Inflated Steel

(5/04)

Inflated steel things, having a go at the Elizabeth Brim method.

Here's an interview with Brim herself, talking about the technique.

A flat envelope of steel sheet is welded up:

Heated in the forge:

And inflated with compressed air. This was abut 1 bar.

Obviously, it can be dangerous to put high-pressure air into a thin red-hot steel container. Especially when it's as badly welded as this one was. Please take all the appropriate precautions

The finished result:

And here's a larger cushion done in the same style. This one wouldn't fit in my tiny forge, so it had to be heated with a torch while the rpessure was applied. The decoration was done with a blunt chisel over a rubber sheet before welding up the envelope.