Leg making

[Orygoner]

I've done several chickadees lately. In the case of the 3 adults, I tried something different with the legs/toes on each bird...also the mounts. None of it is very fancy. I'm still trying to figure out and practice on some pretty basic techniques.

Here's a shot of my Chickadee legs in skeletal form. I use brass rod for legs and toes. The toes I did individually and then soldered them to the leg. In my experience this soldered leg/toes was much easier to fit to my mount than when I used cast pewter.



To cover the legs/toes, I used the blue/yellow ribbon epoxy.



I used a second type of 2-part epoxy putty for the "drumsticks" at the juncture of the legs and body. This is the "Magic Carve" epoxy from Sugar Pine Carvers. After it cured I textured it and then painted the whole legs, finished a couple touch up spots and mounted the bird. This is the first time I've used a base other than a natural piece of wood. The walnut makes for a more polished mount I think.



And there you have it. Smile

[Iowa Carver]

Randy that is really nice carving and painting. Photography is excellent as well.

Corey

[mark yundt]

The way you are making the legs is the most versatile way to do them I think. This technique allows you to have the feet in most any pose you choose,,that's why I like it so much. It can be tricky at times to keep each toe in place as you solder,,but I have used T-50 staples to hold them in place ( on a mock up base) as I solder them together.
This technique also allows the feet to keep a better scale than most others. One thing I do though is add a much smaller rod along the upper part of the leg where there are two bones found. One rod soldered to a larger rod duplicates this detail nicely and is blended easily with just a touch of filler or even thick primer or filler such as automotive spot filler which is really just very thick priming paint.
You did an excellent job on this piece.

[markken5889]

Hey Randy - great job! thanks so much for sharing the process and the photos!

Mark

[Ron T]

Randy,

You make it sound so easy, but I know the whole process is quite intricate. The brass feet look great and since the pictures are enlarged, I can imagine the patience it took to form them, not to mention the finishing.

Wonderful job.

[torpidhummer]

Randy, you did a great job on your bird's feet and legs,as well on the carving of the bird. I have a question,what is the difference in using brass rods and copper wire as rods soldering? Reason I ask is that I have been having trouble soldering the feet, the solder just slides off the copper wire. Knowing nothing about soldering, I also ask is there a specific soldering wire you use for copper and brass. I also want to thank Mark for his idea of how he holds the feet in place with staples while soldering.
Thanks,
Oscar

[mark yundt]

It wasn't addressed to me,,but you need to flux the wire first,,tinning also helps. But if the solder is just running off and beading up it's dirt and lack of flux. Flux is actually an acid so use a brush to apply it. Also a light sanding of the wire to rough it up first works well too. Same process as soldering pipes for plumbing,,similar type of copper as well as the same principles.

[Orygoner]

I suspect Mark gave you a more informative reply than mine will be. I used a thin silver solder with the flux built into it. It took to the brass very well. You don't need the normal, thicker diameter solder. I have some of that to use in repair of copper tubing in our plumbing, but since I had the brass rods (and no copper wire/rods) I just purchased the silver solder.

I also used a small butane torch with a soldering tip. That small point combined with the small dia silver solder and built in flux made it pretty easy to hit the right spot with a small dot of solder.

Also, while I didn't show the process of attaching the toes I might make a comment or two. I used the process layed out in Lori Corbett's book, although I modified it. I suspect there are many ways to make legs and toes. I took a block of waste aspen wood and drilled 5 holes for each leg (4 toes and a leg). I cut the leg wire to the right length and fitted them on the bird and to the mounting block (the weathered "post" the bird is standing on).

I labeled each toe and the leg holes...also drew a little foot with all the toes numbered. Need to keep track since they are different lengths. As I finished a toe, I placed it in the correct hole.

When I got the toes all ready, I just pushed them into the wood so that the end to be attached was flush up against the leg (which was sticking down into it's own hole in the aspen block). I started to use the staple method but just couldn't get it to work for me. By holding the toe with some needle nose pliers and pushing down on the pointy end I could get the toe to stick pretty firmly. When all were in place I just dropped the solder drop on the jct of toes and legs and had a done deal.

Maybe I can take a pic if the narrative is not too clear.

[torpidhummer]

Randy and Mark, thanks a lot for the input on soldering birds feet and legs, I just got back from Lowes I purchased more copper wire and soldering flux.
Oscar