Bending wood... any wood?

[woodguy7]

I agree with Jess, the lamination's must be smooth.  Not necessarily parallel as i have seen magazine articles where the lamination's have been slightly wedge shaped but they must always be dressed smooth. 

Another way to bend thin pieces is if you have a workshop stove.  There was a vid on line from a guy called John Buller & he held the wood on the chimney until it bend around the pipe.  Seemed to work quite well but you are limited to the radius of the chimney pipe.

I will try to find the video.  Woodguy.

 

[woodguy7]

Here it is.

Bending wood, Laminating curved woodworking

Woodguy

 

[ecks79]

Thanks everyone!

Jess - there are a few things i have in mind, but the first project is a childs bouncer chair (although it might not 'bounce' so much)... the picture below is what inspired me, however i am making the bent legs and base from hardwood and the seat will be a fabric or mesh...

 

[woodguy7]

That's a nice looking chair.  I would say you will need a vacuum bag with Styrofoam former for something like that.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

What a cool looking chair!  Hope you will document the progress of your project here on the FOG.

I would think that most of the techniques discussed above would work for this project.  Though I would be wary of 'free form' methods.  It will be critical for your chair that the two sides match exactly (or the cross pieces will have to be angled).  Bending them both to the same form would ensure that.

Here's a few considerations:

I would think that the lams could be fairly thick, as the curve is not radical.  Try 1/4 stock to see if it will bend to the curve.

The lams should be a few inches longer than the final workpiece to allow for slippage.  The top curve will be a slightly larger radius than the inner curve, so the ends will come out slightly offset.  No problem, you can cut it square to final length later.

Similarly, allow a little extra width for slippage and cleanup.

The big challenge, I think, may be cleanup.  If you had a bandsaw and a jointer, you could saw off the raggy gluey yucky edges and run the piece over the jointer for cleanup.  Maybe a jigsaw and a handplane would accomplish the same thing.  I have trimmed pieces like that on a tablesaw, but never felt safe doing it (I should listen to my inner voices, no? [unsure]).

You might consider mixing woods for the lams.  I think the main pieces would look great with a mix of dark and light lams, say walnut on the outside lams and maple in the middle....

Brilliant idea to make the seat of mesh or fabric.  Much easier to do and probably more comfortable, too.

Sounds like a great project!!

@woodguy, cool video.  Wish I had a woodstove!

 

[ecks79]

Thanks for all the resources and great ideas... Thanks for the vid Woodguy! and for the tips Jess, i like the idea of mixing the lams with dark and lighter wood.

I'm planning on using a single template to do both legs, hopefully they should turn out to be exactly the same... i also found this video on youtube, which seems to be the best method for me.

Woodworking Information : How to Bend Wood to Make Furniture

I'll be sure to document the progress, it might be a few weeks away though - I'm just finishing off my  CMS module shelves.

Thanks again
Tony

 

[Oyvind]

If you want to know more about steam bending, you may want to head over to the Woodenboat Forum and check out the Building / Repair section:  http://www.woodenboat.com/toforum.php . 

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Thanks for sharing the video Ecks.  I would add a couple of suggestions to the method.  Cover the form with wax where it contacts the lams.  This prevents the bottom lam from sticking to the form if there is glue squeezeout.  Similarly make an extra lam to use as a caul.  Wax the side that will contact the last real lam.  This will prevent the clamps from leaving dents in the top lam.

 

[RONWEN]

This has got to be one of the best threads going on FOG at the moment -- some really great tips, links & ideas!

 

[ecks79]

Jesse,

Thanks for the tips, great idea!

Just waiting for my band saw to turn up so i can get cracking!

T

 

[ecks79]

Quick Update.

Thanks for all the tips guys! This weekend i made the template for the outer 2 legs, this took me all day as i was being fussy and ended up re-doing this 4 times. Im now happy... (pictures to follow - but nothing fancy).

I tried 2 types of timber for the bend, Pine and Cedar - both required the lams to be 2mm or less, and i still snapped a few... I was only testing timbers, glue up and dry times with some scrap. Here's my findings;

(1) Definitely better to wait for the bandsaw to turn up before cutting 2mm lams on the table saw.
(2) Festool TS55 on the table makes nice clean edges on the lams - with no other prep required before glue up
(3) Cedar is WAY too soft for this project, the clamping required to keep the timber on the form compresses the top 5 lams before all gaps are closed between lams.
(4) Glue up is messy - i need to reduce the amount of glue required, and try a roller. I still don't know how little glue i can use before it's not enough? (anyone?)
(5) WAX is definitely required (Thanks Jesse) - i should probably get some.
(6) Keeping the lams flush with each other is difficult - the lams want to run off in all different directions once the glue is added. I will have to keep the form on the table and rest the lams against the table edge to line them up - messy (glue) but i can't think of a better way?
(7) Dry time - to ensure the timber doesn't spring back, keep it clamped for 12 or more hours - ignore dry times on glue bottle!

Not a very interesting post this one, but when i get back into the shop ill take some pictures and try a real run and glue up of the legs... this time with a few learnings under my belt.

Tony

 

[ecks79]

Thanks for sharing the video Ecks.  I would add a couple of suggestions to the method.  Cover the form with wax where it contacts the lams.  This prevents the bottom lam from sticking to the form if there is glue squeezeout.  Similarly make an extra lam to use as a caul.  Wax the side that will contact the last real lam.  This will prevent the clamps from leaving dents in the top lam.

Thanks Jesse,

What type of wax am i looking for? and would it be found in a hardware? i had a quick look and couldn't find anything... i have a million candles floating around.. will it do the same thing ?

Thanks again for the advice! very helpful!

Tony