Thread: Bending wider planks

Originally Posted by waveink

- how tricky was the clamping? Looking forward to seeing the sanded and finished piece!

Mate, I'd love to tell you that I made up special jigs to jam the various pieces in place but the truth is that I used 5 minute araldite (weighed out to get a good set) and stood at my bench like a mug holding the pieces until it went off a bit. There's nothing like a fingertip on each end to make sure everything is aligned perfectly.

Thanks for the kind words from Waveink & Col. It's certainly the first time I have tried coopering and I am now inspired to design some other pieces using both this technique as well as steam bending. I've kinda liked curves ever since I discovered girls.
Mick

Originally Posted by Glider

After extensive fiddling with steam bending the 20mm European Beech 250 wide over 100 mm outside raduis proved impossible for me. Kerfing looked better but spacing the cuts proved also difficult. So I ended up coopering the curves which worked out OK. Anyway, here's the finished article awaiting a lick of varnish.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16869272@N05/

Thanks for all your suggestions. BTW, I think spirit based varnishes might yellow the beech. I would like to retain the pale colour as much as possible. Does anyone know much about water based clear coatings? Do you get a mark if someone puts a wet glass on the surface?

Lovely work, Mick, I do like success stories. And whether it was your first or fiftieth effort at coopering the result is great.

My preferred clear finishes are polyurethane, danish oil, or both. But on hardwood or pine they do darken with age - nice colour tho, IMHO. Have not used european beech so cannot advise on colour effect.

Cheers

Graeme