Bending Wood

[Noel Butcher]

Her indoors has requested that I make a doohickey for her that requires curved components. I plan to do this by bending thin (1 to 1.5 mm)strips of wood and laminating them together. They won't be under any great strain, I don't need much, so cost is not really a consideration. So, any hints as to what would be a suitable timber to use would be greatly appreciated. Also any do's and don'ts would, again, be appreciated.

[Iain]

Somewhere around I still have my steamer, it is a 6" diameter pvc pipe that is sealed at one end with a screw cap at the other. I -place my strips in this and there is a liitle hole at the bottom to which is attached a 1/2" plastic hose. This connect to my 'up market connosieurs billy' you know, like an ordinary billy but with a spout.
Place water in billy, put on burner, boil, reduce heat to simmer, steam goes out of spout into hose and into chamber. After about an hour thin pieces of wood are like limp spaghetti and you can just about tie knots in it.
I made a run of landing nets using long contrasting strips of what was on hand and made a former out of MDF to hold them (with glad wrap so the water would not contact the MDF). After they dried and set I removed them from the former and glued them using yellow glue and put them back in the former to set. Remove, trim and finish.
Piece of P*#^!!!!!!!
Have fun.

Forgot the timber, I used walnut, pine http://ubb.ubeaut.com.au/ubb/frown.gif and whatever offcuts I could muster. Dpn't know how decking timbers would work with the oil content.

[This message has been edited by Iain (edited 30 May 2001).]

[Noel Butcher]

Twenty minutes for a reply? C'mon fellas. Lift your game! Seriously though, thanks for an amazingly swift response. I'll give it a go. Many thanks
nb

[Shane Watson]

If you are going to laminate thin strips together, then steaming really isn't neccessary. Depending on the curve though. You will need a form so you can clamp your strips together in the desired bend while they cure. You will also have to allow for spring back. But from memory there will be less spring back with laminating than there will be with steaming. This has to be taken into account when constructing the form.
I am pretty sure timber species is not relavent. Except if you plan to laminate alternate timbers to achieve a highlighted effect of the laminations. In which case, the timbers should be of similar properties. Eg, grain direction, grain density etc.
Iain's covered steaming, so there's really not much more to tell.
I would suggest however trying it on some scrap first to make sure it works, and that you have allowed the right amount for spring back.

Um, as for glue, use the best you can afford. PVA probably won't cut it. Talk to someone from AV Syntec and they will no doubt recommend AV203, which is a two part urea-formeldahyde glue.... Damn good stuff...

Cheers!

------------------
Shane Watson..

Combine Love & Skill & You Can Expect A Masterpiece!

[This message has been edited by Shane Watson (edited 30 May 2001).]

[Noel Butcher]

Thanks yet again!

[JackoH]

Noel. There is quite a good article on jigs for laminating in the latest issue (June 2000 #97) of The Australian Woodworker.
Regards. John H. http://ubb.ubeaut.com.au/ubb/biggrin.gif:

[S Hayward]

G'day Noel.
Most timbers will bend if thin enough but probably the most important thing is you need clean straight grain. As you look at the edege of the strip, if the grain runs out then there is a much greater chance of the piece snapping. PVA glue tends to creep but if the laminations are thin enough ie 0.5 - 1mm then I doubt there will be enough stress to bother it so PVA may be OK. Otherwise, for a small job slip down to your local hardware and pick up either some Epoxy or Urea Formaldehyde glue. These are much more rigid and high strength. AV 203 as far as I am aware is only available in 5L bottles ( or bigger )and it does have a shelf life. You can buy through Laminex Industries or FHS. There are also a few distributers around Bayswater area but I doubt you want to buy that sort of quantity. You should be able to buy small amounts of other products like Selleys 308 from the hardware.
Good Luck
Shaun

[Iain]

I might add that with bending I was doing the bends were fairly tight and changed direction suddenly, bit like a tennis racquet, I used yellow glue as the landing nets were purely decorative and not for immersion in water (they were presented as trophies and had little flies inlaid in the handle). If I were using them for fishing I would use an epoxy like the others recomend.
The reason I use a former from MDF was because I wanted the frame to retain its shape and not want to spring back to straight when the first opportunity presented itself.
I made my own forms from 1" MDF and I drew the shape required which was a bit like a teardrop, then cut it out with a scrollsaw. The inner part was screwed to a base and the upper part of the former was cut in half from top to bottom and screwed to the same base using wing nuts and a slot in the base. When the laminations were wrapped around the base the outer was slid into place and the nuts tightened thus holding the lot together.
I have not seen what John Hambly is describing but it may well be along the same lines, in the meantime I will go and have a look for the mag John describes, thanks John, sotto vocco or is that squeako vocco? http://ubb.ubeaut.com.au/ubb/biggrin.gif

[Shane Watson]

Shaun, you can get AV203 in 1L containers. I have only bought it in 1L containers until last week when I needed to get a 5L. The limited shelflife can be a hassle. I have always bought AV260 in 5L containers until recently. Now I get 2 x 1L containers. http://ubb.ubeaut.com.au/ubb/confused.gif

I am in the process of laminating some silky-oak 200x40 together to make 200sq for some billiard legs. Sticky process...... http://ubb.ubeaut.com.au/ubb/rolleyes.gif

Cheers..



------------------
Shane Watson..

Combine Love & Skill & You Can Expect A Masterpiece!

[Roger Peine]

It's all been said.....Apart from.... Make sure that you "Quarter saw" your strips. 24 hour araldite works a treat as well... as does any epoxy.
have fun
roj

[Noel Butcher]

Many Thanks One and All.

[paul snape]

if you want to bend timber the first thing to do is to get a suitable timber for bending , not all straight grained timber are suitable , every timber varies a lot in this respect , we are lucky here in australia as we do have one of the best bending timbers in the world in the timber blue fig ( silver quondong ) it bends very easy when steam is applied to it , and was used a lot for all sort of timber that needed to be bent , but you should check on the species you want to use and its specifications for use , these can be found in a species listing of all australian species .