You really have to admire the creative craftsmanship that can transform the contents of a typical hot rod garage dust pan into a T-Bucket sculpture worthy of display on either your mantel at home or desk at work.
This one-of-a-kind T-Bucket Scrap Metal Hot Rod Sculpture was built from nuts, bolts, washers, sheet metal, and tubing that Detroit-area metal sculptor Josh Welton TIG welded together and clear coated to prevent oxidation.
As much as Chester Greenhalgh is the master of building a full-size T-Bucket on a budget, artisan Josh Welton of Brown Dog Welding is the metal fabricating maestro of miniature hot rod sculpture.
To give you an idea of the welding skills Josh has developed since striking his first arc in 2002 as a millwright apprentice for Chrysler, this tiny T-Bucket is 9″ long, 3 3/4″ wide, and 2 7/8″ tall.
Josh was very fortunate to be in a situation where he could learn from Journeymen who had decades of experience at Chrysler in all sorts of welding, and who were more than willing to share their knowledge with him. From TIG welding tool steels to stick welding in structural applications and using a MIG welder for general fabrication, not to mention everything in between, he’s been able to develop and hone his skills in a variety of processes and settings. Josh currently holds a variety of TIG and stick welding certifications, and tests for additional qualifications routinely.
Brown Dog Welding is a one man welding and fabrication shop located just north of Detroit in Mt. Clemens, Michigan. Currently specializing in unique and customized home furnishings, accessories, and sculptures, Josh works with aluminum, stainless, or mild steel in a variety of projects requiring GTAW, SMAW, or GMAW.
The name for Josh’s business comes from combining two of his loves: welding and his dog Woodson (a name I personally think is pretty cool). Josh and his wife, Darla, rescued Woodson from a no kill shelter. As you may know, with the economic devastation suffered by the Detroit area the past few years the homeless animal situation there has reached epidemic proportions. In light of that fact, at least 10% of Brown Dog Welding’s profits are split between Home Fur-Ever, where he found Woodson, and LifeBUILDERS, a non-profit organization in Detroit.
Coincidentally, I became aware of Josh and his Brown Dog Welding tweets on Twitter. You can follow them by clicking here>. And, if you’re a Twitter fan and want to keep up on T-Bucket tweets, you can follow TBucketPlans.com by clicking here>.
Josh does a wide variety of commissioned welded sculptures, ranging from custom belt buckles starting at $45, to motorcycle sculptures from $150 and you can have your hot rod immortalized in a custom metal sculpture from $325. You can see more examples at his Custom Work page.
If you’re interested in the pictured T-Bucket Scrap Metal Hot Rod Sculpture, it’s available for only $205 — worth the price as conversation starter material alone.
TBucketPlans.com originated in 2005 as a personal blog extolling the virtues of T-Buckets. In 2009 I blogged about Chester Greenhalgh, the "how to" genius who wrote the legendary, out-of-print “How to Build a T-Bucket Roadster for Under $3000”. That led to a friendship with Chester and our partnership in marketing the updated eBook version of his T-Bucket building bible. The T-Bucket fire burns stronger and stronger.
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Hi,
I am a member of a Swedish local “cruiser” organisation. We try to promote interest in vintage american cars.
I would like to use some of your pictures of the bucket seat metal sculpture to show an example of what art work using scrap can look like.
It might be posted on the internet
Is that ok by you?
lars-erik.lindstrom@duroc.com
http://www.raggarna.se
// Lars-Erik
Thanks for your interest and for asking, Lars-Erik.
As long as you note that Josh Welton of Brown Dog Welding is the sculptor it is alright to use the pictures.
Hi,
I am a member of a Swedish local “cruiser” organisation. We try to promote interest in vintage american cars.
I would like to use some of your pictures of the bucket seat metal sculpture to show an example of what art work using scrap can look like.
It might be posted on the internet
Is that ok by you?
lars-erik.lindstrom@duroc.com
http://www.raggarna.se
// Lars-Erik