The R-Tech team love to see what our customers get up to with their machines, Ben of BL Sculptures has been catching our eyes on social media for a fair few years now. We were delighted to have the opportunity to ask Ben a few questions recently and could not wait to share this Meet the Welder episode with BL Sculptures.

Ben began sculpting with Horseshoes in 2016, he has since developed an expansive range of sculptures using a wider variety of metals. Ben will study each sculpture subject to really capture the real life characteristics the animal has. Ben has a range of his work available for sale on his website.

Tell us about your company and how it came about...

I am Ben Lee, an artistic metal sculptor, based in the Cotswolds.

I have been an artistic sculptor for over 5 years and have created work for a variety of client specifications, incorporating recycled materials (largely horseshoes) and I am completely self taught.

Do you do the sculptures full time, or is there another job that keeps you busy?

I work full time for a bespoke metal furniture company. When I finish the day at 3:15pm, I go to my own workshop for a few hours every evening to work on my latest project.

When did you make your first ever sculpture? Tell us all about it...

I have an equestrian background and my farrier gave me some horseshoes so that I could have a go at welding them together.

I decided to make a horse head for fun. Once I finished it, I advertised it on Facebook and to my great surprise it sold within an hour! So I thought to myself "maybe i could do this as a business" and so I did just that!

The first horseshoe sculpture that Ben ever made

Where did the idea come from to use horseshoes to create your brilliant sculptures? Was there a person who influenced you to give it a go?

With my passion for horses, I was always around shoes and forever thinking surely these could be put to a better use than simply scrapping them.

It is great taking such a "rustic" material and turning it into something polished and beautiful. It feels good to know that I am using recycled materials.

What is the biggest sculpture you have made? Tell us about it...

The largest sculpture I have ever made was a life sized race horse, which was based on a famous racehorse called Altior. I used 572 horseshoes, and it took 7 months to make.

It was initially on display at Ascot racecourse and it now resides at the famous Cheltenham racecourse.

Ben with his sculpture of the famous racehorse Altior.

Before you started making sculptures, had you done any welding before?

No, I had never picked up a welder before or explored making sculptures! I did enjoy drawing and painting animals, which is where I get my skill for being able to make them look so life like and capture the movement.

What R-Tech machine do you use and why?

I use the R-Tech 180 AMP portable inverter MIG welder. I use this because I can use it to do both MIG & ARC welding, which makes working with different materials easier.

It is also light enough for me to take on site when I am installing sculptures and weld on site if needed. I have had my MIG180 for 4 years and I cannot fault it.

What tools could you not live without and why?

Obviously, I couldn't live without my R-Tech welder

I also use a swan porter forge to heat the shoes so that I can shape them, this gets to 1000 degrees which is great in the winter for keeping me warm, but can get pretty hot in the summer!

An anvil and a wide variety or hammers that I use to shape and flatten the shoes, once they are removed from the forge.

Finally, my faithful old grinders that I use for taking off welds and finishing the sculptures to a high standard.

What is the most challenging project you have done to date and why?

A 6 meter long helicopter for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance, made from 10mm solid bar. It was challenging because I had to do a lot of research on their specific helicopter. I had to make a massive wooden jig to form the structure of the helicopter around.

What is the most rewarding project you have done to date and why?

I find them all rewarding because they all hair their own little characteristics, but if I could only choose one, it would be the life-size horses I make, because of the amount of work that goes into making them.

It enables me to show off the true power of such a majestic animal.

Life size horse sculpture

If you have any advice for someone looking to get into the industry, what would it be?

When I started making sculptures, I had a few people tell me that my ambitions were unrealistic. One of the biggest advantages I have is that I love every minute I spend in my workshop, passion and drive far outweigh anything else.

It is a tough industry to be in, like any of the arts. You have to just keep plugging away and most importantly, be different! Find something that makes you stand out from the crowd.

I find a lot of people tend to copy other peoples work that they have seen, but I make sure that my work is all my own vision and is always unique.

I have been doing this for 5 years, and I am still learning everyday. I don't make any money from it yet, If I break even, then it has been a good year. I hope that one day I get my big break that will allow me to do this full time.

For somebody starting out, I would say start off small. YouTube is a great tool to learn lots of techniques, and finally... make sure you talk to lots of people in the industry. The R-Tech team are a prime example - they are always there to help!