[Chris Yaughn]

I am working on my first large radius and am wading through all of the first time “learning experiences” that I am sure all of you have long since endured.

Does anyone have any hints or ideas on what to watch out for or what to avoid. I am doing a 28” raidus bar top for a coffee shop and am having a hard time with the seem on the outside curve (facing the customers of course).

This is my first “public” job and I need to get this right. Any advise would be appreciated. One thing to keep in mind is that I am working only with hand tools at this point ( no cnc). So all templates. curves etc.. are being made by hand with a home made compass router rig.

thanks

Chris

[Andy Graves]

Easiest way with only hand tools is as follows:

• Cut countertop to exact shape
• Place a piece of material that will encompass the entire outside corner.
• Hot glue or clamp the piece on and cut the piece with a flush trim bit.
• Use a compass to mark the depth of the edge and cut the inside with a jig saw
• sand smooth with a drum sander
• Make another one.

This method take awhile but it works and you don’t need any special tools. You could bend the edge, but then you would need an oven.

[KCWOOD]

What thickness is your bar top, on the edge?

[Chris Yaughn]

Thanks Andy,

I actually bent the edge the first time ( ok 3 times I tried it) in a residential oven. 4ft of drop edge in 30” of oven. Quite an aggravation. I will try your method. It makes sense and seems way to logical now that some one else has suggested it.

This will be the third time that I have made and torn apart this part of this job. I need for this to be the one to say “Oh yeah, stop by Statesboro Brews and check out the tops we did for them.”

Thanks for the help and all the work you guys put into the site. I trust there is some coin left over for you guys after all the bills have been paid. If not there should be.

chris

[Chris Yaughn]

KC,

I am doing a 1 1/16 drop edge in a 1/16 rabbet. Total edge is 1 1/2.

[Andy Graves]

sanitychaser wrote
Thanks Andy,

I actually bent the edge the first time ( ok 3 times I tried it) in a residential oven. 4ft of drop edge in 30” of oven. Quite an aggravation. I will try your method. It makes sense and seems way to logical now that some one else has suggested it.

This will be the third time that I have made and torn apart this part of this job. I need for this to be the one to say “Oh yeah, stop by Statesboro Brews and check out the tops we did for them.”

Thanks for the help and all the work you guys put into the site. I trust there is some coin left over for you guys after all the bills have been paid. If not there should be.

chris

OK so you can bend stuff. Great. Let’s try this method then.

• Measure what you need and cut to length.
• Set the table saw blade at about 3 degrees and cut the edge piece face down.
• This will make it so the edge will have a nice tight fit at the front.
• Hot glue some small wood blocks where the back of the edge will be.
• Put them every 3″ or so
• Now heat the edge and bend it around. Wait about a minute before clamping. This will keep the edge from getting dents in it from the clamps.
• Let it cool
• Check the fit on the leading edge
• If you see small gaps then block sand the bevel a bit more until you get a good fit

This seems like a lot of work, but once you get the hang of it, it will actually go pretty quick

[Shane Barker]

Not to take away from Andy’s suggestion, because it is a safe way to do it. But it will burn up a lot of material. On a radius that large thermoforming is not really that hard. I have done a lot of thermoforming and I don’t have an oven. I have used a 12’ cal rod heater, a hand held heat gun, and the most awesome top I made was formed with kerosene heaters. It can be done Chris; some times you just need to keep trying. But if you have the material Andy’s suggestion is fool proof.

Shane

[Chris Yaughn]

Andy,

WOW, You guys respond fast.

What you outlined is pretty much what I tried Except: Waiting to clamp(a 1/2r ate up the dents from the clamps) and back cutting the edge. Again kind of a “why didn;t I think of that” moment.

Shane,

Can I bend this stuff with a heat gun if I take my time. The Warranty is not an issues with this job as it is for a friends new business ( I am the warranty), but I was concerned about cracking or discoloration.

Also has anyone ever considered a PVC bender for larger bends. The open ended hot box would allow you to bend the middle of a longer run.

[KCWOOD]

Couldn’t you have just done a stacked edge and got the same radius. You said 28″ radius, ? I could do that before the oven heated up? Almost all my bar tops I do a radius, I always do a stacked edge. I just did a 14ft bar top 20″ wide for a theater room. It was a long sweeping radius and the ends were a 10″ radius. It took about 3 hrs to lay it out, cut the pieces and glue the build up. Sanding it was a PITA though !!!

[Shane Barker]

I usually save the heat gun for smaller things in the field, works great on set on splashes against a bad wall. If a heat gun was all I had I may try it, just set it up like Andy said and clamp the strip on one end and go for it a little at a time. We have a laminate forming machine with a 12’ cal rod heater that we use for our long strips and it works great, heats the whole thing up at once. I am not familure with a PVC bender but you must remember one thing….. Solid Surface fabricators are known for their ingenuity and cunning ability to overcome these small obstacles. So try whatever you can think of, and who knows you might teach us how to do it next time.

Shane

[Chris Yaughn]

Thanks for all the replies, the sheet comes in Fri so I should know the results by Mon. pm.

The pvc bender is what electricians use to bend pvc when laying wiring in funky shapes. You would have to rig a thermometer to monitor temps as they can heat to hotter than what you want but they are portable and can heat up to 4 ft at a time.

[Andy Graves]

sanitychaser wrote
Thanks for all the replies, the sheet comes in Fri so I should know the results by Mon. pm.

The pvc bender is what electricians use to bend pvc when laying wiring in funky shapes. You would have to rig a thermometer to monitor temps as they can heat to hotter than what you want but they are portable and can heat up to 4 ft at a time.

Be careful when you heat PVC, it sometimes puts off toxic fumes if it gets too hot. Maybe a metal tube would work better.

[Chris Yaughn]

UPDATE:

The lights are not in yet but maybe you can get the idea from this picture. There are a lot of first time lessons in these tops.

Chris

[Shane Barker]

Looks good Chris,

How did you end up thermoforming the edge, or did you.

Shane

[Andy Graves]

Look Good. If you can do that you should have no problem in the solid surface business.

[Author]

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