bending ply?

[spaner]

hi im new to this forum, i have had a good look around and everybody seems to be cool and very helpful :)

on that note i am looking at making a ply top that as you can see by the picture it has some pretty drastick bends in such small measurements.
i was looking at at using 3m sheets and soaking them in water?
i was also think of just using some rounded 90x35 timbers to clamp it down?
the overall thickness i want to get around 8 sheets :D
any ideas would be much apreciated.

ps. i did do a search on this(in all of the forums) but couldnt find any thing

[Rookie]

I've never bent ply, but from what I've read (mainly here) and seen on the mandatory cable TV shows, don't soak in water. The two ways I've seen are either steam, which I think is used mainly for "normal" timber (not ply), or bending jigs. Bending jigs seem easy to use, and the thinner the ply the better to avoid springback, but there seem to be some pretty sharp angles there so I'll defer to those who have done it before.

[IanW]

Spaner - you're really up against it if you want to get bends in wood as acute as you've drawn. You can buy 'bending ply' in much thinner sizes than 3mm, but not sure just how thin it goes - at least 1.5mm, I know, because I have some I use for making templates. However, even 1.5mm won't give such sharp bends. You can build it up by using successive layers of very thin veneer, but you will still end up with a small inside and outside radius.
Cheers,

[LineLefty]

Theres a book in the My local library called, funnily enough "Bent ply" and the cover is made of plywood. Never opened it but do an amazon search.

[spaner]

thx for the input i will check for that book now! :)

[ian]

Spanner
I suggest you investigate using aircraft ply. I've seen it as thin as 0.8mm (I think, but definitely 1.2mm)
The challenges will be making a form — you'll almost certainly need a male and female
finding a glue with minimum creep — you'll probably end up using one of the two pack epoxies
finding a glue with a sufficient open time (time before the glue skins over or gets too stiff to clamp) — you may have to experiment here
getting enough clamps together in one place and having enough hands to apply the pressure you'll need
Lastly, for what you want to do, I'd seriously consider using veneer