Console, T-top, deck and more...

[awthacker]

Very nice work. Do you need special tools to bend the aluminum tubing, or just clamp it along the wood template? I'd like to try that, as opposed to the $2,000 purchase route.

[Curapa]

Originally Posted by awthacker

Very nice work. Do you need special tools to bend the aluminum tubing, or just clamp it along the wood template? I'd like to try that, as opposed to the $2,000 purchase route.

It's actually EMT galvanized tubing. You can bend up to 1 1/4" by hand pretty easily, any bigger and it gets tough. I have made several things out of the EMT, the only thing is it has to be painted but only because the welds will rust. If I had a TIG welder I would have gone the aluminum route. I had about $70 in the first t-top and only about $10 in the new one because I reused most of it.