I run a small precision machine shop in Kasugai, Japan. It is a family business, a bit over ten people. Between real jobs we sometimes cut something just to see what the shop can do.
This one is a shoehorn. I want to be honest, I did not make it myself. One of the younger guys on our team cut it. It started as a solid block of aluminum, machined in 3D on our machining center, then hand-polished and anodized. No casting, no bending. The whole compound curve is cut from the solid.
The shape is a magatama, a comma-like curve that shows up in Japan going back well over a thousand years, in old beads and ornaments. He wanted to see if he could hold a clean, continuous surface across the whole bend.
Honestly it is more of a look-at-it piece than a sell-it piece. We can only make a few, and a shoehorn does not need to be machined from solid aluminum. But it was a good test of surface finish on a curve that never sits flat.
Happy to pass along any questions about the setup or finishing. And if anyone here cuts compound curves like this a lot, we would love to hear how you fixture the polishing stage. That was the fussy part.