Turning a new Leaf

by George Carlson

Actually, we're not turning anything. This article is about metal shaping, not lathe use, but I thought it was a catchy title. The object in the photo is a stand for a Chiminea. Chimineas are those clay outdoor fireplaces that have become very popular. A friend asked me to build a stand for their Chiminea. He just asked for a simple 15" ring with four legs, to hold it about 10" above the ground. Since the motif of his patio was grape and ivy leaves, I thought he might like this design a bit better. It is easy to make leaves, and they sure do make projects like this look more original.
There are many ways to generate patterns. In this case I placed an ivy leaf in my computer's scanner. I printed out the leaf in several different sizes. The patterns were then cut out and traced on 20ga steel.
Tracing is pretty easy. For larger patterns I use magnets to hold the paper pattern in place.
In this exercise I'm going to cut the leaves out using sheet metal shears. Sometimes I make a template from aluminum and cut them with a plasma torch. Tin snips are cheaper. I start by roughing out the shape. I have a corner notcher which works well for this. A bench shear would be even better. The idea is to leave a small amount of metal for the tin snips to remove.
Aviation tin snips are a good way to go. You can get them at Home Depot or Lowes for about $13 a pair. Red cuts toward Port (left), Green cuts toward Starboard(right) and yellow is for straight cuts.
After snipping them out, I like to use a 1" belt sander to smooth the edges a bit.
As a final treatment for the edge, I use a fine wire wheel to remove any burrs.
At this point you can use chisels to lay out veins in the leaf. Look at the original leaf to get an idea of what the veins should look like. They don't have to be perfect, just give the impression of a natural leaf. Notice the leaf is on top of a few sheets of paper. This cushions the leaf slightly and softens the sharp line from the chisel. I don't use a real sharp chisel. If you do, you may cut the leaf in half.
This should give you an idea of what we are after. Just a suggestion of veins works well. Since each leaf you make will have a slightly different pattern, they look more natural.
This looks drastic, but bending the leaf along the veins helps generate some shape to the leaf.
The leaf is pretty bent up, but that's a good thing. Notice how after I made a bend I had to bend the leaf back a bit to get the leaf in the press for the next bend. The unbending generates some waviness to the texture of the leaf.
Now I flatten the leaf out a bit, and the areas between the veins rise in nice curves. This is the backside of the leaf.
I have a square bar of steel I can put in the bench vise to act as an anvil (dolly to the sheet metal guys). I work along the edge with light blows from the hammer. This thins out the leaf and gives the impression that the entire leaf is thin. By using the edge of the dolly, you can generate some curve to the edge of the leaf. This generates complex curves that make the steel leaf look almost real.
Now I am preparing the stem for the leaf. The stem is made from soft steel wire. You can use welding rod, but it is pretty stiff. In the photo I am using the torch to heat the end until it forms a ball.
Now I just reflow the ball down to fuse with the leaf. An oxy-acetylene torch would also work for this. When you fasten the stem, keep in mind the way the stem was connected to the real leaf.
Next weld the stem to the branch (or the frame of the Chiminea Stand). Try to make it look natural. Since I plan to wrap the stem around the branch, I welded the stem at a very low angle.
The stem of an ivy leaf doesn't really wrap around it's branch, I just did this for effect. Notice I am directing the heat behind the bend. This helps give you a very tight wrap.
Here's the finished leaf. If the item will remain indoors, you could use a torch to produce nice color patterns on the steel, then do a clear coat. I treated mine with a phosphate etch to prepare them for painting.
This is a close-up of the stand. After phosphating, I sprayed on a two-part epoxy primer followed by a black base coat. You can use Rub 'n Buff, or artist's oil paint, to fill the veins with color so that they are more visible.