"Reteplav" wrote in message
...
I`m attempting to make a 6` wide fence panel with an "arch-shaped" top
and am
looking for suggestions to bend the wood for the top.

I`ve tried cutting, assembling and gluing ( plus screws ) 5mm strips of
wood
with minimal success ( The ends refuse to remain bent)

Any suggestions will be most welcome



This is done professionally by using steam ovens and weights. The timbers
are laid on rafters in a big oven like room and varying weights are placed
along the length with the heaviest ones in the middle. This even
distribution of weigh gives the best results in making an even uniform
shape. The oven is then filled with very hot steam for hours on end and
this causes the timber to soften and the weights then pull it into shape.

To do on a small scale in possible using buckets of boiling water and
standing in the middle of the batten while the ends are placed on piles of
bricks or something. The boiling water is then slowly poured all over it
until it softens enough for your weigh to form it into shape. This
technique may take huge amounts of time and water and heating bills though.

I'd suggest going to your local timber yard and asking them to keep any
badly warped and bent timbers they find and you may get them cost price if
no one else wants them.