Today got the forge table across the finish line. I had a piece of aluminum diamond plate cut to roughly the right size, and today was the day it got attached to the table-top.
First up was figuring out how to bend it. I settled on clamping the bent edge in my twin-screw vise, then using a little 2-pound maul to hammer the main part of the plate flat onto my bench. It went pretty smoothly, except on the first corner, I couldn’t figure out which way to cut off the metal for the corner, so I did both. The other corners got cut correctly and folded over the edge, and then I got out a drill and a handful of brass screws and screwed the metal onto the table-top.
Once things were screwed down, I used my hammer to round the corners, then filed off any stabby bits, cleaning the edges up so I won’t hurt myself when I try to move the table.
And with that, the table is done, I think.
-- Dave - Santa Fe
7 comments so far
splintergroup
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4434 posts in 2199 days
#1 posted 01-12-2021 08:09 PM
That’ll do!
Kindof a 19th century/modern fusion, truck box sheik 8^)
Should take the heat fine, time to forge!
crowie
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4236 posts in 2927 days
#2 posted 01-12-2021 10:06 PM
Well done Dave.
-- Lifes good, Enjoy each new day...... Cheers from "On Top DownUnder" Crowie
Dave Polaschek
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6678 posts in 1559 days
#3 posted 01-12-2021 10:23 PM
Thanks, Splint. That’s the hope!
Thank you, Peter! It was a fun little project and a nice break from making bookcases.
-- Dave - Santa Fe
Oldtool
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3158 posts in 3167 days
#4 posted 01-13-2021 12:52 AM
Nice work on this forge table, soon you’ll be set up for metal work.
-- "I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The point is to bring them the real facts." - Abraham Lincoln
Dave Polaschek
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6678 posts in 1559 days
#5 posted 01-13-2021 02:31 AM
Getting there, Tom! I may wait for warmer weather so I can use the forge outside. Then again, the surprise swap starts this Friday, and I might just have to throw something metal in…
-- Dave - Santa Fe
pottz
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13894 posts in 1961 days
#6 posted 01-13-2021 07:38 PM
warmer days nows good forging time, and it will warm the shop.
-- working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
Dave Polaschek
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6678 posts in 1559 days
#7 posted 01-13-2021 08:06 PM
My shop is heated on the wood side. On the not-wood side, it’s chilly and with the 20+ mph winds this week, opening the big door (as I just did to unload the posts for this spring’s birdhouses) just stirs up a winter’s worth of dust.
Plus I still need to put the refractory into the forge, which wants warmth. Too many projects…
-- Dave - Santa Fe
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