I asked Sellers how he made such organic looking welds. This is what he said...

We all discovered Sellers is one of the hottest welders out there recently. He also turns out to be one hell of a good guy. Rather than hoard the information about how he creates such beautiful art/welds, he asked me to share with the HAMB.
I asked him how he made his welds so smooth, how he made them look like they were grown that way instead of cobbled together, and this is what he said. Damn. Thanks agin Seller!



Thanks bro.. 1st its key fit,, 2nd a fusion weld you could sday,, then i'll build the weld ,, lets just say ,, I use the welder like filling it with bondo.. 3rd make sure you fill enough weld,, sometimes maybe alittle too much.. I'll get back to this.. then I'll well on tubing.. I'll use a cut off wheel.. using the edge of the wheel ,, up and down on the weld not across.. do this to the whole weld job..But only NOTE !!! the weld,, very softly ,, not full blast on the air.. it takes awhile.. don't run off the weld this is where you start the curve where the 2 joints meet.. then go in with a 2" roll lock disc on a 90 degree air grinder.. NOTE don't go full blast very softly.. massage it.. TRICK though,, on the rubber pad,, on the grinder,, I grind off the rubber pad I'll take off about a half inch all the way around.. This allows the disc to curve flow,, nothing hard on the disc when grinding I just use the tip of the disc,, jus the edge.. the disc only last a few secs.. cause the edge of the disc the strength of the disc will let go,, become flapy no good.. you'll go through a chit load,, I only use 80 grit and up,, anything less harsher you could say does more damage then good.. never 36,, or up always start with 80 grit.. Then when things are looking smooth.. By using the edge of the disc it will form the the design,, or should I say the way you 1st ground the weld with the cut off well,, you already started a curve where the 2 tubes join.. When starting to take shape.. I'll go back and grab all the worn 2" disc.. then I'll cut the edge of them,, maybe 6 points cut out pies ,, make a little star.. heres the trick.. those tips,, they'll go in and knock down all the high spots and form the the shape, this is where you can be aggressive,, flowing back and forth across the weld.. Then once coming together.. Now back to doing a full weld ,, like bondo.. its better to add more weld than not enough,, why if you have alow spot or little craters that weren't filled it's hard to go in and fill after,, this is where your skill has to be on.. yer talking,little specs that need to be filled,, or low spots.. then you must buzz off just that little weld,, sometimes you'll create more damage than what was there.. I hate when i see those little craters and when chroming.. they'll all show up.. Tight area's I do alote of hand filling,, small files big ,, different shaped files.. When ever I see used ones I'll grab them.. you can get a super rad set off the snap on truck.. they Rule.. When all done ,, I'll go back through with a D.A sander,, being a little more aggressive. This flows alote,, the D.A pad is soft and counters it all.. once it looks good.. I'll wet it,, W.D/ 40 I use light , I watch the way the light shines and creates a bright line,, if the line squiggle's ,, Hmm somethings wrong.. I use this technique, on all my sheet metal work.. Think about it.. if the light creates a squiggle line theres a low,, or a ripple ,, or the flow isn't there continuously, you know what i mean.. the light ,, and lines will never lie.. Soo once D.A ed is done.. I'll go back through all the welds with a 2" Scotch Brit pad on a 90 degree wheel doing a x pattern or just flow across all the tubing,, remember when taking material off the weld,, and only the weld you have to flow the 2 pieces of metal together,, you don't want to stay in one place,, this you want to do fast,, but not to fast,, again massaging the area.. i use Brown Scotch Brit disc's little harsh,, this will polish the weld the 2 tubes to Chrome, again,, on and off the air,, flow it,, you see it all come to shape,, once done ,, i'll go back through and polish by hand,, All those used pieces of D.A paper that were 80 grit or now maybe around 90, or a 100 ,,Sand by hand.. Final finish Red Scotch Brit pad by hand,, though this time,, using W.D 40.. Wipe clean.. POOO DIZ OWE!. I hope this helps you guys,, again a cheap ASS!,, Home Depot 90 Degree grinder,, a small palm sander to get into tight places.. some small files,, sand paper,,2" Scotch Brit discs for the 90 Degree grinder..and 2" 80 grit disc's W.D/40 and thats pretty much it.. Cutting and fitting the tubing a whole other story,, but again its easy,,,I'll show pics of a little jig I fab to holds the pipe in place,, simply little thing,, it will allow you to rotate up/down side to side ,, kinda like a spherical ball going out of control, It worked well on Geoff's TRJ Roadster.. I 'll tell more later.. but just ask.. I don't know it all I jus know what works best for me.. seems to work.. Thanks again for the ?'s ~S

 

Wow.

 

cool info on the art of how to do weld molding. that takes a lot of time and attention to detail. obviously steve is a ruler in that.

thanks for posting, and good of sellers to share.

-scott noteboom

 

Steves work is something else. It funny I actually do a lot of the things he talked about but never quite the same or in the same order.
He did leave out one huge thing, PATIENCE! Mine usually wears out pretty fast like I have A.D.D. or something.
Sellers is the read deal on the talent.

 

Post some example pics for folks. AWESOME!!

 

Gigantor, thanks. Do you have any pics you can post?

 

Got any pictures of the art work?

 

I don't have any new pics other than what was previously posted. Here is the original thread with a link to Steve's myspace page.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=164595
If you missed this, you will not believe the level of attention and patience.
Feast your eyes, gentlemen.

 

some amazing work there

 

What's a POOO DIZ OWE!

Are they expensive?

 

His explanation sounds like a recipe for Jack Daniels or something... Awesome!

BYC

 

Pictures you want to see??? Go here!!! WOW!

http://www.myspace.com/sellersequipped

 

Oh yeah...Sellers...now I remember this guy. Reminds me of a friend of mine. He's been a welder for a gazillion years but on his business cards it has his name and Metal Artist under it. That's the truth too. More than just a welder....an artist.

 

Tell me ho to post pics and I will ,, I couldnt figure it out.. I have a chit load..

 

Tell me how to post pics and I will ,, I couldnt figure it out.. I have a chit load..

 

Noo means like Booo Dow!.. you know WAA LA!.. there you go.. Sorry me E-side lingo,, were I was raised..

 

hope they stick this thread in "TECH" files... for future references.

 

Tell me how to post pics.. Someone asked about dimplying holes, view pics of the Escalad radiator side panels,, you'll see the lower hose,, then the 2 ac lines, They do sell dies,m though i don't use them,, there kinda $$$$$$$ .. Those holes were drilled out,, then i used ,,there sleeves for valve's from a valve grinding machine.. just a peice of tubing with a flare on one end,, slide it through the hole,, then heat the metal and tap to the flare,, if you don't have torchs MAP gas works good,, Then smaller or what ever size hole,, if you have lathe,, just turn down some material witrh a flare that rolls to a 90 degree. slide it in,, heat tap the metal and stretch it,, yer done.. sometimes the metal will thin out on the back side, may move thicker to one side than the other,, yer turning the metal in ot liquid, soo sometimes it will build in other places, file the back side smooth. very simply.. **** If you note the Buick Dash with the A.C/ heater vent,, its one pic of it,, that hole was drilled the size of a penny,, again .. Heat and move the metal though that was done with a flat nose hammer, ti li opened it up 2" agin ,, the metal will thin out,, when stretching large holes,, again yes it is all about patients ,, maybe I got this from sitting fer hrs building lego's, and models as a kid.. Remember use what you got laying around,, or just think,, vision what it would look like the figure what you could shape over it.... One more thing about the radiator panel,, not the edgeing closet to the radiator or any of the tine work on the Escalad,, there is no sharp edges they all have a 1/4 inch rolled edge,, this is achieved again by adding a extra 1/4 inch from yer template, then Vice grips wit ha polished edge, piloish off the texture, then set the tension so they don't lock down on yer metal, and leave a deep kink,, again, it might take a few passes to bend a 90 degree.. All my tin work has rolled edges,, all panels are punched and plug welded,,, this giving that factory look ,, where yo''l see a edge,, meaning the thickness of the metal, By me telling all guys this,, I better see some pics of yer guys work, or pics saying i tried it and this is what i did,, I need someone to look up to you know ...

 

Someone's got to let him know how to post pics! I can hardly waity to see more of his work. Absolutely stunning!

 

That is funny ass shit.

You do damn good work Sellers, gives us average Joes something to strive for. I drooled over those headers for 10 minutes straight....

 

The picts gotta be less than 80K in size...when you post - got to manage attachements then browse for the picts and select, then upload. A quicker way would be to go to photobucket.com and upload all your picts there, then cut and paste the link...

If you want, send 'em to me at ron@burncoUSA.com and I'll post 'em for ya...

BTW- fan-fuckin-tastic work!

 

I fergot to add this,, Notching tubing,, I dont use that joint jigger chit,, one cut thats it,, you it too short yer F!@!@#$ed,, I'll allways leave a " or a 1/2 inch of material,, then grind to it,, I use a cheap oll belt sander,, modified the end of it,, machined down diferrent O'D's of tubing, (outer Dia),, like these headers were alitle over 2" on the main pipe,, I'll use the end of the belt sander to grind down the tubing, the nwhen closing the gabs tight , I'll use again 90 degree 2" disc 80 grit,, slowly massage it,, low rpms,, now yer on a edge,, 16 gage metal,, press to hard you'll explode disc.. and da chit goes everywhere,,

 

sellers

 

Whooops That is a real talent you have. Your going to have a lot of man crushes coming your way.

 

heres how you post a picture



if you choose the little picture icon, you will get a popup, asking for a weblink, if you have your pictures stored somewhere else, like photobucket for example(which you used on myspace) just put the full address in there and click ok.

If you go to manage attachments it will make a different popup which will have 5 lines for adding files from your computer, these have a limit of 120kb in filesize, all you have to do is click browse, find them on your machine, click ok and upload.

thanks for the tips on the metalwork

 

If you have a tig welder,, this will be a lote easier ,, though I use to do this with mig welder.. need more info on how,, technique to welding, the tubing,, i'll post something later

K here it is..

1st pic

See the weld.. you use the tip/edge of the 2" disc,, remember,, the rubber pad take off about a 1/2 inch.. this will allow the disc to flow with the radius,, again the disc will burn up fast.. Knock down the height of the weld,, just the weld only. Dont full blast the air,, massage it. slow!.. when you get it close to the 2 surface's then you start moving onto each piece of tubing you can be alittle more aggressive.. by "X" ing the sanding pattern and overlapping

3rd..

All those used disc,, cut them into stars maybe 6 points,, this will allow you to really polish and blend all the metal around the radius of the tubing,, you must keep a eye on whats going on.. and where yer removing material, The tubing is thin,, chance you can make it week,, cause fer cracks..

4th

Tubing fully polished,, then go over it with the Scotch Brit disc, when doing this you can really see yer deep scratches in the metal..

5th

you'll see all the little imperfections or pits,, this is where you go back and make the smallest little tack that you can,, now heres the hard part,, blending that lill tack is a bitch..to polish with out leaving a low spot..

6th

Shows it sanded with a D.A sander small one, the smalliest one you can find,, use 80 grit paper.. or greater..

7th

Finish off by hand using 120, or greater,, note if you want a really SiCk!!! look polish with a Red Scotch Brit pad with WD/40 when sanding..

I hope this helps,, you guys,, I';ll try to post more pics,, and how to fit 3 pieces together very simply.. Now i want to see yer GuZ weRk!

 

AWESOME! Great tips here! The modifications to the used pads is a fantastic idea! Never thought of doing that. Very cool...

 

I feel so inadequate, now. Damn, he's good.

 

BTTT

your work is amazing, both with the metal, as with the 'vision', a rare talent...

Cheers,

Drewfus

 

Sellers...good shit man..
I've worked in a few prototype shops thoughout detroit...meet some good metal finish guys, learned a lot from them. They always liked me cause i had the good welding tricks that i picked up from one of my professors. Are you self taught, or did you pick up some of your blending skills from someone else? If your self taught....holy shit, you've got some patience man...I can metal finish, but i personally dont take the time to do it on my own stuff.
Dont think i've ever seen anything quite like those headers though...a shitload of time there bro...
Keep up the outstanding work