Water Benches: signed, sealed and ready for delivery

My benches were approved and it was time to take them to the Schaumburg sculpture park near Chicago.

Dereck brought out the 23 ton crane truck to load them up.

We put them on a rented 24' flat bed diesel from Penske.

...one in the air, one on the ground and one already on the truck.

Meg is always looking for odd angles to get photos...

After loading the 3 pieces which weighed between 2,000 and 2,800 each, we moved two 5,000 lb. blocks that will likely be my next projects.

We had to stand them upright, while we were at it.

The cats didn't miss a chance for exploring the loaded truck.

limit: one per bench, please.

 

"Water" Functional Sculptures Finished

The last phase of this project was carving in the bubbles and flow lines on the sides.  This took 4 passes -I'd finish, step back and realize that it all has to go deeper.  To make a stone sculpture have visual appeal, it relies on deep dark shadows to contrast and define the forms.  That means... do it again... and again....

This was my "weapon of choice": a Makita 5" grinder with a flush-mounted diamond blade.

I also use a Makita Die Grinder to shape all the fussy details.

When the form is finally right, I switch to a Makita 5" sander for most of the finish work.  I go over everything in 3 passes: a course 36 grit, a medium 80 grit and a fine 120 grit.  I also use a variety of air sanders for the hard to reach areas - particularly a 2" right-angle roloc and tapered cartridge rolls on a spindle.

...and here are the final results - the front of the right hand piece...

...and the back.

The front of the left hand piece...

...and the back.  The next step is approval, delivery and installation.

Here is a walk-around video of the 3 pieces:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgXmPrMJYas