Army Art From Afghanistan Take Two

During my down time between missions in Afghanistan I figured out how to use a plasma cutter and a welder.  So instead of watching movies I started using scrap metal to make things.  This piece is the EOD crab,(The badge awarded to Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians once qualified).  One of the guys asked me if I could make it so it could be auctioned off to raise money for the EOD memorial.  I was happy to do it because this auction raises the money to memorialize my brothers in arms that have passed in combat from all the services. 

To make this stuff you need:
1. a plasma cutter
2. hand grinder and drill
3. welder and some nuts and bolts

Step one:  find some steel for at least the top layer.  (My piece is a mixture of steel and aluminum)  I can't weld aluminum so I make the peices that hold it together out of steel so I can weld bolts to them.  In this case the star and the larger ring have the bolts on them.  They run through the piece and hold everything together with washers and nuts.

Step two:  Use soap stone to draw what you want to cut.

Step three: Cut out the pieces.  (As you can see I did this with the fin)

Step four: Clean the pieces up with the hand grinder and drill your holes to put your bolts through.

Step five: Pant if desired, add clear coat or oil to protect the steel from rust and put it all together.

Make sure you ware a mask and the proper eye protection when using the Plasma cutter, Welder, and Grinder!
 

My piece ended up having six layers of steel/aluminum and is made out of everything from steel from damaged U.S. army vehicles to former Russian tanks.   The bomb is made from the tail fin off of a real bomb.   It’s about 30’X24’ inches,  took about 18 hours to make and weighed about 35lbs. when it was done.  I am happy to say it raised $2100 for the cause!  I plan on trying to make one every year now, as long as I can.