in the beginning...

Here is what the corner looks like on January 29, 2016:

and a view from a bit further back:

Good intentions...

I knew the day would come when I would want to curve these corners.

So, a number of months ago, I calculated the length and height for each of the curved corners that would be needed for my backdrop and I drew up a cutting plan:

I pondered a material options for this purpose and decided that countertop laminate would be a great choice. It's thin, and flexible, and strong.

I went to my friend who does kitchen installations and asked him to supply pieces, per the drawing. It was ok with me if they were cut from scraps, and this would save a pile of cash, since he would give me the pieces he cut from scrap for free. (Score!)

Bonus! he was able to use scrap for all of the pieces! $20 cutting fee please.

It turned out that this was not the best idea. Many of the scraps had been stored rolled up instead of flat, and some of them had been curved the wrong way. For years.   Yeah, there's no way these will ever lie flat again, or curve the other way without extreme tension.

Case in Point: The piece for the Morris - St Jean curve...

Making this sit nicely against the wall will be impossible.

Oh well! More thinking was obviously going to be needed.

The New Plan...

Sheet metal!

I took my cutting plan over to a local metal fabricator and the next day I picked up my pieces.

I like this idea because the material is even thinner than the countertop laminate and will be easier to fill and smooth to mate with the wall.

I will make frames from plywood to form the curves and I will use silicone to mount the pieces in place. This way they will be easier to remove some day in the future when I am long gone!

Here you can see the piece for the Morris - St Jean curve just set in place:

The edges will naturally lie very flat against the wall:

More Wood!

These pieces will form the basis of a set of beams to brace the metal from the backside...

Here is the first set being cut:

Each set takes about 15 minutes on the laser, 4 sets will be needed.

The 4th set should be done in about 2 minutes!

I am beginning to...

....dislike you more and more with your use of the laser!! I am so jealous!

Masonite

Hi Bill,

In the past, for backdrop and fascia curves, I used masonite. It has a lot of flexibility, and even without securing each end of the curve it would stand up and retain it's curve without buckling. However, the idea of sheet metal is interesting. Are you planning a photo backdrop or painting it?

Always nice to read your detailed blogs. Looking forward to your progress.
Brad

Are you planning a photo backdrop or painting it?

I'll be doing a full photo backdrop.

I have also used masonite before, but in this case, since I will be using my walls as the backdrop, I wanted the thinnest possible material to make a nice transition to the wall.

Beaming!

The parts were ready and everybody was still sleeping, so early this morning I began assembling the 2 curved beams...

In the last photo you can see the two beams finished and ready for the next step... some vertical separation

Wet feet...

Next I needed vertical supports to hold the beams in their appropriate positions. I had cut the pieces for these last night also, so let's get to it!

Here are the pieces:

Assembly is easy...

Apply glue to the teeth and hold them together.

After allowing the glue to dry, I was ready to install them...

Hmmm. Not so fast.

I discovered a flaw in my plan... There is no easy way to hold them here while the glue dries.

I'll have to make some feet for them.

...so now I'm waiting for the glue on the feet to dry.

A note to the designer: Slots in the beam next time please.

Looking good, Bill!

I like the idea of using metal for the curved backdrops.  Now you can use your laser to cut out clouds, birds, airplanes, etc from magnetic material and just stick them on the backdrop!

wait... what?

Interesting idea you have there Rick!  hmmmm..... I'll have to ponder that.

Model railroad? Laser!

I'm not sure if Bill's plan is building a model railroad at first. Instead he needed some reason to play with his laser! The model railroad is only a side effect.

Getting a leg up...

For the record, I had trains before I had the laser

Now that the feet are dry (er, dry enough) I sanded the feet flat so they would make good contact, laid them out, applied some good ol' horse glue and stood them up!

So since I have wet feet again, I'll have to wait until these dry before adding the top piece.

Patience. Learn, you must...

It's dry enough, I'm sure of it.

so I set the structure in place...

added glue to the top of the legs...

placed the top piece on...

...And weighted it down. I also used a few clamps to make the legs line up where I want them...

In a few minutes I'll order up some Chinese take out and site down to watch a movie with my wife. That should give the glue a few hours to cure.

Look at the awesome light saber chop sticks my wife made me for Christmas!

Clever, is she. 

Sticky Situations...

With "Chinese and a Movie" behind me, it's time to get back to the trains!

The guys at the metal shop said I should use silicone to bond the metal to my wall and wood pieces. I asked if DAP ALEX Plus would be ok. They said, "no."

In my usual style, I don't believe them.

I wouldn't mind if I never had to smell silicone again so I'm having a little experiment.

I took a few pieces of the baltic birch I'm using for just about everything and stuck them to a scrap of sheet metal I have. I did one with LOTS of caulk and one with only a thin bead.  We'll see how it looks tomorrow.

Since I had the caulking gun loaded anyway, I also applied a few dollops of the stuff to the table under my new curved backdrop support, and a small bead of it along the tope edges where it will contact the wall. I pressed it into place and cleaned up any excess DAP I could see.

It's been on there for about an hour and guess what? It's not going anywhere.

Hopefully I can say the same about the Metal / DAP / Wood combination tomorrow!

Nothing changes...

I still have no patience. I just went over to my DAP test piece and tried to pry the wood pieces off of the metal.

Not going to happen.  DAP for the win! 

Next test with the metal: Super 77 spray adhesive!

That's Just Super...

Another thumbs up by the looks of it!

I sprayed a piece of photo paper with super 77 and stuck it onto the metal.

After about a minute, I already can't peel it up!

I'll just leave the test piece leaning up here for the next month (or less?) while I set about building the rest of the corner supports. If everything is still secure when the rest of the corners are ready, then I will attached my metal and spackle in the joints.

That's it for now!

One last thing: I marked the middle of the cove on the benchwork, and the middle of the sheet of sheet metal, and I put placed the sheet into position. I didn't glue it yet, as I said that will come later, but here's how it looks:

Going forward from here, I'll plan to only post a photo of each corner as it's completed.

Thanks for following along!

Sheet metal

      Hi Bill, That steel kind of can have a thin oily film so you might want to clean it while it's off the layout. If your top trim can lap over the metal a bit you won't have to worry about glue strength over time and expansion contraction cycles. You probably should use some kind of sealer on the ends where it hits to wall so it won't rust over time, I've seen metal corner beads discolor the walls from moisture in the air.....DaveB

Alternate Sheet Product

Bill,

I used 18" wide aluminum rolled sheet material from my BBS with a white finish on my home office diorama. All it needed was support, which you have taken care of. Once glued up its ready for paint or sheet image. 

aluminum coil

Brad,

I went specifically to get aluminum coil material for this, but the vendor suggested the sheet metal since it is stronger and less than 1/2 the price per foot.

...and now I can apparently stick up birds and airplanes with magnets! 

Either way, I think the coiled or sheet metal products are a great choice. 

 "the vendor suggested the

Yeah, steel is probably a better choice, aluminum is so soft that it might get dents in this thin material.....DaveB 

2 Down, 4 to go...

St Jean Corner, over the Plum river...

Slightly more complicated here...

That's it for this end of the room!

Looks good Bill. I thought

Looks good Bill. I thought there was a vinyl or plastic product for flashing roof valleys I heard about that might make a good alternative. Yours is definitively holding the curves nice though. Now if instead of being in the great white north you were down here in Texas after you painted that steel you could put it in the back yard in the sun and have an oven baked finish in a real quick hurry.