Thread: Steam bending cedar

Simple answer... Keep steaming!!

No seriously... 2 hours is not a long time depending on the thickness x length x breath of the timber

Keep steaming away... eventually it WILL become floppy then you can mould it to the shape you want

Cheers
Shane

PS... maybe someone else will say the opposite But thats my take and like all free advice take it as you wish

Oh and good luck Bob

G'day Bob!
Never tried it but I suspect Wild Dog Man hit the probverbial nail on the head regarding giving old dry wood time to pick up a little moisture.
There was a boat builder in Townsville back in the 60's who used to steam timber at his boat yard on the bank of Ross Creek in what looked like a length of 6" or 8" bore casing. The pipe was simply laid up the bank of the creek at about a 30 degree angle and a fire lit under the closed bottom end. I can remember seeing steam rising from the open end.
Can't give you any details about time etc and I am sure it is too late to ask the man concerned but the process didn't look too complicated.

Good luck Barry Hicks

Gee dad where are you

recalling him bending for a rocking/highchair it took him a good while to acheive it.
even using bricks to wait the wood with to aid the bend

the drier the timber the harder it is.

Bob - I have done a small amount of steaming, but never cedar. Also had my best success with relatively green wood. At the dimensions you give, I would think most woods could be coaxed into bending with a little steam, so this stuff does seem a bit obstinate. It may be that you are not getting even heating of the long bits and part of your problem may be that it's cooling too rapidly when you take it out of the steamer (?)

I notice Bootle is silent on the steaming/bending properties of Toona.

It may be as others have said that old wood needs a bit more coaxing - I would get a smaller offcut of similar dimensions & fool about with it - try soaking the wood, then steaming - see if that plastisizes it.

Where have all the old coachmakers gone......?

Cheers,
IW

Hi Bob,

I have just spent the day steaming timber so I may be able to help.

I posted some info in steaming here https://www.woodworkforums.com/f11/steaming-timber-bending-37606

Also, the timber sounds a bit dry. Soak it for a few days to up the moisture content. The extra water in the timber will help transfer the heat internally. With timber that size, 20 minutes should be plenty.

Send me a PM or post here if you have any other queries and I may be able to help.

regards,

AD

I haven't done a lot of steaming but I've done some plus lamination bending. First thing is that if wood is kiln dried, it's difficult (if not impossible) to steam. Steaming sets the cellulose in the wood so it won't bend. My guess is the age of your wood is a factor here. Additionally some woods bend better than others. Air dried Ash is a good one for bening, but I have no idea how Cedar works.

Is this a piece that can be done via laminations? That might be your answer.

Paul

Originally Posted by IanW

Where have all the old coachmakers gone......?

Cheers,
IW

I am here learning like everyone else or should I say relearning.
The year prior me taking up my trade they changed the ame of the course to Motor Vehicle Builder.
I was fortunate enough to glean/gain some knowladge of steaming from my 1st year teacher prior that my dad did a bit. I have to ring uncle and get a pic of that chair.

Unfortunatley even though I worked restoring old vehicles in my early years on weekends at a museum, I still didn't get into steaming. I have notes on the matter I will see if I can dig them up.


I have just re read your dimensions this size of forming and old wood that old yes it's dry after 106 yrs.
My be you need to consider a jig steam bender a series of clamps slow forming and tightening as its steamed
Mean while Google is a great place to start
http://www.geocities.com/nwwoodencan...team_bend.html
http://lumberjocks.com/topics/98
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=6034

good luck with it and keep the post going with your progress maybe some pics of what youve got already set up.

Ray

Thanks for the advice, fellas. My steamer box is certainly getting hot enough, as you can't pick it up after a while, it's just too hot!
I had a chat with Richard Vaughan at the Canberra Working with Wood Show, and he suggested that using an electric kettle, I just wasn't getting enough steam. So, I went out and bought one of those $20 butane camper stoves and put it under a 20 litre drum half filled with water and a large funnel to increase the outlet size from the drum. 3 hours later, no improvement.
So, that night, I took the drum lid home and cut down a tin with a diameter of about 4" and put it in the centre of the lid to provide an even bigger outlet. Next day, slight improvement, but in the end, no more than my original attempt with the kettle! I could do the mild curve on the jig, but it wouldn't go the sharper curve.
The NSW Railways certainly did it, but then, the cedar they were using in 1901 was pretty fresh from the forests. They must have done some seasoning, but how much is probably lost in the sands of time. (How do you go French Polishing green timber?)
I think the suggestion made by several of you of soaking the wood for several days might be the go.
I'll give it a try and report back.
Cheers, Bob
PS. Just re-read my original post and despite my best efforts, got caught up in the "centimetres-millimetres" thing. The piece is 80-100mm wide, not 8-10. Bah, bring back inches!!!

Originally Posted by Bob Hall

Cheers, Bob
PS. Just re-read my original post and despite my best efforts, got caught up in the "centimetres-millimetres" thing. The piece is 80-100mm wide, not 8-10. Bah, bring back inches!!!

Hear hear

Bob,

Did some steam bending with electric kettle a while back and one of the main things I learnt was that when removed from the steamer I had to work extremely fast to have the piece clamped whilst plastic, otherwise it would just spring back when removed!

The timber was stringy bark sawn about 30 years ago 4mm x 50mm x 1m long, 20 minutes was heaps, no soaking etc before steaming. Never tried cedar!

Good luck!

[QUOTE=Bob Hall;589529]Thanks for the advice, fellas. My steamer box is certainly getting hot enough, as you can't pick it up after a while, it's just too hot!
I had a chat with Richard Vaughan at the Canberra Working with Wood Show, and he suggested that using an electric kettle, I just wasn't getting enough steam. So, I went out and bought one of those $20 butane camper stoves and put it under a 20 litre drum half filled with water and a large funnel to increase the outlet size from the drum. 3 hours later, no improvement.
So, that night, I took the drum lid home and cut down a tin with a diameter of about 4" and put it in the centre of the lid to provide an even bigger outlet. Next day, slight improvement, but in the end, no more than my original attempt with the kettle! I could do the mild curve on the jig, but it wouldn't go the sharper curve.
The NSW Railways certainly did it, but then, the cedar they were using in 1901 was pretty fresh from the forests. They must have done some seasoning, but how much is probably lost in the sands of time. (How do you go French Polishing green timber?)
I think the suggestion made by several of you of soaking the wood for several days might be the go.


Bob,

Is there really serious amounts of steam in the box? not just a trickle but a lot. if you took the end off the box would the steam really billow out? If not then there is not enough steam. To get serious steam you need a serious heat source - on mine I use the lagest diameter gas ring I could get from the BBQ shop and a cut down 44 to shroud the boiler.


Another thing you could try is to wrap the piece in several layers of rags and pour boiling water on it and saturate the rags then wrap the piece in plastic. You need to go back and keep the water hot in the rags but this can also work. It will only take a couple of days to dry out.


regards,

AD

I think there is, AD, but without having a window,it's a bit hard to tell. I left a small crevice for an outlet and there's plenty coming out of that.
The thing is, in all the books which I've consulted, they all seem pretty simple bits of kit, not rocket science. I've gone well past the minimum requirements with my latest version and it still doesn't work. That's what's made me think that the wood's just so bloody dry!
Anyway, I've cobbled up a soaking chamber from a piece of PVC pipe blanked off and the piece is now in soak. I'll now leave it for a few days and give it another burl.
Cheers, Bob

we did a bit of work on old cars that needed curved wood for the bodywork, but we used to cut the curved wood from the solid we never bent or laminated what we used this is just another method that you may consider

Well, latest attempt: Soaked for 24 hours and steamed for about 30 minutes. Bent easily round the gentle curve then broke on the tighter bit!
Next attempt: I'm soaking the next piece all weekend and will steam it on Monday for a lot longer.
Anyone for cedar porridge?
Cheers, Bob