Help with drawing my curved trunk lid

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01-14-2018, 10:08 PM
Michael Yadfar

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Help with drawing my curved trunk lid

Ok so I’m tired of making furniture with all 90 degree angles, so I’m trying to make a somewhat curved lid for the trunk I’m making. The lid isn’t going to be perfectly curved, it will have a flat piece at the top due to the dimensions. I made the box first so that way I knew the definite size. The sides are 5 1/2 x 20 1/16”. I’m trying to make all the angles easy, so in the scale model I used all 20 degree angles. However, I’ve spent hours trying to draw this on a full size test piece, but I just can’t do it. Even on the scale model, I’m sure there’s a way to create the curve without having the flat top, but I just can’t figure out how to do it. Does anyone recommend tools and a technique of doing this?

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01-15-2018, 3:32 PM
Mark Canada

2 Attachment(s)

I do it in Solidworks, however Fusion 360 is free for makers and has similar capabilities and I've heard is easier to learn. - https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/ Attached are a couple of screenshots of how i'd cut it - I'd set my tablesaw up for it, with the blade set at the 5.625 degree angle (or close enough) and touch each side of the 1.97" wide piece of wood with it. Thickness of the wood is irrelevant. This will give you 16 pieces that create a perfect half arch. To make it a smooth arc, you just sand/plane all the peaks.
01-15-2018, 3:54 PM
Peter Christensen

The thread in the Turning area has a segmenting calculator that will work for you.
01-16-2018, 12:15 AM
Gary Breckenridge

I've done several of these. I make the top first. After the top section is glued and set I make the end pieces to fit.
Then I make the bottom to fit. Then I go at the top with a plane and a best sander.
01-16-2018, 7:13 AM
Roy Petersen

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Canada

I do it in Solidworks, however Fusion 360 is free for makers and has similar capabilities and I've heard is easier to learn. - https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/

Maybe I've missed something, but I can't seem to find where it's free (for anyone), except for trials? After the trial it states:

Quote:

Download a free 30-day trial and try it out on your Mac or PC. With in-product tutorials, you’ll be up and running in no time. Fusion 360 is as low as $25 per month on an annual subscription, or $40 month to month.