How to Make a Low Poly Deer Head in Metal: The Whole Build, Step by Step
To make a low poly deer head in metal, you need four things: a DXF template, panels cut from 1,5–2 mm steel, a bending angle sheet and a welder. Cut the panels, fold each one to the angle on the sheet, tack them together in the numbered order, then weld, grind and finish. Our Deer Head Welding file is drawn at 600 mm tall and costs €50. It is the best-selling file in the catalogue, and this post walks through the whole build.
The whole build in seven steps
- Choose the size before you cut. The thickness follows the size.
- Have the nested DXF cut from 1,5–2 mm sheet: laser is cleanest, plasma works.
- Deburr every edge and lay the panels out by number.
- Fold each panel to the angle on the bending sheet: mountain or valley, in degrees.
- Tack, never weld, panels together in the numbered order until the head is closed.
- Weld the seams in short stitches, alternating sides.
- Grind, finish and fit a wall bracket inside the neck.
How big is a low poly deer head?
As drawn, our deer head is 600 mm tall, 492 mm wide and 339 mm deep. That is a wall piece for a living room, a workshop or a restaurant wall. At that size 1,5–2 mm sheet is the standard: it is stiff enough to hold the antlers and thin enough to fold without a press brake.
Want it bigger for a garden or an entrance? Ask us before you order rather than scaling the DXF yourself. The flat pattern is compensated for one sheet thickness (the bend allowance), so a scaled-up head cut from thicker sheet no longer closes. For large outdoor pieces we work at 2,5–3 mm. The full reasoning is in What steel thickness for a low poly metal sculpture.
How do you cut the panels?
Send the nested DXF to a laser cutting shop. The file arrives with every panel laid out 1:1 and packed tight, so the shop can quote it straight away. If you have a plasma table, it works too. A welded design has no rivet holes and no tabs: the panels meet edge to edge, so a slightly rougher cut edge is ground away at the end anyway. Plan on more grinding than with laser. What the cutting itself costs is worked through in What it actually costs to build a low poly metal sculpture.
Mild steel if you will paint it, stainless if you want a bare or polished finish. Galvanised sheet is a poor choice for a welded piece, because the zinc burns off at the seam and the fumes are toxic.
How do you bend the panels?
The pack includes a bending angle file. Every fold is marked as mountain or valley, with its angle in degrees. Fold all the panels first, as a batch, before you join anything. At 1,5–2 mm a bench vice with a straight steel bar clamped along the fold line is enough. A small hand brake makes it faster.
Fold in one motion. If you overshoot, open the fold slightly, but bending the same line back and forth work-hardens the steel and it cracks. Check each fold against the angle on the sheet: on a low poly head, a few degrees off on the snout opens a gap at the antlers.
In which order do you assemble a deer head?
Follow the numbered assembly order in the pack, and tack, do not weld. Two or three small tacks per seam are enough to hold a panel. The head is a closed shell: if one seam is welded too early, the panels that follow cannot be adjusted, and the last panel does not fit.
Close the whole head on tacks first. Then stand back and look at it from the front and from both sides. A low poly face reads as symmetrical or it does not. If one cheek sits proud, break the tack, adjust, re-tack. That costs a minute now and nothing later.
The antlers are the thinnest parts and the ones most likely to warp. Tack them with the lowest heat that holds, and weld them last.
TIG, MIG or laser welding?
The file works with all three. TIG gives the cleanest seams on thin stainless and the least grinding. It is the usual choice when the seams will stay visible. MIG is faster on mild steel and more forgiving for a first build, but leaves more to grind. Laser welding, if your shop has it, gives almost no distortion.
Whichever you use, weld in short stitches and move around the head. Do not run one long seam. A long continuous seam on 1,5 mm sheet pulls the panels and opens the next joint.
How do you finish and hang it?
Grind the seams flush for a smooth faceted look, or leave them for a raw workshop look. The facets read either way. On mild steel: degrease, prime, then paint or clear-coat. A rust patina also works indoors if it is sealed. On stainless: brush or polish, then clean off the grinding dust so it does not rust-stain.
For the wall, weld a flat plate with a keyhole slot inside the back of the neck, at the centre of gravity. Hang it before the antlers go on, check that it sits straight, then finish the antlers.
No welder? The same animal, riveted
The deer in this photo was not welded. It is our Deer Rivet file: a full-body stag 2200 mm tall, cut from 0,8–1 mm stainless with the rivet holes already in the drawing. If you have no welder, that is the route, and How to build a metal sculpture without a welder covers it step by step. A welding file cannot be riveted: the method is chosen with the file, not in the workshop.
Which file to start with
If you weld, the deer head is the build to start with. It is big enough to look serious on a wall and small enough to be a realistic first welded build. Every pack includes the nested DXF, the bending angle file, the numbered assembly order and a PDF for checking on screen.
Never built a low poly sculpture at all? Read the step-by-step guide first, then come back to the deer. More welded animals are in the welded templates.
Questions we get
Can I make the deer head bigger?
Yes, but tell us the height before you order. A bigger head usually needs thicker sheet, and the flat pattern has to be redrawn for that thickness. Scaling the DXF alone does not work.
Can it go outdoors?
In stainless, or in painted mild steel that you maintain. At the drawn size it is a wall piece. For a free-standing garden deer, look at the full-body files.
Can I cut it by hand?
A welded file can be cut with a plasma torch or an angle grinder, because there are no holes to hit. It is slow and the edges need more grinding. Laser cutting is the better use of your time.
Sources, checked 14 October 2026
- Dimensions, thickness range and welding methods: the Deer Head Welding and Deer Rivet product files as drawn
- Thickness by size and bend allowance: our own drawing standard, see the thickness post linked above
- Galvanised sheet and welding fumes: standard welding safety guidance; zinc oxide fume causes metal fume fever