Cold forging allows you to create various shaped products without heating. This processing does not require large-sized equipment and can be carried out in a small workshop. For each type of decorative element, its own devices are used. They are simple to make and accessible to a novice craftsman who knows power tools and welding. To create a rolling machine, purchase rolls and some parts.
Fences, railings for stairs and balconies - you can also do it yourself
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Canopy over the porch using cold forging
Porch railings are a decoration, not a purely utilitarian fixture.
You can make a gazebo and forged furniture
Gate like in a fairy tale
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Profile pipe and its features
Profile pipes of various sections are a durable, accessible and inexpensive material. In furniture production, it is ideal as a reliable frame: frames, stops, and table legs are made from pipes.
Main advantages of pipes:
- structural strength;
- reliability;
- ease of processing;
- variability of sizes;
- availability;
- low price;
- good compatibility with different materials
Pipes have a square or rectangular cross-section, the most popular thickness is from 10 to 40 mm. The larger the furniture and the greater the weight of the tabletop, the thicker the pipes used for the frame should be. As additional reinforcement, use the lower or upper trim. Such products are very stable.
The downside of the design is its impressive weight, which can be adjusted by choosing lighter materials for table tops and seats.
Furniture made from profile pipes can look deliberately brutal or elegant and weightless. If handled correctly, the products will be stable and safe, they will last for many years and will not require repairs. Finished furniture is easy to modify: just change the tabletop or repaint the profile pipe.
Furniture style: how to make a choice
It is believed that a profile pipe is too rough and simple a material, suitable only for unassuming street benches or garden tables. However, with the right choice of material and proper skill, you can assemble completely unique things from pipes that are not inferior to expensive forged products. Even simple rectangular tables and reinforced stools can look stylish if they fit correctly into the interior.
From a profile pipe you can make:
- tables (dining tables, desks, coffee tables);
- bedside tables;
- consoles;
- garden furniture;
- stools and benches;
- bookcases;
- mattress frames;
- beds;
- serving tables;
- desks;
- bar counters;
- workbenches.
Furniture in high-tech, scandi, loft, and modern minimalism styles is most often made from profile pipes. In order for the product to look impressive and not resemble a budget homemade product, it is important to wisely select additions that soften the utilitarian appearance of profile pipes.
Deliberately rough, massive frames go well with natural wood, varnished or stained, tempered glass, natural or artificial stone, and metal. Bent structures will fit perfectly into interiors designed in the spirit of art deco, modern, and vintage.
Expert opinion
Korzhavin Daniil Dmitrievich
Designer of stylish home furniture
Metal parts can be painted in light colors; artificial aging, silvering, and gilding techniques are used. Much depends on the skill of the manufacturer, technique and materials chosen for finishing.
What is cold forging of metal?
Tools for cold forging: hammer, bent, snail, twister, wave, volumetric and others.
To perform decorative cold forging, it is necessary to allocate a special workshop. To carry out the work you will need tools for bending metal. The workshop should have good lighting.
Cold artistic metal forging is the bending of small diameter metal rods using simple equipment.
This method of creating forged products is simpler than hot forging, which requires sophisticated equipment and knowledge of blacksmithing. Many forged products made by hot forging can also be created using cold artistic forging.
The most difficult stage of cold forging is welding of finished parts. It is performed after products from bent metal rods are made. After welding, the weld seam is cleaned and the finished structure is painted. Therefore, to master the art of cold forging, you must have welding skills.
First, the master creates a sketch of the finished product on paper, and then, according to the intended drawing, makes all the details and patterns by bending metal rods.
Related materials: the best combinations
For furniture, the frame of which will be a profile pipe, it is hardly worth choosing expensive wood. The ideal option for a countertop is regular plywood. It is quite light, durable, easy to process and suitable for various coatings. An equally good option is thin boards coated with plastic.
For coffee and dining tables with a bent openwork frame, thick tempered glass, transparent or tinted, is suitable. It is best to use a ready-made glass tabletop.
An inexpensive profile pipe is a reason to give a second life to old furniture. For example, a beautiful bed headboard and a welded pipe frame will make an elegant garden bench, a wardrobe door will replace a tabletop, and scrap boards will be useful for stool seats.
The size of the pipes is selected depending on the type of furniture. The general rule is that the greater the load, the heavier the pipe can be. For the home, it is better to use blanks with a thickness of 20-30 mm; for garden furniture, which moves less often and must be especially stable, a 40 mm pipe is suitable. All products are necessarily treated with an anti-corrosion coating, which is recommended to be renewed periodically.
DIY home furniture
It’s better to start with the simplest designs possible: a variety of tables and stools. You shouldn’t invent models yourself: all interesting solutions can be found on the Internet or specialized magazines. It is enough to choose an interesting option of the desired size and calculate what materials will be needed for implementation.
Kitchen table
Kitchen tables must be stable, withstand daily loads, and have a simple but attractive appearance. The best option is a tabletop with a reinforced structure.
The main load falls on the frame and legs, so for their manufacture it is worth choosing a square profile pipe with an edge of at least 40 mm. Additional crossbars are not needed; this will allow you to place roll-out structures with drawers or shelves, pipes, and household appliances under the table.
The tabletop can be made from boards with a waterproof coating, durable plastic, artificial stone or MDF. Depending on the design decision, the profile is painted to match the tone of the tabletop or made in contrast.
Living room table
For a living room in a classic style, an elegant coffee table about 35 cm high can be made from a pipe with a 10 mm edge. The desired shape is given using a pipe bender; in the middle part, the legs are connected by a transverse beam. For additional openwork decor you will need round fittings. The design is quite light, so it is better to use plastic or plywood for the tabletop.
garden bench
For benches it is better to combine metal with wood. The seat is made of wide slats mounted on a welded frame made of pipes 30 - 40 mm thick. Garden furniture must be stable, so the lower base is made in the form of a closed rectangle. It is necessary to coat metal parts with an anti-corrosion compound.
Back
- A conductor is made from a 40x4 strip, 50 cm long, which allows you to create curls, volutes and spirals with reverse curl.
- The strip is bent using a backing fork fixed in a vice, as well as a manual fork. Thus, a spiral is obtained, part of which is removed with a grinder.
- The resulting part is welded to a small sheet of metal.
- A square rod is heated, the tip is processed, and a curl is obtained. The workpiece is given a reverse bend using a hand-made pattern.
Questions and answers
I want to make a light table for the balcony. Is it possible?
Use pipes with a thickness of no more than 10 mm, welding them crosswise and without using the bottom trim. The table can be folded.
There is a dining table with a frame made of a profile pipe, a wooden tabletop. What chairs should I choose for it? Maybe make it in the same style, with a frame made of pipes?
It all depends on the style of the kitchen or dining room. Stools made from profile pipes look good, but they have a drawback - they are too heavy. Choose neutral wooden chairs in a matching color scheme, they are much more practical.
How to strengthen the structure of the table without using too thick a pipe?
The simplest option is a tabletop with a reinforced frame. For maximum stability, install 2 welded rectangles instead of legs, connecting them with a crossbar.
Is it possible to make a bed frame from profile pipes?
Of course, but it will turn out very heavy. To make the structure lighter, it is worth abandoning the headboard, welding only the frame for the mattress on legs with lining of the sides. To secure the mattress you will need a slatted bottom.
Purpose of the method
Cold forging is characterized by various curls, bends, twisted rods, etc. Almost every type is made on a separate device - a specific machine. They can be driven manually or electrically. For small volumes “for yourself”, manual cold forging machines are used. Although they are not particularly productive, they are much easier to manufacture. If it is necessary to put production on stream, similar devices are made, but with electric motors. In this case, there is almost no need to physically work, but the complexity of making the device increases significantly. In our material we will talk about manual machines for cold forging.
What devices are used:
- Torsion bars. With their help, tetrahedral rods or strips of metal are twisted in the longitudinal direction. The result is twisted columns, which are also called torsion bars. This is what a torsion bar and the machine of the same name look like
- Flashlight. On this device, the rod is also twisted in the longitudinal direction, but it is also additionally bent in the transverse direction. It turns out something similar to a flashlight. Hence the name of the device. This is how they make a flashlight
- Twisters or snails. Form flat curls of different diameters. Device for cold forging snail - for forming curls
- Bending machines or benders. Allows you to bend rods or reinforcement at the required angle anywhere. For bending anywhere and at any angle - bending machines (bending machines)
- Wave. In fact, this is also a bend, but of a more complex design - it allows you to change the direction of bending, obtaining wavy parts. Machine "Volna" - for the formation of the appropriate relief
- Devices for processing the ends of parts - inertial stamping machines or other home-made devices. Machines for shaping the ends of rods. In this case - crow's foot
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For a beginning craftsman, the most relevant machine for cold forging is a snail. Only with its help you can make many interesting things - from a fence and gate to a bench and other similar products. In second place in terms of necessity is a torsion bar machine. It adds variety to the details. All the rest can be purchased or made as you improve and gain skill.
