On Tuesday, May 26, 2020 at 1:32:35 PM UTC-5, Sonny wrote:
Anyone ever bend slats by only wetting the wood? If so, how well did it work? Opinions, as to wetting only, also welcome.

I have numerous ash slats to laminate for making rockers. Prefer not to fire up the wood stove for steam bending. Ash is air dried for ~10 years. Did one slat (defected, had a knot in it) by just soaking over night and it bent well, but had ~50% spring back when released from the clamps. Just a test, so thought to soak, for several days, the project slats and leave them clamped for at least 2, maybe 3-4 days. Slats are about 5/16" thick ~2" wide.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/438361...posted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/438361...posted-public/

Sonny


Having made some bent lamination rockers, and a couple of chairs for a church platform, you do not need to either wet bend, which works, heat bend or steam bend. All you need to do is make a form, being sure to cut out the mating sides to the thickness of the desired final thickness. In other words, do not just make a single cut for the desired shape in your form material, as the two sides will not mate up correctly when you get the strips between the sides. Also, just make sure your form is thicker than the width of the strips.

I used Titebond II on a couple and Urea glue on a couple of others. The urea has the advantage of having a much longer open time. That is really helpful in the warmer weather we have now. Apply a liberal amount of glue and clamp the sides of the form together, making sure to be on the lookout for any spots where the slats are not completely in contact with each other.

Let it dry 24hrs and you are in business. The only other thing is, make your slats about six inches longer than your final length. It also helps to make them a bit wider, again so you can have a clean cut when you trim to size That way any slippage or gaping will be cut off when you cut to the final length.

All the best