special exhaust devices. He also prides himself on being able to adapt to special projects and materials (such as titanium).
“At the time I was working in a company that made very beautiful showers and bathtubs for dogs, so we used a lot of stainless steel and brushed stainless steel. I saw a bunch of scrap parts on this machine, and I was born to use these scraps to make metal flowers. Thoughts.
Then he used TIG to weld the rest of the rose. He used silicon bronze on the outside of the rose and polished it to rose gold.
I was in love at the time, so I made a metal rose for her. The relationship did not last, but when I posted a photo of this flower on Facebook, many people reached out to me for one,” Lockett said.
He started to make metal roses more often, and then figured out a way to make more roses and add color. Today, he uses mild steel, stainless steel and titanium to make roses.
Lockett was always looking for challenges, so the smaller metal flowers aroused his interest in building larger-scale flowers. “I want to build something so that my daughter and her future children can go and see, knowing that it was made by Dad or Grandpa. I want something they can see and connect with our family.”
Lockett built the rose entirely out of mild steel, and the base is two pieces of 1/8 inch. The mild steel is cut to 5 feet in diameter. World. Then he obtained a flat steel 12 inches wide and 1/4 inch thick and rolled it into a length of 5 feet. The circle on the base of the sculpture. Lockett uses MIG to weld the base into which the rose stem slides. He welded ¼ inch. The angle iron forms a triangle to support the rod.
Lockett then TIG welded the rest of the rose. He used silicon bronze on the outside of the rose and polished it to rose gold.
“Once I sealed the cup, I welded it all together and filled [the base] with concrete. If my calculations are correct, it weighs between 6,800 and 7,600 pounds. Once the concrete has solidified. I have a look It looks like a big hockey puck.”
After completing the base, he began to build and assemble the rose itself. He used Sch. The stem is made of 40 carbon steel pipe, with bevel angle, and TIG welding the root. Then he added a 7018 SMAW hot weld bead, smoothed it, and then used TIG to weld silicon bronze on all stem joints to make the structure reasonable but beautiful.
“The leaves of a rose are 4 feet long. A sheet of 4 feet, 1/8 inch thick is rolled on a huge roller to obtain the same curvature as a miniature rose. Each sheet of paper may weigh about 100 pounds,” Lockett explained .
The finished product, named Silica Rose, is now part of the sculpture trail in the center of Lee’s Summit, south of Kansas City. This won’t be Lockett’s last large-scale metal art sculpture-this experience has inspired new ideas for future projects.
“Looking forward, I really want to try to incorporate technology into sculptures so that they are useful in addition to being good-looking. I want to try to make something with wireless charging docks or Wi-Fi hotspots that can enhance the signal for low-income communities . Or, it may be as simple as a sculpture that can be used as a wireless charging station for airport equipment.”
Amanda Carlson was appointed as the editor of “Practical Welding Today” in January 2017. She is responsible for coordinating and writing or editing all editorial content of the magazine. Before joining Practical Welding Today, Amanda served as a news editor for two years, coordinating and editing multiple publications and all product and industry news on thefabricator.com.
Carlson graduated from Midwest State University in Wichita Falls, Texas with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication with a minor in journalism.
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Post time: Jul-07-2021