My client's 90-year-old father loves eating outside on this patio table. The family wanted a new set of legs fabricated so that they could use the table for many years. The tabletop is unique. Even though it's not natural marble, it has a beautiful design, and the table has sentimental value.
Materials
Processes
DAMAGE
This patio table came in for a completely new leg build. It was a project for my induction forge, hydraulic Hossfeld bender, ULTRA jig, and hydraulic press to tackle.
The legs and centre support were severely rusted. I had to heat and grind to help in their extrication. The biggest hurdle was to remove the bolts from the faux marble top.
The manufacturer had to pack the original legs flat for shipping on a sea voyage from China, to be assembled by the end user. Those legs were thin. This new fabrication and design created secure and robust joints meant for strength and durability.
The T-nuts were embedded within the marble. One of the T-nuts came out because the metric threads of the fastener would not budge and kept spinning. I secured it with epoxy, which seated it permanently.
Damage: rust and broken leg compared to finished product
rebuilding
I used my induction forge and hydraulic press to create the support tube that would eventually house an umbrella stand and secure the legs together.
Lessons along the way
I learned something new. In allowing the weld seam of Schedule 40 black iron pipe to be on a fold line, it split when folded. What helped aggravate the split was that I was cold-forming the flat area in my 55-ton hydraulic press instead of using heat to hammer down the flat area that I would eventually form into scrolls. To fix the issue, I welded the sheared seams. I'm glad it split because by catching the split and fixing it, I knew that it wouldn't show up years later rusting prematurely!
And then, another learning moment! It is never easy to drill a simple hole. For accuracy, I wanted to use the drill press, but no parts of the drill press would allow the size of the curved leg to be centred under the drill bit. Therefore, I hand-drilled the holes.
The legs slowly got their shape and curls thanks to my Hossfeld bender, ULTRA jig and induction forge.
Last stages
The patio table legs were ready for painting. These legs were to be shiny and clean for welding purposes. I do not weld through the finish, ever so that the black iron pipe would have a full penetration weld.
I cleaned off the mill scale and the lacquer finish and applied a matte black coating. It was great to get everything level and not rocking on one leg. The legs were aligned with their screw holes, ready for installation.
Finally, the patio table was ready for my client. You can see the side-by-side comparison of the old and new table support. Big difference! The original metal legs were much thinner, and the joints were weaker and didn't last long. These new table legs and centre support pieces will last longer because they are thicker metal.
finished product
special shout out
The induction forge is a fantastic tool. It helped me bend these legs. I used a pancake coil, which made short work of a long process of tweaking. Thank you, @coalironworks, for the induction forge, @cluaranforge for the coils, Yesteryear Forge for the ULTRA jig, and @derekmelton for his research and help.
