Re: Bending wood

I haven't made anything that required me to use bent wood, but I think building a steamer trunk or box would be reasonable if you need to bend plenty or often.

Re: Bending wood

i saw an episode in new yankee workshop where he bent wood. he has a huge steamer though.

Re: Bending wood

Thanks guys. I had the same thoughts however there is an opinion that tropical wood will not bend by steaming. They seem to based on what I've been doing though from what I seen it is not quite the same.

Re: Bending wood

btw, are you gluing the bent wood or you making a form?

Re: Bending wood

If steaming is not an option I usually re saw the wood about 1/8” thick enough for bending glue it and laminate it to a form, much stable than steam bending.

Re: Bending wood

If steaming is not an option I usually re saw the wood about 1/8” thick enough for bending glue it and laminate it to a form, much stable than steam bending.

without a steamer, that is the best option imo...

Re: Bending wood

Actually, that's already what I'm doing. The strips shown will be laminated one on top of the other so I get curved sticks that are each 20 mm thick.

I heard before that rattan can be bent with a blow torch. Is this true?

Re: Bending wood

I would be interested in something like this steamer, instead of having to improvise one. I wonder if these are available locally.

Re: Bending wood

From what I've read, to be able to steam bend, you need to expose the wood to the hot steam for a good duration of time. This helps the heat and moisture penetrate deeper into the wood to soften the fibers and help in the bending process. Maybe we can get together for an experiment to try this.

Re: Bending wood

Here is the result. Some springback but no problem really.

Re: Bending wood

I have been wanting to make a project out of bent wood, just not considered steamed... so how about a group project? problem is who gets it? must be the person who spends for the materials and merienda... 🙂 hahahaha

Re: Bending wood

lncc,

What material do you use as your mold? Is that plywood?

Re: Bending wood

Yes the thing the strips are being bent to has plywood sides with fiberglass laminated to the inside of each. The side are spaced by solid lumber blocks. The "mold" is the actual unit into which the strips will be bonded. The strips will provide additional area to bond the bottom panels which are three layers of 3 mm plywood. These "things" are the outer arms of the outriggers. They will take a lot of stress so they have to be built solid. In fact after I close the whole thing, a couple of layers of structural fiberglass will have to be bonded to the outer surfaces.

Re: Bending wood

Sharing my experience on bending wood. Hope someone finds it useful.

On the boat I am building, the stem (or bow, the curved front of the boat), composed of the stem and false stem, as well as the floors (the curved wood frame at the bottom onto which the keel and lower hull is attached) require some wood bending challenges.

First, I cut thin (5mm) strips of wood. The idea is that these strips of wood are easier to bend. Glued together when bent, they will form the stem and floors.

Went early to the palengke to get some garden hose and a "takure" (kettle). Didn't go for the fancy whistling-when-boiling kettle but, instead went for the old-fashioned big pot.

I improvised a steambox by screwing together from my already-cut chipboards meant for the strongback (boat jig) and set things up:

The hose goes into the window into our "dirty" kitchen where the water-filled kettle went to boil.

Ater about an hour of this, I noticed that the steam was not going into the box. Instead, it kept spilling out of the kettle's lid, despite various attempts of keeping it shut (weight, clamp...).

So, I thought, maybe the kettle was too far from the steambox. I then commandeered my maid's clay stove and did this:

That handkerchief made for a tight fit on the lid.

After about an hour more of fiddling with the fire, still the steam would not come out!

I decided to open the kettle and see if there's something wrong inside it. Only then did I realize that the kettle I got had its spout connected to the near-bottom of the pot. Since the pot is filled with water, naturally, the steam would never find its way into the spout (the inside end of the spout being underwater)! And I thought I was a smart man!

Should've gone for that whistling kettle.

So, spilled out the water until the level in the pot is just below the spout. It worked.