Bent & twisted - warning - metalwork content

Came across a neat medieval bent-wood chest on the web and decided to try my hand at bending some wood for a scaled down version of the chest (8" long - 1/3 full size).
I had a bundle of 1.5mm mahogany veneer tucked away and thought that might be suitable, made up a former and Knocked up a steamer from a length of PVC pipe and a wallpaper stripper.
After an hour in the steamer the first strip was bent to the former with a strip of stainless sheet as backing, dried overnight then glued up off the former while still damp.
Second strip given the same treatment and then glued to the first. There is an overlap of three layers at the back to re-inforce the hinge side.
The bending went quite well but not as easily or as neatly as I had hoped, the use of a rasp & sandpaper soon ironed out the wrinkles
The metal-work was cut out with a piercing saw from 40thou steel sheet (mostly from a re-cycled projector casing - I never throw anything away, then oil blackened. The pins are escutcheon pins with the heads suitably 'distressed'. I ran out half way through so had to turn up a few on the lathe.
On the original the metal parts are held on with nails clenched over on the inside but I couldn't get this to work in the small size so the pins are rivetted over copper washers.
Attachment 303369Attachment 303368Attachment 303370
Some images of the construction on my website here

Anyone seeing the latest weather news from this green & pleasant land will understand why my next project may be to build a big boat and start collecting pairs of animals.....

Web-footed Mark

Love it OBUK!!!:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

You certainly put some thought and effort into that!!. Cutting those metal
strips most have been damned tedious.

Impressive! :2tsup:
Regards

That is very impressive. Nice job.

Really nice, and very different.
They tell me it's a bit damp there at the moment.

Nice work old biker. very nice.
i reckon it would make a pretty cool lunch box


Cheers

Frank

Great project Old Biker. Thanks for the details on the veneer bending. Very impressive.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Old-Biker-UK

Came across a neat medieval bent-wood chest on the web and decided to try my hand at bending some wood for a scaled down version of the chest (8" long - 1/3 full size).
I had a bundle of 1.5mm mahogany veneer tucked away and thought that might be suitable, made up a former and Knocked up a steamer from a length of PVC pipe and a wallpaper stripper.
After an hour in the steamer the first strip was bent to the former with a strip of stainless sheet as backing, dried overnight then glued up off the former while still damp.
Second strip given the same treatment and then glued to the first. There is an overlap of three layers at the back to re-inforce the hinge side.
The bending went quite well but not as easily or as neatly as I had hoped, the use of a rasp & sandpaper soon ironed out the wrinkles
The metal-work was cut out with a piercing saw from 40thou steel sheet (mostly from a re-cycled projector casing - I never throw anything away, then oil blackened. The pins are escutcheon pins with the heads suitably 'distressed'. I ran out half way through so had to turn up a few on the lathe.
On the original the metal parts are held on with nails clenched over on the inside but I couldn't get this to work in the small size so the pins are rivetted over copper washers.
Attachment 303369Attachment 303368Attachment 303370
Some images of the construction on my website here

Anyone seeing the latest weather news from this green & pleasant land will understand why my next project may be to build a big boat and start collecting pairs of animals.....

Web-footed Mark

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Great work, well done.

Alex

Very cool
I will NOT be showing my wife
Because then I would have to make an exact copy
So that's two two ups

Funny I was checking out your site for signs of life yesterday :no:

Good to see your keeping your head above water ............can I send a bar of soap :p towel maybe :;

Really like the whole box very medieval :2tsup::2tsup::2tsup: Sue said I am safe from requiring to make one ATM 1 spinning wheel done one to go :doh:

OH will there be a WiP on the ARK :wink:

My knee-jerk, gut-reaction at first glance was the top quality of the metal work over the box. The pirate's treasure chest. And what a treasure it is.

Should I find the metal, would you care to outline the oil-blackening process?
Quite frankly, I need to build a pair of those.

Oil Blackening-
My method is pretty basic - get the metal red-hot & dunk in oil, reheat & burn off the oil, repeat a couple of times to get a depth of colour.
It doesn't seem to make a lot of difference, at least to my eyes, which oil. The box metalwork was done in lamp oil (probably whale oil from a distinctly Victorian tin that came from my Grandfather's shed) but I've had good results from cooking oil (ex. chip fryer) and old motor oil.
The process is a bit smelly & almost certainly a fire risk so common sense would indicate that it is probably best not carried out in a shop full of wood shavings.
The metal bits were de-oiled in the pile of wood dust under the bandsaw.
Once assembled on the box the whole thing was liberally coated with tinted beeswax polish (home made), left to dry off then finished with a shoe brush.

Mark