Thread: Steam bending silky oak?

I have successfully bent Northern Silky Oak (Cardwellia Sublimis). The piece I bent was only 19mm thick, 90mm wide and about 2400 long. Obviously the thicker the piece the harder it is to bend. From memory I steamed it for about an hour, but I'm no expert, possibly less would have been okay. I have an old electric urn on top of which sits a home made (inverted) funnel of colorbond. It fed into a length of black plumbing pipe that was supported at a slight incline, up from the urn. The end was partially blocked. (Don't block completely, you don't want an explosion) When I judged it to be ready it was removed (2 people wearing welding gloves) and clamped at one end of the job and worked around the curve, clamping as we went. In my case it was a skirting piece for a curved planter box/seat that I had already constructed, however depending on the job you may need to make a temporary caul (former). The metal of the clamps also caused some staining where it contacted the hot, wet timber but these were sanded out, but you may need to take precautions. Note also that some spring back does occur and if you are using a very light frame (or none at all) you may need to over bend it. I left it clamped overnight but it may only need to be clamped until it cools down. There's probably other people that can answer more fully than this, I only did it the once and only did minimal research (just needed to get it done so I could finish the job & get $$$) I used a special grade of drain pipe that is black, it's used in commercial applications and can handle boiling water (borrowed it off a plumber mate) I'm not sure how well the normal PVC drain pipe would hadle a few hours of steam. I know they used to make steamer boxes of timber but if you go this way you will need to provide a rack or pins for the job to sit on so the steam can get all round. I still have the urn and funnel somewhere (but can't find at the moment, so sorry no pics) and I would like to do some bent work in the future, so if you come across any good info sources please let me know. I have a photo of the planter box that I can post if your'e interested but it will have to wait till my other computer is re-hardrived as it has the scanner on it.

Lots of luck, have fun,
Mick

Good on you Mick.
That's just the sort of practical experience I was looking for. The piece I'm hoping to bend is grevillea robusta - hopfully it has the same sort of properties as northern silky oak. And I like the idea of the black plastic pipe - I was thinking I'd have to make a box out of marine ply.
I think I'll give it a go and see what happens.
Cheerio
Phil

like maybe a still (sp?)

Originally posted by Shane Watson
like maybe a still (sp?)

Mmmmm, that might be interesting, I know you can get interesting colour effects with some timber species by "fuming" them with certain chemicals, so who knows? Silky Oak & alcohol? You could sit around and steam your timber in alcohol fumes and if it didn't work out right well, you wouldn't really mind because you'd be off your tree from the fumes. Personally, however I never mix alcohol & work - the work gets in the way of the drinking.

Cheers!

Mick