Stainless Steel Tube Bending: From Scrap to Art

Most metal fabricators fill their scrap bins with wasted steel, even expensive stainless. To a metal art sculptor, however, this scrap can be both exciting and useful beyond the scrap value of the material.

We have had numerous artists use curved steel sections literally from our scrap bins. They say they like the depth and shadows that can be created with all kinds of curved steel sections: angles, beams, bars, channels and tubes. The products that can be produced at Chicago Metal Rolled Products are limitless and are driven by the vision of architects , engineers and artists. Once people realize that curved steel is easy to work with, they can turn almost any vision into reality.

For example, an artist came by yesterday to pick up a bucket of round slugs produced by punching holes in steel plate. He will use these materials in an abstract work of art. Another artist takes the drops from our stainless steel tube bending and makes fountains out of it. (Please see “Medusa’s Dew” below.)  I myself have used stainless steel sections from the scrap bin to create furniture, containers and art.

Have you ever seen scrap from a metal fabricator reused in another form?  Have you done this yourself?