I start by removing the handles from the items I'm going to weld. This involves removing screws and/or grinding out cross pins. I then give them a general cleaning, mainly to remove dirt and loose rust scale. On occasion, I have sand blasted them clean, but usually that's not necessary. I also grind off rust or paint from the areas I need to weld. This gives a good clean surface that's necessary for a quality weld.

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My home made re-bar bender makes quick work of all the bends on the legs. I have a few stops set on the handle of the bender, so I adjust the re-bar to the right length and bend away.

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Next, I weld the feet to the legs, and then the legs to the body. This gives me a good "base" to then try to incorporate other items as creatively as I can. Sometimes they will get a longer neck, and sometimes extra "feathers" or facial features.

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If I need to make intricate cutouts in the steel, sometimes I'll use the plasma cutter.

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After everything is welded, I run a wire brush over all of the welds to remove any loose particles. I then paint the bird completely white with Rustoleum™ paint. This makes the final paint colors really stand out, and gives an extra layer of protection to prevent them from rusting. After living outside in the sun and rain, they will eventually need to be repainted. I usually repaint mine about every 5 years.

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Finally, I paint the body, legs and beak. After a few hours when the paint has dried, I come back and paint on the highlights to simulate feathers on the body, stripes on the beak, or even polka-dots! I like to let them stand in the sun for several days to let the paint harden up. Rustoleum™ tends to require a long time to cure, but I've found it lasts longer than many other brands of spray paint.

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