Main Arch Form
The function of the tools I use and how they work are explained here. Specific tools used are noted in bold.
The arches are formed by gluing together multiple laminate plies. The plies are bent over a convex form, and held in place within a vacuum bag. The first step is to build the forms. Because this is new dimensions for the table, and new form was made for the main arch. The form is made by joining multiple solid sheets of MDF (medium density fiberboard) together with spacer blocks between the sheets. The arch is traced onto the MDF pattern using a thin piece of wood that naturally bends into a pleasing arch. The pattern is rough cut on bandsaw and trimmed and trued using the edge sander and hand tools. A pattern cutting bit on the shaper is used copy the four needed MDF arches. The pattern cutting bit has a bearing that is flush with the cutter head. The bearing rides against the pattern arch, and the cutter duplicates the cut on the other arch, which is temporarily attached to the pattern. Once the arches are cut, spacer blocks are glued in place and trimmed using the bandsaw and then the shaper pattern cutter. Finally the sections are glued together. The outside curve is fine tuned by sanding.
