Tips and Tricks to Make a Smooth Curve - Kevin Caron

(Text on screen): Tips and Tricks to Make a Smooth Curve, Kevin Caron, www.kevincaron.com
The Voice: Hey, Kevin. What are you doing?
Kevin Caron: Oh, I'm playing with angles here.
I'm working on a new public sculpture, and I've got all this layout that I have to do.
It's going to have all these nice, gentle little curves to it.
And I don't know if I invented it or not, but I came up with a great way to make these little curves when you work all by yourself.
You want to see?
The Voice: Yeah.
Kevin Caron: Come over here.
So, when you find yourself with a nice, long sheet you've got to cut, you want to make a nice line on it somehow
and you don't have anybody down on the other end to hold your straight edge.
Vice grips.
Great little clamp. Little welding clamp I picked up at the welding store the other day.
I've already marked the sheet where I want my line to start, so I can just come in and just clamp that clamp right at the edge of my line.
Make sure you leave enough for the thickness of your material that you're going to put up against the clamp.
This is just a piece of, I think it's quarter-inch stainless rod.
And then you can come in and just line it up right at the edge. You're right on your mark.
And get to the edge of your other mark.
And then you can come back in with your chalk.
Now, this is for stainless steel. It's a red chalk instead of a white chalk, so it'll show up on the bright, shiny aluminum
better than the white would.
The Voice: Where'd you get it?
Kevin Caron: I got it at a welding store. The same place I got the clamp. It was hanging behind the counter with all the other chalks.
The only reason I don't like this chalk in particular is because it's so thin.
If you get any sideways load to it, if you don't hold it perfectly straight up and down, it snaps. It's really brittle that way.
But, boy, it sure shows up great on the shiny metal.
And then all you have to do is just get a little curve started. Get the kind of curve you want in there.
Now, make sure you stick your tongue out of the right side of your mouth when you're doing it, now.
So, you know, um. It's on this side of the line. So, over there.
So now that I've got a nice line going here, with the chalk so I can see it, now I just go ahead and break out my saw
and I'll go ahead and cut it just on the outside of the line. Make sure, on the outside of the line, to go ahead and make my cut.
Then I'll have a pattern that I can take to the other side of the metal, lay it out in the right spot
(don't forget to add for the curve that you took off with the saw) and go ahead and make a line over there. That way they both match on either side.
The Voice: You mean a pattern. You mean the piece you cut off.
Kevin Caron: Well, the piece I cut off.
Now I can go use it on the other side so I can get my curve the same way, so they both match.
So when I add them up to the other sheets, there's going to be five of these sheets altogether.
Now my line is going to be curved but straight. They'll all be the same size and it will all have a nice, smooth flow to it.
Then after I get these five cut, then I've got to bring in five more sheets and make the back of the sculpture,
and they all have to have the same curve, too.
But then I'll just use the big sheet as the pattern and I can just trace them out, cut them on the correct side of the curve (gotta remember),
and you're ready to go. Then I can start welding things together.
Let me get to cutting. I'll see you next time.
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