Thread: Surprise!

On the strap issue Alan, You could always use a couple of old vehicle seatbelts as they are rated at 5tonne.... Cheers, Peter

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Ahhhh, there it is, stop searching!

Originally Posted by fletty

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Too late in the day sir....

Originally Posted by fletty

Thanks Mick and Ian. The curved drawer fronts that I made for the 3 cedar tables were also laminated and shaped between 2 fixed formers but they were much wider than a single ratchet strap and I wouldn’t want to manhandle multiple parallel ratchet straps due to the distortion that could happen with uneven loading even using a steel strap on the outer face? The pieces on this project however are MUCH narrower and might be a candidate for ratchet strapping over a single male former?
I also have the Veritas steam bending steel strap system but it has the double role of shaping over a former AND axial clamping to keep the whole cross section in compression during steam bending which wouldn’t be required for glue laminating.
It will be simple enough however to do the next one with one of the wide ratchet straps (fencefurniture group buy of a few years ago) and compare with today’s rigid former piece?

Alan

The 50mm ratchet straps are usually 9m long. I have several but am not very handy to you.

This is an example out of 193 results for 50mm ratchet tie down

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2-x-BEAV...kAAOSwuMFUh7CP

I could only find them in pairs or sets of five, but I only looked at one page. Rated at 2500Kgs.

Regards
Paul

Another thing the bowyers do with two rigid formers is to insert a length of layflat hose on top of the laminations and then inflate it once the formers are in place. Applies even pressure over the whole lamination.
You do need to modify the formers to suit, steel bands instead of clamps as the hose provides the pressure.

I woke early (= Mrs Fletty had an early start at work ) and headed off on my morning run.... but only got as far as the shed!
It was like unwrapping a Christmas present.
Im very happy with the result and here is the GOOD, the BAD and the fletty...

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First of all, the curved rail was square and not twisted. Of all of the possible outcomes, ‘not square and twisted’ is the only one that cant be corrected.
I cleaned off both edges with a chisel plane, ran it through the thicknesser.....

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and it retained its squareness.
When used on the furniture, only 1 edge is visible so I CAN live with a few gaps provided they are all on only 1 edge...

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This is the worst section and it is near an end so would probably be cut off anyway but here is a typical section of the other edge...

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...... and I am VERY happy with it!

The whole concept of the design is that NATURAL blemishes of the timber will be retained to link it back to the much-loved tree. Split laminations are NOT NATURAL but, as they are only on one edge, this curved rail is a ‘user’.
I am also impressed (relieved?) that the undressed laminations straight off the tablesaw, give such a good result

Now, only 15 more to make .......

I found one of my 2 available, group buy, wide ratchet straps.
Two are currently tensioning the grand-urchin’s flying fox in the back paddock and, as the Bubs are coming to GaGa’s house tomorrow, they are not available
I also found my trusty stainless steel straight edge.
After cutting and sizing the next stack of laminations I rehearsed the dry assembly of the laminations, the stainless steel ‘smoother’ on the outer face and ratchet strap. I must have looked like a one-armed paper hanger with hives! Due most probably to a tightish turn at the back of the male former, the ratchet strap would not pull the ends on to the former?
As I still have another 15 to make I decided to try a less dramatic change on this one. I used both halves of the former again but placed the stainless steel ‘smoother’ between the female former and workpiece?
I won’t know until I unwrap it tomorrow BUT the stainless steel greatly increased the continuous contact between the female former and outer face....

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However this seemed (or appeared?) to make the contact on the inner face worse to the extent that there was no glue squeeze-out in those areas. I quickly made some softwood wedges and tapped them in until there was evidence of squeeze-out...

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IF I get a good result on this piece, my next change will be to find a similar ‘smoother’ for both faces?
Yesterday’s curved rail was sanded to 800 and given a first coat of gloss WOP ...... just because I could

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I’m on a roll now! This morning I unloaded yesterday’s and loaded another ...... all before breakfast. As I need a total of 16 (see edit below!), I will have to get into a daily routine ...... which is something that I haven’t managed for the last 69 years!
This morning’s rail was also square with very few open glue lines and, even through the chaos of the glue-up, I managed to retain some figure across the laminations.....

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At a ‘design review’ yesterday over over coffee with MrP and after with a glass of red, a design change was suggested which would require 4 more curved rails! MrP should be out of hospital in a few days

16 days, 20 days. Meh.

Surely you could get 2 glued up each day? Glue one up first thing in the morning, then take it out of the former and glue another one up last thing in the afternoon. That should give you a good 10 hours in the former and plenty of time for the glue to go off.

Originally Posted by cjbfisher

Surely you could get 2 glued up each day? Glue one up first thing in the morning, then take it out of the former and glue another one up last thing in the afternoon. That should give you a good 10 hours in the former and plenty of time for the glue to go off.

Its got to be worth a try? 10 days IS 10 days!

Into a rhythm now. I’ve finally got my petrol chainsaw and ripping blades and can now rip the 150 x 150 x 1500 beams into 75 x 150 x 1500 and then cross cut them to 150 x 75 x 750. This is both liftable and a good size to resaw the laminations for the curved rails.

95E91A51-01BA-42E6-BBA7-7EC5BFBF366F.jpg 64A1A0A5-8618-471E-8E62-803142EA26E1.jpg
The finish off the ripping blade is very even and, so far, only 4 fine passes on the jointer have been required to fully dress the face. HOWEVER, the milling attachment I bought is not very good and these cuts are not square, consistent but not square. I do not recommend this milling attachment.

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Borrowing a term from Photoshop and Lightroom, I’ve developed a better workflow for making the curved rails. I now cut 6 laminations about 7 mm thick and cycle them all through the drum sander until the whole stack is 40 mm wide.

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I should have done this right from the beginning because any long and short taper issues are fixed AND, the surface striations seem to help with alignment and glue spread?
Its therapeutic to stand by the sander ......... with a glass in hand?

Did we notice that they were not square before? I don't recall you mentioning it before. Wouldn't be summink to do with the new saw would it? (surely not).

How do the rip blade with a bit of petrol behind them go?

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

Did we notice that they were not square before? I don't recall you mentioning it before. Wouldn't be summink to do with the new saw would it? (surely not).

How do the rip blade with a bit of petrol behind them go?

No, the first 2 we did were quite square but the 2 I did today were both equally UNsquare? The petrol saw is considerably heavier so that might have something to do with it. For the next one/s, I’ll cant the guide board.
Re the rip blade ............slow but steady wins the race