Thread: Bending Sydney Blue Gum

and when you do, half this crowd will tell you another way..............

Originally Posted by AlexS

If there is enough timber, I'd shape it on the bandsaw, purely from the point of view of it being less work. However, if you want to laminate it, Go for epoxy like Techniglue, which can be tinted using powdered pigments available from art stores. A small jar will last you forever - you don't need much, and if you judge the colour right, the laminations will be invisible.

I have tried this with both Blue gum and Forest red gum. Even when I get the pigmentation of the epoxy to match the colour of the timber, the glue seems to react with the timber and forms a dark glue line. The only thing I can think of causing this is the tannin in the timber. It seems the more tannin stained my hands become while preparing the wood, the darker the epoxy goes in the joint. Red mahogany is even worse.

I've never tried it with those timbers Rusty, but I've used it with Jarrah, ARC, Tas. Myrtle and silver ash with no problems. Could well be tannin causing it as I've seen Tas Oak darkened by epoxy.