SHAPING AN ALUMINIUM TRAY.
(For this exercise I had a partner to help me make the molds required to make the trays and also align together with mine in order to create two halves of a whole.
Step 1: Material Prep
Start by grabbing a sheet of aluminium and using a compass/scribe, using a steel rule, Draw out a 4 sided square/rectangle, the lengths and widths of which are decided between you and your partner. Using the Sheet cutter, cut out your decided shape and remove any sharp edges from the 4 sides. Now using a circular item, mark the corners with the circles chosen and make an offset of 1cm. of the resulting outline. Using a pair of pruners, trim the 4 sharp corners into the radius of the curve drawn. Take the same circle you used earlier and taking bits of wood, mark a series of circles on the wood to cut into cylinders/pucks. Use a band saw to roughly cut the shape and smoothen the shape using a spindle sander. You may also at this point wish to have two wooden slabs that have true 90 degree angled edges to them. You may use a belt sander to ensure all edges are exactly 90 degrees before working on your tray.
Make sure you wear the required eye protection, tie your hair if it's long and have no dangling chains, wires or strings on you while you do this.
Step 2: Lets get smashing!
Start by clamping your aluminum between your two slabs of wood along the offset you created. Starting from the middle you may start by lightly tapping the overhanging aluminium till it starts folding downwards 90 degrees. Start moving outwards until you reach the edge of the curves. To create a smooth surface without scratches you may wish to do this with a wooden stake to soften the blow on the aluminium, reducing the amount of marks left on your material. Repeat this process for all 4 sides.
Step 3: Shaping the curved edges.
Once you have finished all 4 sides, remove your clamps and now clamp your material at a corner between two of your created pucks within a vice tightly. And using a hammer (with/without a wooden stake) start folding the corners (It should fold up similarly to your bowl's edge) in the direction your sides are folded towards starting from one side to another until a rough 90 degrees is achieved. Repeat this action for all 4 sides and make sure you don't tap your metal too hard and cause your folds to bite into your wooden cylinders/pucks.
(if you muck up and get a couple folds as you attempt to create/smooth out your folds, take a smaller hammer and just attempt to hit it back out on the opposite side you are hitting on. Sometimes even hitting it on the side of the folds help widen it which may solve the issue. Take note however, as you are basically stretching the material into a bowl shape, your edges won't be the same smooth circle you cut out, and will require trimming, so don't fret if you have a few tears at the edges. If you have tears within the bowl and away from the edges. Well tough luck friend! Start again!)
Step 5: Refinement
Line up your tray with your partners and see if it lines up at this point. (Even if you created a full template of your tray out of wood I would guarantee that there will be various sections that do not line up.) Now using a marker, mark which sides need work on and start stretching any shorter portions out to match your partner's tray, while making sure your curved corners also match up. Once you and your partner seem confident about your fitting, take a pair of pruners each and trim off the edges until you get a straight edge all along your folded sides and corners. Sand it blunt to finish and double check again with your partner's tray to ensure no further matching up is required.
(For this exercise I had a partner to help me make the molds required to make the trays and also align together with mine in order to create two halves of a whole.
Step 1: Material Prep
Start by grabbing a sheet of aluminium and using a compass/scribe, using a steel rule, Draw out a 4 sided square/rectangle, the lengths and widths of which are decided between you and your partner. Using the Sheet cutter, cut out your decided shape and remove any sharp edges from the 4 sides. Now using a circular item, mark the corners with the circles chosen and make an offset of 1cm. of the resulting outline. Using a pair of pruners, trim the 4 sharp corners into the radius of the curve drawn. Take the same circle you used earlier and taking bits of wood, mark a series of circles on the wood to cut into cylinders/pucks. Use a band saw to roughly cut the shape and smoothen the shape using a spindle sander. You may also at this point wish to have two wooden slabs that have true 90 degree angled edges to them. You may use a belt sander to ensure all edges are exactly 90 degrees before working on your tray.
Make sure you wear the required eye protection, tie your hair if it's long and have no dangling chains, wires or strings on you while you do this.
Step 2: Lets get smashing!
Start by clamping your aluminum between your two slabs of wood along the offset you created. Starting from the middle you may start by lightly tapping the overhanging aluminium till it starts folding downwards 90 degrees. Start moving outwards until you reach the edge of the curves. To create a smooth surface without scratches you may wish to do this with a wooden stake to soften the blow on the aluminium, reducing the amount of marks left on your material. Repeat this process for all 4 sides.
Step 3: Shaping the curved edges.
Once you have finished all 4 sides, remove your clamps and now clamp your material at a corner between two of your created pucks within a vice tightly. And using a hammer (with/without a wooden stake) start folding the corners (It should fold up similarly to your bowl's edge) in the direction your sides are folded towards starting from one side to another until a rough 90 degrees is achieved. Repeat this action for all 4 sides and make sure you don't tap your metal too hard and cause your folds to bite into your wooden cylinders/pucks.
(if you muck up and get a couple folds as you attempt to create/smooth out your folds, take a smaller hammer and just attempt to hit it back out on the opposite side you are hitting on. Sometimes even hitting it on the side of the folds help widen it which may solve the issue. Take note however, as you are basically stretching the material into a bowl shape, your edges won't be the same smooth circle you cut out, and will require trimming, so don't fret if you have a few tears at the edges. If you have tears within the bowl and away from the edges. Well tough luck friend! Start again!)
Step 5: Refinement
Line up your tray with your partners and see if it lines up at this point. (Even if you created a full template of your tray out of wood I would guarantee that there will be various sections that do not line up.) Now using a marker, mark which sides need work on and start stretching any shorter portions out to match your partner's tray, while making sure your curved corners also match up. Once you and your partner seem confident about your fitting, take a pair of pruners each and trim off the edges until you get a straight edge all along your folded sides and corners. Sand it blunt to finish and double check again with your partner's tray to ensure no further matching up is required.
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