Nothing should only have one life. When something breaks or gets worn out, I always drag it out to my shop, take it apart, and then start thinking about what else those parts could be. In the case of this flower, I had a nifty little wine bottle opener that decided it was no longer interested in opening wine bottles. After I separated out all of the plastic components, I started holding the remaining aluminum parts together in different ways until a familiar shape came into focus. I used an aluminum manifold from a defunct pressure washer as the base, and welded on a gear housing from failed KitchenAid mixer. I then used a pair of engine ignitors from some small aircraft to suspend a green glass candle holder. A little metallic burgundy paint calls back to all the wines that were opened in it’s past life, and this flower is ready for round two.
9 Bar Welding 