crafts, wood and metal,centerpiece,industrial centrepiece, bending metal,diy,
Crafts,  Painting

Metal and Wood Centerpiece

I didn’t know what to call this really. Saw something similar on pinterest and thought…I would like to have one of those and it could be fun to make.

I drew up a sketch because I knew as soon as I mentioned it to Jim he would have a bunch of precise questions. Don’t laugh…

crafts, wood and metal,centerpiece,industrial centrepiece, bending metal,diy,
Pretty straightforward right??

All I knew is I wanted it to be wider than it is tall (unlike my drawing). I found a weathered 2 x 6 so that was the jumping off point.

crafts, wood and metal,centerpiece,industrial centrepiece, bending metal,diy,
Perfect.

I also found a couple of pieces of scrap metal we could use. Mind you they were slightly different widths, minor detail. Ha.

As well, I knew I wanted it to be roughly 24 inches long when finished. So first we cut the board on the table saw…

crafts, wood and metal,centerpiece,industrial centrepiece, bending metal,diy,
Nice clean cut.

Time to take the weatheredness (is that a word?) off it. Usually we would pass it through the planer but Jim said it would be a herculean task to get the planer out, so we used the jointer to get the four sides level.

crafts, wood and metal,centerpiece,industrial centrepiece, bending metal,diy,
A few passes each side on the jointer.
crafts, wood and metal,centerpiece,industrial centrepiece, bending metal,diy,
And the wide sides.

Then the board got sanded on all sides.

crafts, wood and metal,centerpiece,industrial centrepiece, bending metal,diy,
A quick sand.

Here it is with the two pieces of scrap metal I found.

crafts, wood and metal,centerpiece,industrial centrepiece, bending metal,diy,
All the parts.

Time to bend the metal. We have bent metal like this before when we made a wall clock.

DIY Live Edge Clock
Live edge wall clock.

This time we wanted corners in the metal. Jim took the first piece of metal and we did some measurements and made a mark where the first corner would go. The metal got put in the vise and Jim started to bend it with brute strength.

crafts, wood and metal,centerpiece,industrial centrepiece, bending metal,diy,
First bend.

After another measurement he made the second bend.

crafts, wood and metal,centerpiece,industrial centrepiece, bending metal,diy,
Two down…two to go.

Time to make the third bend.

crafts, wood and metal,centerpiece,industrial centrepiece, bending metal,diy,
Bend #3
crafts, wood and metal,centerpiece,industrial centrepiece, bending metal,diy,
I think he is gone around the bend.

With the four corners done, it was time to cut off the excess metal. Jim used a handsaw with the metal in the vise again.

crafts, wood and metal,centerpiece,industrial centrepiece, bending metal,diy,
Final cut.

We decided it wasn’t necessary to weld the metal together. The “seam” will be on the bottom and will be squeezed tight. Probably a herculean task to get out the welder anyways.

You can’t even see the seam on the bottom. But see how it looks just like my drawing!!

crafts, wood and metal,centerpiece,industrial centrepiece, bending metal,diy,
Test fit.

Ever make something, winging it as you go, only to have to make a second one. Hard to get the bends in exactly the same place, exactly the same length, but we did it.

To attach the wood and metal together we decided to use screws, so we had to mark and drill holes in the metal bands. One on each side.

You can't even see the seam on the bottom.
Back in the vise.
You can't even see the seam on the bottom.
Perfect.

Since our metal corners were rounded, we eased the top two edges of the board to match the rounded bend.

crafts, wood and metal,centerpiece,industrial centrepiece, bending metal,diy,
Using the hand planer.

Time for finishing. I brought all the pieces into the house and in the finishing room I painted the metal with black paint for metal. I wasn’t sure if I had metal paint and I would have just used regular paint in that case, but luck was with me.

crafts, wood and metal,centerpiece,industrial centrepiece, bending metal,diy,
Looking good so far.

I stained the board with Minwax Early American stain using a cloth.

crafts, wood and metal,centerpiece,industrial centrepiece, bending metal,diy,
Nice.

With everything dry, I assembled the pieces using four screws.

crafts, wood and metal,centerpiece,industrial centrepiece, bending metal,diy,
Then painted them black.

For now I added a few plants to the top but I imagine it will sometimes get filled with candles and at Christmas time candles and greenery.

crafts, wood and metal,centerpiece,industrial centrepiece, bending metal,diy,
As a plant stand.

Here it is a little closer…

crafts, wood and metal,centerpiece,industrial centrepiece, bending metal,diy,
We did good.

Turned out to be a great way to spend a hot Sunday afternoon.

Later

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