For many Russians, a summer cottage is not only a place where vegetables and fruits grow, but also a relaxation area for body and soul. Decorative ponds, garden gnomes, flower beds, paths and more - there are a huge number of ways to decorate a garden. Recently, crafts made from waste, such as plastic bottles and old car tires, have gained popularity. There are many advantages to giving a second life to things that have served their purpose. Step-by-step instructions for learning how to carve a beautiful swan from a tire yourself will help you make such a craft!

• Firstly, it is environmentally friendly, because things will not rot in a landfill for centuries, polluting the environment.
• Secondly, it is always nice to create comfort and decorations with your own hands.
• Thirdly, it is profitable, such scenery will require a minimum of financial investment, because every motorist's tires wear out. Of these, you can come up with a lot of decorations for the garden: these are small flower beds, fences, artificial ponds and much more. The figures of animals and birds carved from the tire are also gaining popularity. If you decide to decorate your garden plot too, read the master class.

How to cut a swan out of a tire with step by step instructions

• Worn out car tire
• Saw grinder
• Electric jigsaw
• Thick wire, rod or steel plate
• White and red exterior paints
• You should work on the street, as the rubber heats up from the grinder, and this gives off a strong smell of burning
• Be sure to wear tight mittens or gloves
• Feet must be in closed shoes

We study safety precautions when cutting a figure out of a tire

Getting Started - step by step instructions on how to cut a swan from an old wheel

For work, you need to choose the oldest tire, as thin as possible and, as they say, bald. The more worn the rubber, the easier it will be to work with it. If there is a choice, it is better to give preference to a tire with a nylon or nylon cord, rather than a steel one. To do this, the tire itself should not be marked “steel”. The latter are difficult to cut, and they are also traumatic both during operation and during further use: it is better not to put such a bird on the playground in order to avoid cuts in children.

First you need to draw a “pattern” of the future swan on the tire. Mark a point in the middle and draw a beak from it, smoothly turning into the head and neck of the bird. When working with an R13 tire with a circumference of 1.8 m, the dimensions are approximately as follows: beak length 8-9 cm, head 9-10 cm long and 7-8 cm wide. The neck at the beginning has a width of 4-5 cm and closer to the body thickens up to 8-10 cm. Its length is about 75-80 centimeters.

The body of the swan should remain unlined, and it should not be cut: wings and neck are connected to the head on this part.

Swan carving pattern:

After completing the drawing of the swan from the wheel, the cutting process begins. The grinder cuts quickly, but this heats up the rubber and gives off a strong smell of burning and soot. Therefore, many craftsmen prefer to make notches for the jigsaw blade using the same grinder, drill or chisel, and continue to cut it out for them. It is convenient to use a blade with a reverse tooth at low speeds. So the material will heat up less, there will be no soot, and control over the process is better due to the low speed of work.

It will be correct not to cut out completely one side, and then the other, but to make small cuts on both sides one after the other. It is much more convenient to work this way, the rubber does not bend so much, moreover, the probability that it will turn out symmetrically increases.

Next, you need to unscrew the workpiece. It's not long, but it's quite hard physically. To do this, you need to put it with the cut part to the ground, press down with your foot and pull up the resulting wings. The result should be something like in the photo.

After that, you should fix the shape of the neck. To do this, it is necessary to make holes in it in pairs at a distance of 15 cm from each other and insert staples of soft wire into them. With their help, attach a rod or steel plate to the bird's neck from above. Next, bend the part so that it resembles the neck of a swan.

After cutting and shaping the swan, all that remains is to install the figurine in the selected area and decorate it. It will be beautiful to make not one bird, but a couple at once. Paint the body with white paint, and the beak with red. Draw eyes or form them from buttons, stones, pieces of rubber.

You can also make a stand from another tire lying on its side. An artificial pond or its imitation, for example, made of stones, will look very handy.

In addition to the swan, you can make other DIY crafts from tires. All it takes is a little imagination and time.

Video on the topic of the article

Let's figure out how we will make our swan.

First of all, you need to choose the necessary tire, the most suitable for the job. This means that it is better to find the most “bald”, for those reasons that it will be easier to cut. It is very good if there is a longitudinal pattern on it - this will also greatly facilitate the process.

Some tires have steel cord reinforcement (breaker). It is difficult to cut such a tire, in addition, there may be sharp ends of the cord sticking out at the cut site, which can cause injury both during operation and on the finished product. Therefore, preference should be given to an old tire with a nylon cord (in the marking on there should be the words “Steel”).

The selected tire must be thoroughly cleaned of dust and dirt, washed and dried - it is simply more pleasant to work with clean material.

Let's get the tool ready. You will need:

• chalk for marking;
• roulette;
• electric drill;
• drills 3 and 10 mm in diameter;
• sharp knife (with a powerful blade, such as a shoe);
• jigsaw;
• "Bulgarian" with a cutting disc;
• pliers.

From additional materials:

• wire for staples;
• plastic metal rod (or thick wire) 1.2 - 1.5 meters long;
• paint to give the finished "swan" the desired color.

Of course, you need to be patient - the process is quite laborious and complicated. It is better to choose a fine day for work in order to carry out the whole process in the open air - in the process of drilling or cutting, the rubber burns, which is accompanied by an unpleasant and difficult to weather odor.

Product markup

So, for example, we are working with an R13 tire, 165 mm wide. Its circumference is 180 cm.

Marking should begin with drawing two marks (lines) dividing the circumference of the tire approximately in half, this, in fact, is the length of the “neck” of the future “bird”.

We mark the future neck

Further, on the tread part of the tire, the “beak”, “head” and “neck” of the swan are drawn in sequence. Well, if the old tread pattern has a visible center line - this will greatly simplify the markings. If not, then it will not be difficult to carefully draw it with chalk.

So, from the first risk, a “beak” is drawn symmetrically to the center line, the length of which is 8-9 centimeters, the width is 3-4. The "beak" passes into the "head", 10-12 centimeters long and 7-8 wide.

It is clear that where the “head” ends, the “neck” begins, which gradually expands towards the “body”, at its beginning it is 4-5 centimeters wide, by the end it reaches 8-10. The marking of the “neck” ends on that line which divided the tire in two.

The last markup element is the tail. Partially, it is already outlined, its fork is what happens when cutting out the "beak". It remains only to draw two parallel lines with a distance between them of about 8 centimeters (along the width of the “head”), about 30 centimeters long.

Marking the tail

We plant a rhododendron in our garden.

cutting process

Perhaps this is the most time-consuming manufacturing step, requiring patience, skill and extra care to avoid injury. Probably, it would be useful to remind you that the work must be carried out in strong work gloves in order to protect the hands as much as possible.

Remember safety! Do not neglect protective equipment: gloves and special glasses.

Cutting is carried out from the base of the neck to the head.

Depending on the material of the tire and the degree of wear and tear, this can be done in different ways. A heavily worn, thinned tire may give in to a cobbler's knife. A thicker tread can be cut with a grinder, but this process is quite dangerous and is accompanied by an abundance of smoke and the smell of burnt rubber.

If there is a jigsaw of sufficient power available, then, after making the initial holes with a grinder, it is better to use it.

Experience shows that it is better to choose a jigsaw file with fairly frequent teeth pointing upwards - this way the process is greatly simplified. The operation should not be carried out at a high speed of the tool, on the contrary, it should be reduced by half.

To stick the jigsaw file in the right place, you can make a slot with a grinder or simply drill holes at the edges of the "neck" with a 10 mm drill. By the way, the work will be greatly simplified if the same holes are drilled at all the turning points of the markup.

It will be a big mistake to cut one side first and then switch to the other; in this case, working with a jigsaw will be complicated by strong vibration that interferes with the process. It is better to cut both sides in parallel, in small sections of 4 - 5 centimeters. You can simplify cutting by resting the tire from the inside against a piece of bar (board), gradually moving it as needed.

We saw with an electric jigsaw along the marked lines

Having finished cutting, it is necessary to carefully process the edges of the resulting parts. If there was a metal cord in the thickness of the tread, you will need a “grinder” to grind off the protruding steel wires. If the cord was nylon, it will be enough to cultivate the edges with a sharp knife.

Turning the tire inside out and giving the “neck” the necessary bend

In order for the “wings” resulting from the sidewalls of the tire to gain the proper span after cutting, the cut tire must be turned inside out. It won’t be much work - a little effort with the hands and the help of the legs will quite easily turn out the tire that has lost its integrity.

We turn the tire inside out, it will take some effort of the hands and feet :)

As a result, the “swan” has already spread its “wings”, but now its “neck and head” lie limply on the ground - they need to be strengthened and bent in the proper way. For this, you will need a prepared steel bar.

To begin with, it is necessary to drill paired holes along the center line, symmetrically to it, with a diameter of 3 mm. They are drilled from the center of the "head" to the beginning of the "tail", with a distance between pairs of holes - about 15 centimeters.

We drill paired holes along the neck every 15 cm.

The required number of soft wire staples are being prepared, which are threaded into the holes made. These braces will hold the metal bar to stiffen the structure.

We insert such staples into the paired holes in the swan's neck

Insert brackets like this

It is better to start laying the rod from the bottom, twisting the protruding ends of the brackets around it with pliers. After cutting off the excess, the “swan neck” can be given a characteristic bend.

To some it may seem simpler or more affordable to use a steel strip instead of a bar - this is also a completely acceptable solution. In this case, steel and rubber can be connected using bolts or rivets.

We fix the metal rod along the neck with prepared staples

In fact, the “mechanical” part of the work is finished.

Swans have long chosen not only ponds and lakes, they are increasingly found in personal plots. On the green lawns you can see whole flocks of swans made from car tires. Designers called this direction trash art (from the English. trash-art) - art that involves old trash.

The name is new, but the idea of ​​creating beauty from waste appeared a long time ago. Outstanding miracle birds have already adorned more than one yard or garden. If you like this kind of art, we offer you to get acquainted with the technology of making swans in more detail.

How to make a swan from a car tire

Beauty on the site can be made from improvised materials, but you must understand that this is work, not pampering. In order for miracle swans from tires to bloom in the garden, you will need:

• old tires;
• Electric jigsaw or grinder (grinder);
• Electric drill;
• Nippers, pliers;
• Chalk for marking;
• metal rod;
• Dye.

What tires to choose

For swans, old, well-worn tires from cars are suitable. Moreover, the rubber should be as worn out as possible, erased to the limit. Such tires are called bald. The worse the material looks, the easier it is to work with. Do not take studded tires, especially imported ones.

If there is an opportunity to choose, then it is better to take rubber with a nylon cord. Such material can be cut simply with a knife. Tires with a metal cord are more difficult to process, in which case special tools are indispensable.

Alternatively, in search of suitable materials, you can contact the nearest tire shop. Usually, in such places, unnecessary tires are happy to give away. One swan needs one tire. If you want to experiment with the shape of birds, take a few. Before starting work, the rubber must be washed and dried. All work is best done outdoors.

Marking the scheme on the tire and cutting

The appearance of the swan depends on the marking scheme. During operation, the tire will need to be turned out. The complexity of this process will depend on how you make the cuts.

How to make a birdhouse with your own hands is described.

Step-by-step instructions for making a swan with your own hands

Tire marking, for making a garden swan.

With the help of chalk, you need to divide the tire in half. Then outline the beak, head and neck. The length of the neck together with the beak should be more than half the circumference of the tire. The R13 wheel has a circumference of 180 cm, respectively, for the neck you need to measure about 95 cm. For a proportional head you need 10 cm, the length of the beak is 9 cm.

How to cut from a wheel

Step-by-step instructions for cutting out a tire:

• The tire must be cut along the marked lines. A knife can handle old-style tires with a nylon cord. In order to facilitate the work, prepare a soapy solution and dip the cutting object into it from time to time.
• The metal cord will not succumb to the knife. You can use a grinder. You need to work exclusively outdoors, and do not forget about closed shoes and work gloves.
• Please note that working with rubber increases the consumption of circles. It will take about 3 discs per swan. In addition, heated rubber does not spread the best smell around, soot and soot are provided to you. The grinder cuts quickly, but not environmentally friendly.
• It is more pleasant to work with a jigsaw. To plant the file, you need to make a hole. You can use a chisel or drill. The wear of the jigsaw blades increases from working at high speeds. The best option is to work at speeds below average using a file with a reverse tooth. So you can cut the metal cord without any problems: the reverse motion of the file will simply break it, and a low speed will prevent the rubber from getting very hot.
• For adherents of hand tools, a metal file is suitable. She will also cope with the metal cord, but the speed of work will be lower. What are the paths of corks from plastic bottles, set out.
• You need to cut the tire along the contour of the neck and head, transverse cuts are not needed. As for the sequence, the biggest mistake that beginners make is to completely saw out one side of the neck. If you cut the tire on one side, it will be quite difficult to cut the other side.

• The next step is the tail. Its length is about 25 cm. It will become an additional decorative element and will facilitate the eversion of the tire. Cut it out in the same way.
• The workpiece must be turned out. The process is time-consuming and looks like this: the workpiece is placed with the cut part down, it is pressed down with a foot and pulled, turning the side parts up. The central part needs to be pushed through.
• Now the design really resembles a swan. The side half rings must be lowered down. If you took a tire with a metal cord, then the edges need to be processed with a grinder. But even such a procedure will not be able to completely smooth out the protruding reinforcement. Therefore, swans made of tires with metal cord are suitable only for decoration, but not for playgrounds. Touching sections with protruding wires is not safe for adults, let alone children. Learn more about crafts from tires for the playground.
• In order to give the swan the desired shape, the neck should be strengthened. For fasteners, it is necessary to drill two holes along the entire length of the neck every 15 - 20 cm. They must be placed along the center line. Brackets made of thin soft wire are inserted into the holes. Brackets need to fix a thick steel wire. It will need about 1.50 m. The lower end is fixed on the inside of the neck, at the base of the tire, the upper end is at head level.
• The swan is almost ready, you just need to bend its neck properly and make eyes out of rubber. They can be fastened with screws. For decoration, the edges of the wings are cut, then the notches resemble the plumage of a bird. If you want to have a swan princess in your garden, make a crown from a plastic bottle.

How to decorate

In order for the birds to look outstanding and aesthetically pleasing, they need to be painted correctly. For swans, white or black is usually chosen. Silver and gold sculptures look good. Any durable outdoor paint will do.

It is good to decorate rubber with oil, enamel and nitro paints. Do not forget that any paint is applied to a clean, dry surface. Properly applied paint fits well on the sculpture, does not deform and lasts for a long time. Residues of automotive paint sprays will do. Then the work will go quickly. An evenly painted surface can be decorated with acrylic paints. Draw the head, beak, plumage. Such swans look more naturalistic.

Increasingly, passing by a well-groomed courtyard, one observes picturesque scenery, where swans made of tires attract the main attention. Marveling at the craftsmanship of craftsmen, one involuntarily has a desire to design their own summer cottage in a similar way. The opinion about the difficulties of the technological process of cutting out figures from tires is erroneous; with a detailed study of the issue, there are no particular difficulties in making a swan.

The main stages of making a swan

The stage of creating a vending scenery is preceded by preparatory actions. Having shown concern in advance about the availability of the necessary tools and improvised materials, you will not have to be distracted by trifles. With a certain skill, one day off is enough to make a swan out of tires.

Tools and materials

To create an outstanding swan will help you:

• angle grinder (colloquially - grinder) or electric jigsaw;
• electric drill;
• pliers, wire cutters and a knife;
• metal rod for fixing the neck;
• chalk for marking;
• weather-resistant paint to give the figure of a swan an aesthetic look.

Special attention should be paid to old tires intended for making a swan. Pretty worn products are optimally suited, that is, almost bald tires. This will greatly facilitate the process of working on the future swan. Give up on the idea of ​​using studded tires.

Important ! Ease of operation and further safety of operation of the finished figure will be provided by a tire with nylon reinforcement. This product is easy to cut with a knife. Rubber with a metal cord, in addition to being difficult to process, can cause minor cuts.

In the absence of your own material for the swan, the problem is solved by a visit to the nearest tire shop. One tire is enough for a figure, but it is better to stock up on a couple of extra copies for experimental actions. Before starting the cutting procedure, the tires are thoroughly washed and dried. All activities are desirable to organize in the fresh air.

Cutting and shaping process

The markup scheme directly affects the final appearance of the swan figure. If you make the cuts correctly, the process of eversion of the tire will be greatly facilitated. Most often, R13 rubber is taken as the basis, its circumference is 1.8 m. First of all, the middle of the tire is marked with chalk. In a harmonious sculpture, most of the circumference of the tire is occupied by a neck with a beak. The proportions of the swan are as follows:

• neck - 0.95 m;
• head - 0.1 m;

• beak - 0.09 m.

The photo shows examples of cutting tires.

The basic steps for carving a swan are as follows:

• The nylon reinforcement of the rubber will allow the procedure for cutting out the swan pattern with a knife. With periodic wetting of it in a soapy solution, the process will accelerate.
• Making a swan out of a tire with a metal cord is more difficult. To do this, you will have to use a grinder or an electric jigsaw. One swan will need 3 disks. The use of work gloves, goggles and closed shoes will prevent the possibility of traumatic situations.
• It is more convenient to work with a jigsaw. Beforehand, for planting a file in a tire, it is necessary to make a hole, a drill or a chisel will help in this. High speed increases tool wear, it is optimal to set the speed below medium and use a saw with a reverse tooth. The rubber does not get very hot.
• The absence of electric tools is not an obstacle - a metal file can replace them, although making a swan will not work quickly.
• Cutting tires begin along the contour of the head and neck. Do not get carried away with one side of the figure, otherwise the procedure for cutting out the opposite part will become much more complicated. It is much faster to make a swan with alternate incisions on both sides.
• Then they move on to the tail, its length is about 25 cm. Work is carried out in a similar way.
• To give the swan blank the required volume, it is laid down on the ground with the cut part and the side elements are pulled up, holding the central part with the foot. The whole process is quite labor intensive.
• The side half rings, imitating the wings of a swan, are lowered down. The metal reinforcement of the tires needs additional processing with a grinder. However, even these actions do not exclude the risk of injury from protruding reinforcement. Therefore, sculptures made of tires with metal reinforcement are used exclusively as a decoration in a summer cottage. For a playground, it is better to make a swan from a tire with a nylon cord.
• Fixing the neck allows you to achieve the resemblance of a swan made of tires with the original. It's easy to do. Along the length of the neck, two holes are drilled parallel to each other at intervals of 15-20 cm, they are located along the center line. Staples are prepared from soft wire and inserted into the holes. They are designed to fasten a thick steel wire or a metal rod 150 cm long. The lower end is grabbed at the base on the inside of the neck, and the second end ends at head level.
• At the final stage, the neck of the swan is arched in a proper way, pieces of rubber are suitable as the eyes of the bird, they are fixed with screws. Notches on the side of the tires imitate the plumage of a swan.

The desire to equip a summer cottage with a fairy-tale character is easily feasible - put a crown from a plastic bottle or tin can on the head of the sculpture, and the swan princess is ready!

Coloring and arrangement of sculptures

Coloring the figure of a swan gives it an aesthetic appearance. In addition to the traditional white version, versions with a silver or golden tint are sometimes used. Black birds look extraordinary and solemn. Any paint intended for external work will help to make a high-quality color. For a swan made of tires, nitro paints, enamel or oil products are suitable. Spray-on automotive paint residue is a perfectly acceptable option. The main thing is that the surface of the tire must be clean and dry before starting work. After applying the base layer, you can show your imagination and decorate the figure of a swan with acrylic material. The drawn head with a beak and plumage give the tire sculpture a naturalistic look.

It is worth paying attention to the location of the swan figure. When placed in the front garden near the entrance, it is enough to make a stand from the second tire and paint it blue. The sculpture of a swan is easily transformed into a small flower bed - just pour earth inside the tire and plant your favorite flowers that are unpretentious in care. In the summer cottage, it is better to resort to more complex decoration. The main habitat of majestic birds is water bodies. Therefore, the figure of a swan made of tires organically looks in a small pond. Making it is pretty easy. A small pit is covered with a film, pressed down with stones along the edges, pebbles are laid on the bottom. Timely replacement of water will not allow it to stagnate. An imitation of a reservoir for a tire figure is also appropriate. It is enough to make a mound of small stones in a small area and paint them blue. Additional design in the form of green spaces around will enhance the decorative effect of the tire swan figure.

What can be made from tires

The idea of ​​using improvised materials in landscape design is not new. Designers gave a name to this trend in the art of territory design - trash art. In addition to the favorite swans, you can make a lot of decorative figures or useful elements for giving from tires. By analogy with a swan, it is easy to make a bright parrot out of a car tire. In the future, the figure is used as a hanging flower bed.

The easiest way to make a border for the front garden is from an old tire. Possession of artistic talent allows you to apply a fancy pattern to the fence, which will delight the eye even on a cloudy day in late autumn.

The original idea is to make a swing for a child out of an old tire. It can be a rocking chair or a hanging version of the design.

All sorts of variations of flower beds are the most popular way to make a necessary household item out of a car tire.

Craftsmen manage to make even pieces of furniture out of rubber - tables and chairs of various designs, a familiar decor in many dachas.

D This master class will allow you not only to breathe a second life into old tires, but also to decorate your garden plot. Today we will make flower pots from old tires with our own hands.

So, for work we need:

• An old tire with a small radial tread, without steel cord;
• For a collar - a strip of iron;
• Large sharp knife;
• Two M8 washers, nut and bolt;
• Brush and paints;
• Spanners;
• Drill diameter 10 and drill.

The process of creating flower pots from old tires with your own hands:

1. We take a large sharp knife and, constantly wetting it with water, make symmetrical cutouts on the tire 2/3 (240 degrees) along the bead ring, as shown in the figure. We cut the protector and side part at a distance of 1/3. In the larger side, using a triangular cutout, we separate the side part.

2. In we get such a cut piece of tire.

3. We turn it out.

4. Cut out the beak from the trim side.

5. Cut the smaller side of the tire lengthwise. The cut should be slightly larger than the beak.

6. We insert the beak and with the help of a clamp we compress the halves.

7. We drill a hole with a drill and with the help of two washers, a nut and a bolt we tighten the halves of the head.

8. To make the head narrower, cut off part of the tire on both sides. It should turn out like this:

9. On the larger side of the tire, mark with chalk and cut out the tail.

10. This is how our workpiece looks like. It remains to paint it.

11. We make a clamp from a strip of iron, with which we tighten the side parts of the pots. If there is no iron strip at hand, you can use a strong rope.

12. Now let's start painting the parrot. We use blue, yellow, black and white paints.

13. We color the parrot inside and out. We paint the side rings with black paint. If there is no black paint, you can leave them unpainted.

14. We carefully paint the head, trying to achieve maximum similarity with the original. We make black stripes and eyes with a black outline.

15. Do-it-yourself ready-made planters from a tire must be hung with a strong rope or wire to a horizontal structure. And inside you can place a flowerpot with a beautiful plant.

Thanks to Oleg Vashchenko for the master class!

How to make a swan

To do this, take an old tire - the older it is, the better, since it is easier to cover the worn tread with an even layer of paint and give our craft a more natural look.

You will also need paint and a sharp knife, some also use a jigsaw and grinder to cut rubber - but certain skills are required when using them, and you should also take into account that when heated, the tire may begin to melt.

Before you start cutting out the swan of their tire, you need to draw contours on it, along which you will cut out the details. You can think over your own pattern of a swan, the main flying of which is a neck with a head and wings. We offer you the following scheme, which is relatively simple, but can be further supplemented with decorative details or additional cutouts, slots, jagged edges.

Having made the necessary cuts on the tire, it must be washed well and preferably degreased, and then proceed to painting - then it will last longer and withstand any weather.

After that, you need to bend the wings of the swan, giving them the final shape, you can also cut out the jagged edges of the wings and tail to make your swan very believable.

Also, before painting, it is necessary to fix the neck of the swan and give it the desired bend with the help of a thick wire, which you will mask with paint.

And the final step in making the swan is to paint its head and beak. You can also use other materials, for example, using the attached foam cut out in the shape of a swan's head, you can get a pretty pretty swan, more like a real one.

Well, now your garden, flower garden will be decorated with a wonderful swan. If you have a pond, then undoubtedly the swan will be an excellent addition to the design and decoration of your pond and recreation area near it. And also, of course, a swan from a tire can become an excellent flower bed - for this it is enough to place a flower pot in its center.