I haven't tried this, but thought I'd throw the idea out there. I was going to post it in someone's build thread, but decided it might hijack it, so....
The idea is to use the compound curves from one 180 degree mandrel bent exhaust pipe chunk to create the corners of a 30's style grille. It would give you a nice rounded edge compared to the somewhat sharp looking shells using door frames, etc.
You can get these in several radius sizes and tube sizes. I would suspect 6" or 8" radius of a 1-1/2" O.D. tube would work well.
It would need to be split into quarters. The hard part in my view would be splitting it into the 2 U's. After that, I would think it wold be best for the pieces to be used for the bottom would be cut at a near 90 degree angle, and the top at about a 5 degree angle.
Flip the pieces around into place something like this:
I also think I would want to make a template out 1/8" plywood to rest the outside lips on so the sides would not look flat when sheet metal surround is welded on.. And somehow give a little point to the middle compared to the sides. Possibly bring the bottom out compared to the top too. The gaps could be filled in with same OD tube.
Just a thought I had. I was thinking those mandrel bent chunks might be handy for window opening corners and other small compound corners.
The idea is to use the compound curves from one 180 degree mandrel bent exhaust pipe chunk to create the corners of a 30's style grille. It would give you a nice rounded edge compared to the somewhat sharp looking shells using door frames, etc.
You can get these in several radius sizes and tube sizes. I would suspect 6" or 8" radius of a 1-1/2" O.D. tube would work well.
It would need to be split into quarters. The hard part in my view would be splitting it into the 2 U's. After that, I would think it wold be best for the pieces to be used for the bottom would be cut at a near 90 degree angle, and the top at about a 5 degree angle.
Flip the pieces around into place something like this:
I also think I would want to make a template out 1/8" plywood to rest the outside lips on so the sides would not look flat when sheet metal surround is welded on.. And somehow give a little point to the middle compared to the sides. Possibly bring the bottom out compared to the top too. The gaps could be filled in with same OD tube.
Just a thought I had. I was thinking those mandrel bent chunks might be handy for window opening corners and other small compound corners.
