Thread: Got any steam bending pics to show ?

This is a kitchen that I did about 10 years ago. the lady had a curved bench that she wanted to keep. I did it in hoop pine laminated 3 layers to get a thickness of about 25mm. The radius was about 400mm and it was borderline. It took a few goes to get the thing to work.

This is the only pic I have. The steamer was a gal steel tube wrapped in hession to keep the heat in connected to a tank of boiling water.

Hi Jake,
This is also a few years old now (1992), and its made from steam bent spotted gum. Found out about using the timber and general techniques from talking to an old guy at an art exhibition one night
The steamer was a length of down pipe with one end brazed to a cap; it was used vertically over a gas burner, so the wood more or less sat above a body of boiling water, held there on string! Rough as guts but it worked.
The body staves are about 6mm thick, cut from cardboard templates, and layed over circular bulkheads. You can't quite see the shape fully, but its like a tear drop with a distinct droop towards the tail, meaning some complex stave shapes!
The tail section are steamed and laminated in moulds, glued with Bondcrete. The ends were then morticed into a block before shaping. The whole thing lasted in the weather for about 5yrs before coming undone!
The rotor (or fan) shaft was a pipe running in solid timber bushings, with oil holes and worked a treat. For an idea of scale, the rotor was about 2.5m in diameter.

Cheers

thanks for sharing guys. ( my wife would love to have one of those wind things Andy. incredible looking machine. I'll have to make her one, one day)

The impression I'm getting is that some people steam bend then laminate them as well.

I'd never really thought of that. uno, always made laminates thin enough they've already got enough spring in them that they don't need steaming. just clamp them up in a mould.

What I want to do can't involve laminating though. Just steam bending at final thickness already.

What I'm trying to get my head around mostly is some kind of thickness to radius of curve ratio for different timber types.......ie. how much of a steam bend I can pull off in a particular kind of wood available here in australia.

Kwila. Has anybody steam bent kwila ?

Jake, I have some info stashed away with all sorts of detail, although most of it is for US timbers. I'll see what I can get in way of a simple jig setup and PM you.
I have no experience with kwila, but spotted gum should be a fair bet for you, access wise. Was used for boat building, so obviously fair thickness pieces can be bent. I found it tough, with a small window of working...once it cools it stiffens very quickly. Hence opting for the laminations.

Cheers

Jake

This project used hoop or slash pine, can't remember which. http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ad.php?t=67450

I did try steaming some flooded gum and spotted gum without success. The DPI has some info about specific timbers and their suitability for bending. eg http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/DPI/nreninf.nsf/v/79FC1967A6148FB0CA25740F0081AFC2/$file/Spotted_Gum_for_Farm_Forestry.pdf

Regards

James

Jake, years ago in Townsville, there was a boat builder
(Matt Taylor?) in Palmer Street, South Townsville who
built large wooden boats - fishing trawlers etc. His premises
were on the bank of Ross Creek.

I can remember seeing a large steel pipe (8" bore casing?)
lying up the creek bank with a fire under one end and steam
wafting from the upper open end.

Almost certainly, he would have been using some sort of
eucalypt readily available in NQ. I have always assumed
he was steaming boat ribs.

You now know as much about steaming timber as I do!

thanks.

will try spotted gum. I suppose I'm focused on kwila, because at work there's tonns of it. Offcuts there be perfect for what I want to do. Should be able to get them pretty cheap.