The Birth of a Missing Link Bicycle Chain Creature
I’ve been preparing for this year’s Bazaar Bizarre, and thought I would document the birth of a missing link creature. Missing Links are fantastic creatures made from bicycle chain, welded stiff with pieces of stainless steel bicycle spoke. Aside from the polyurethane coating to prevent rust and to add shine, the animal is made up entirely of reused material. Bicycle chain is an interesting medium: it is limited in it’s pose-ablility, yet it is a simple building block.
I weld all my art with a TIG machine, which gives me ultimate control and precision.
Used bicycle chain is easy to come by. If you don’t wear out bicycle chains on your own, you can ask any bicycle repair shop for used chains, which are in abundance. The less rusty and greasy the chain is, the easier it will be to weld. For separating the links, I use a chain breaker, which is more expensive than a chain tool, but much faster. For someone who enjoys making a fair amount of these critters, it’s worth the extra money, but a chain tool will work just as well.
As you can see, the chain isn’t cleaned very thoroughly. Chemical solvents are nasty and time consuming, and sandblasting takes away a lot of the dark worn qualities of the chain. I just wipe the chain down with a rag. The downside to this technique is that the welding is more difficult and creates nasty smoke. However with practice and adequate ventilation everything works out fine.
Bicycle chains have an outer set of plates, and an inner set of plates. I always end on the inner plates. Two pieces of equal lengths of chain make up the four legs.
Once the chain is shaped to what I want, I use a piece of stainless bicycle spoke to stiffen the chain. These spokes are also readily available in abundance at any bicycle repair shop. One wheel will give you enough weld wire to last a long time. Make sure you get the spokes from a high-quality wheel: cheaper wheels have galvanized spokes are are toxic to weld with! Stainless spokes are shiny, galvanized spokes are dull. Ideally the diameter of the weld wire would be much smaller—about .030″—but I feel that the closer I approach a 100% recycled critter, the more noble the critter. Again, it’s harder to do, but practice makes perfect.
In the above photo the ‘weld wire’ is pointing right at the spot where a small dab of molten metal will freeze the link. it doesn’t take much.
Here we have the legs welded (note the little grease fire on the bottom right—the inert gas from the torch makes a fine little extinguisher). Note that the legs aren’t symmetrical. It’s best not to over-think the anatomy here, unless you are trying to make a specific reproduction of a real earth-creature, of course. Several attempts were made to get a picture of the welding, but it was just too much for me to do alone with mask, torch, wire and camera, as you may imagine.
Here is the body of the Missing Link. The head is to the right.
Now we are ready to weld the right-side legs to the body, using the left set of legs to support them so they are in position. I used a spoke to create a little wider stance.
Once one side is welded to the body, I balance the critter up onto all fours and weld the other set of legs. This can be tricky balancing the two pieces, like a small metal house of cards, however this technique assures that all four feet are touching the ground.
Once the legs are tacked, it’s good to double-check the alignment. This little guy leans a bit to the left, but it’s within tolerance.
Sometimes I like to use the extra bits of leftover chain to add horns or scales. It’s important to tack the pin to the plate of each one, as the pins are just pressed into the plate hole, and will eventually twist and fall out if not secured.
This little creature is getting lots of scaly pieces. Not all of them do. That’s the fun of it.
Here’s the completed Missing Link. Once the welds cool it is ready for the polyurethane clear coat. I use a high-gloss finish, as the metal tends to look oily. The interesting thing is that the dirt and oil from the chain mixes with the clear coat, and gives it a beautiful dark color. I used to do a lot of finish work, and I find that I’m willing to experiment a lot in order to avoid doing any more.
When I think about missing link creatures, I think of how enjoyable it is to be able to create little personalities from things that no longer serve their intended utilitarian purpose. Simply put, if I can get someone to smile using only eight inches of discarded bicycle chain welded with one inch of bicycle spoke, I’m satisfied as an artist.