Lynn Kasdorf
07-31-2009, 8:51 PM
My coffee table client is at it again. This time she wants a pedestal for a sculpture. She wants a 20" diameter, 30" tall cylinder. The finish is to match the "ebonized" wood used throughout her house. From what I can tell, it is just black...
So- there are a number of challenges as I see.
I figure I would fashion some number of discs from 3/4 ply. I'd have a large dowel running up the middle to keep them aligned. Then, I'd have some sort of spacer blocks between each disc to keep them parallel. Glue the whole thing together.
Then, get some "bending plywood". I've never seen this, but apparently there is a 3 layer plywood that is designed for bending. It might be only 1/4" or maybe 3/8". One concern I have is how to have the seams not straighten out- that is, how do I bend it such that there doesn't end up with a flat spot at the seam.
Also, how do I keep the plywood from wavering in and out at the seam?
Then, assuming I get the substrate put together nicely, I need to wrap veneer around it and have it meet with a perfect seam.
If I could find a piece of plastic sewer drain pipe of the right diameter, it would save me massive amounts of time. Is there such a thing as 20" drain pipe?
If I had a large enough lathe, I could laminate a bunch of beveled strips and then turn it. No 20" swing lathes around here though.
Maybe I could build one- and use a router on a track to carve it down to a cylinder as I rotate it by hand. Hmmm...building such a rig might be easier than building the cylinder as described above.
If I could make it out of solid wood like this, then i wouldn't have to veneer! Well, I'd have to veneer the top, but that's all. Sounding better all the time...
Any ideas here are welcomed!
So- there are a number of challenges as I see.
I figure I would fashion some number of discs from 3/4 ply. I'd have a large dowel running up the middle to keep them aligned. Then, I'd have some sort of spacer blocks between each disc to keep them parallel. Glue the whole thing together.
Then, get some "bending plywood". I've never seen this, but apparently there is a 3 layer plywood that is designed for bending. It might be only 1/4" or maybe 3/8". One concern I have is how to have the seams not straighten out- that is, how do I bend it such that there doesn't end up with a flat spot at the seam.
Also, how do I keep the plywood from wavering in and out at the seam?
Then, assuming I get the substrate put together nicely, I need to wrap veneer around it and have it meet with a perfect seam.
If I could find a piece of plastic sewer drain pipe of the right diameter, it would save me massive amounts of time. Is there such a thing as 20" drain pipe?
If I had a large enough lathe, I could laminate a bunch of beveled strips and then turn it. No 20" swing lathes around here though.
Maybe I could build one- and use a router on a track to carve it down to a cylinder as I rotate it by hand. Hmmm...building such a rig might be easier than building the cylinder as described above.
If I could make it out of solid wood like this, then i wouldn't have to veneer! Well, I'd have to veneer the top, but that's all. Sounding better all the time...
Any ideas here are welcomed!