My friend Ken has a curved wall in his new home, which is under construction at this time, and he wanted to have a bench to follow that curve. After discussing different options, I was able to provide a CAD layout of the bench, and Ken asked me to fabricate a jig, that would allow him to glue individual black walnut strips together, following the curve of the wall. Here are some pictures of this little project. I love these colaberations!
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I imported the shape from CAD into the cutting software and cut the two pieces on my plasma table. Here I am tack welding the pieces together. -
Another view. -
The shape of the glueing jig after welding. -
This support frame will be welded to the bottom of the jig to ensure the jig stays straight. -
Welding the frame to the jig. -
Another view. The jig is upside down for welding. -
Here is the jig right side up. The vertical piece follows the curve of the wall. -
A view of the inside of the jig. -
These holes allow the jig to be bolted to a work surface. -
Here is the jig in action! -
Ken will add more strips over time to allow the glue to cure, until he has reache 18″ of seat depth. It will take a little time, because the bench requires 3 full pieces for the complete length of the wall.