THE PROCESS
We used pieces of annealed steel which was put through an oven to make it softer and more malleable.
We used the guillotine to cut the sheets into smaller individual pieces, roughly 15x35cm. As you can see below the guillotine still freaks me out!
I first used a nylon mallet on a metal pipe to make a the shorter length curve. This went well except I realized I should have started with the long curve first as it would be harder to achieve once my metal had been hardened.
Once one of the cylindrical wooden bases became free I hopped onto that and started to mold my metal length wise to achieve the reverse look. This slightly flattened out the pipe work I had done previously so once I got my desired large curve, I used the pipe again to even out the smaller curve width-wise and make it slightly deeper.
Below is a photo of me using a metal hammer and a small tapered T-Dolly to even out some of the bumps in my curve.
Scratches and marks were left on the surface due to the use of metal tools and the metal pipe on the aluminium. I should have used the nylon radius mallet instead to minimize marks left from the tools, and possibly a layer of material between the metal pip and the surface of the object would have lessened the marks created when hit against the pipe.
I tried to remove the black marks left on the object by using a natural, non-toxic alternative to metal cleaner. An internet search led me to the natural solution of lemon juice and bicarbonate soda. I left on the powder and juice for several minutes and then wiped off the solution with a rag. After some rubbing I found that most of the black marks were able to be removed.
Images of the finished product are below. I would have liked to have achieved a smoother surface, but I am very happy with the strong reverse curves I made.
