My friend Ken has succesfully used the jig I made to glue up the curved bench seats. They are made from solid black walnut strips, and the seats are close to 2″ thick after finish sanding. He has come up with a great design for the three bench legs. The two outside legs are tubular, and the center piece is pie shaped. He asked me to build these components in the shop, and to get them ready for nickel plating. Because of the mirror finish, everything has to be as smooth and consitent as possible. I made a trial piece first, and now I’m working on the actual pieces. Here are some pictures of the process!
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Here is a picture of one of the two curved walnut seats. -
I made a test piece and started to roll the sheetmetal over a piece of pipe by hand. Not recommended! -
Continued working the piece by hand because I don’t own the right piece of equipment. -
Tack welded the seam and started to get the interior rings clamped in place to be able to check some dimensions for the actual pieces. -
It was close, but not consistent enough for a mirror finish end product. -
After calling around, I was able to use a slip-roller this time to get a consistent bend into the pieces. -
After tack welding the vertical seam and the bottom ring. -
Stich welding the interior ring at the top in place -
Another view! -
Fitting the top pieces in place. -
Tacking and welding the top pieces. -
Using my bench dogs to hold the cylinder in place for finish grinding. -
Here is a closeup with the leg in place. One clamp will keep it from moving. -
Now I can rotate the piece and grind away at a comfortable height. -
Working my way around the verical surfaces, or sides of the cylinder. -
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Here is a closeup of the top. -
Tha last seam to finish weld. Tomorrow is another day!