I have a kit to make a set of cherry Shaker boxes for my wife. However,
one of the things I need to obtain/make is a metal box that I can use
to steam the wood before I bend it.

The size he uses is 3 feet by 6 inches by 37 inches. He puts a hot
plate underneach it. The lid is wood.

I haven't found one I can use. So I was thinking of making a metal box.

Any suggestions for someone with limited metalworking tools?

I have some tin snips, and a special plier for bending aluminum (it
has different width vice-like jaws). I don't have any welder.

I was thinking about using aluminum sheet rolls used for flashing.
But I'm not sure hot to make the seams water-tight. Rivets? Some sort
of caulk/glue?

Thanks.....

Maxwell Lol wrote:
I have a kit to make a set of cherry Shaker boxes for my wife. However,
one of the things I need to obtain/make is a metal box that I can use
to steam the wood before I bend it.

What's the size of the largest wood piece that you will steam?
Perhaps you can 'get by' with a piece of large diameter iron or PVC pipe?

http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/WO...NDING_WOOD.htm

Have a look at this! He adapted an old deep fryer to supply
his steam!

http://s12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...t=DSCF0426.jpg

More approaches:
http://www.ceolas.org/instruments/bo...in/MakeBox.htm

Mounted on the wall to free up the workbench!
http://www.dewalt.com/Blogs/post/200...d-Steamer.aspx

--Winston

--

I'm still waiting for another sublime, transcendent flash of adequacy.

On Feb 8, 11:36*am, Maxwell Lol wrote:
I have a kit to make a set of cherry Shaker boxes for my wife. *However,
one of the things I need to obtain/make is a metal box that I can use
to steam the wood before I bend it.

The size he uses is 3 feet by 6 inches by 37 inches. He puts a hot
plate underneach it. The lid is wood.

I haven't found one I can use. So I was thinking of making a metal box.

Any suggestions for someone with limited metalworking tools?

I have some tin snips, and a special plier for bending aluminum (it
has different width vice-like jaws). I don't have any welder.

I was thinking about using aluminum sheet rolls used for flashing.
But I'm not sure hot to make the seams water-tight. Rivets? Some sort
of caulk/glue?

Thanks.....

There have been quite a number of steam-bending articles in Fine
Woodworking over the years, including some on how to build Shaker
boxes. Try the local library. Most guys seem to cobble something up
out of sheet steel, like old scrap galvanized duct work from hot air
heating plants in homes. Seams DO NOT have to be completely steam-
tight, there's no pressure involved here, after all. Most I've seen
used rags around the wood staves to block in the steam. One design
used an old pressure cooker on a hot plate to supply the steam. Pop
rivets should be OK, sheet metal screws, too, if you keep them away
from the wood surfaces. If you've got long and narrow strips, just
get some round galvanized duct from the Home Despot and go from
there. With the thin stock in Shaker boxes, you might just be able to
soak the stock in hot water and bend it, hope you've got some test
strips.

Stan

On Sun, 08 Feb 2009 13:36:29 -0500, Maxwell Lol
wrote:


I have a kit to make a set of cherry Shaker boxes for my wife. However,
one of the things I need to obtain/make is a metal box that I can use
to steam the wood before I bend it.


Do you really need to steam it? Violin makers use a hot iron (called
a bending iron) and pull the strip of wood for the ribs over the iron
and bending it that way. You can make a bending iron from an old
clothes iron. I don't have the one I made handy, but my recollection
was that you can tap the hole in a steam iron with an 8-32 tap. Hold
a piece of pipe of maybe 1.5" dia onto the iron with an 8-32 screw and
a series of washers. Turn the iron upside down and hold its handle in
a vise. This link shows a bending iron in use about half way down the
page: http://www.violin-world.com/sound/lectsix.html

A second option is to make a form of the shape of the box. Clamp your
strip of wood to the form and roll that over the inverted steam iron
(sans pipe sticking up). When you get to the end, clamp the strip of
wood in place over night. This site gives a good explanation of how
to do it. http://www.scavm.com/awfribs.htm As I recall, Albert
Fisher who wrote the article had worked for one of the major car
manufacturers as an engineer.

Third option - some violin makers say they've had success using cold
bending of the wood.

RWL

GeoLane at PTD dot NET wrote in message
...
On Sun, 08 Feb 2009 13:36:29 -0500, Maxwell Lol
wrote:


I have a kit to make a set of cherry Shaker boxes for my wife. However,
one of the things I need to obtain/make is a metal box that I can use
to steam the wood before I bend it.


Do you really need to steam it? Violin makers use a hot iron (called
a bending iron) and pull the strip of wood for the ribs over the iron
and bending it that way.

Bending irons and bending pipes work fine with very thin materials, like the
ones that luthiers use. I don't know the thickness of the pieces Maxwell is
using but the main reason for using a bending iron is that, with experience,
you can control the softening and thus the bending locally. Guitar builders,
particularly, bend the side pieces a little bit at a time, holding the piece
in place for a fit, putting it on the iron again, etc. But dry heat applied
quickly like that doesn't penetrate thick wood very well.

When you're bending a larger area all at once, you need general heating.
Steam is good because it distributes the heat evenly. For very small pieces,
just use boiling water. With either steam or water, the water itself has
nothing to do with it. It's the heat. Soaking too long in either, though,
will lead to failure of the piece when you bend it. With thicker pieces,
that usually results from compression failure on the inside of the piece.

Or get into the gas or liquid ammonia technique, which I find fascinating,
but which is NOT recommended for the home shop. The ammonia has to be very
concentrated and it's dangerous to handle. Also, it turns some woods a
grayish color, and cherry is one of them.

You can make a bending iron from an old
clothes iron. I don't have the one I made handy, but my recollection
was that you can tap the hole in a steam iron with an 8-32 tap. Hold
a piece of pipe of maybe 1.5" dia onto the iron with an 8-32 screw and
a series of washers. Turn the iron upside down and hold its handle in
a vise. This link shows a bending iron in use about half way down the
page: http://www.violin-world.com/sound/lectsix.html

A second option is to make a form of the shape of the box. Clamp your
strip of wood to the form and roll that over the inverted steam iron
(sans pipe sticking up). When you get to the end, clamp the strip of
wood in place over night. This site gives a good explanation of how
to do it. http://www.scavm.com/awfribs.htm As I recall, Albert
Fisher who wrote the article had worked for one of the major car
manufacturers as an engineer.

Third option - some violin makers say they've had success using cold
bending of the wood.

RWL

"Tom Dacon" wrote in message
diainc...

"Tom Dacon" wrote in message
...

"Maxwell Lol" wrote in message
...

I have a kit to make a set of cherry Shaker boxes for my wife. However,
one of the things I need to obtain/make is a metal box that I can use
to steam the wood before I bend it.

The size he uses is 3 feet by 6 inches by 37 inches. He puts a hot
plate underneach it. The lid is wood.

I haven't found one I can use. So I was thinking of making a metal box.

Any suggestions for someone with limited metalworking tools?

I have some tin snips, and a special plier for bending aluminum (it
has different width vice-like jaws). I don't have any welder.

I was thinking about using aluminum sheet rolls used for flashing.
But I'm not sure hot to make the seams water-tight. Rivets? Some sort
of caulk/glue?

Thanks.....

My recommendation would be to get yourself a piece of
large-enough-diameter PVC pipe.

Drill holes on each side so that you can slide some short pieces of
wooden dowel through to make supports for the wood you're steaming, to
hold the pieces in the middle of the pipe. Drill a larger hole at the
middle of the bottom to lead the steam in through a piece of hose.For a
steam generator for a small job like that, a teakettle on a hot plate
works just fine.

I've used a lash-up like that to steam frames for a boat I built once, so
I think it'll do the job for your shaker boxes.

Tom Dacon


Forgot to mention that all you need to do to close the box off is to drape
pieces of heavy cloth over the ends of the box, or maybe you could tape a
piece of scrap plywood over one end. It doesn't need to be air-tight, in
fact it shouldn't be, in order to let a continuous supply of steam into
the box. If you tilt the box a little, condensation will drip out of one
end and you can catch it in a pan.

Tom



A steamer for wallpaper would work really well. They are cheap at Home
Depot, maybe $50. Comes with a hose from the steam box that you could just
force into the correct size hole in the PVC pipe or packed in with rags to
one end of the pipe.

Maxwell Lol writes:

Any suggestions for someone with limited metalworking tools?

Thanks Tom, Calif Bill, Winston, Geolane, stan and Ed! Lots of things
to think about! The wallpaper steamer and PVC pipe may be the way to go,
as I don't have a hotplate, and this seems the quickest approach.

On Feb 8, 1:36*pm, Maxwell Lol wrote:
I have a kit to make a set of cherry Shaker boxes for my wife. *However,
one of the things I need to obtain/make is a metal box that I can use
to steam the wood before I bend it.

The size he uses is 3 feet by 6 inches by 37 inches. He puts a hot
plate underneach it. The lid is wood.

I haven't found one I can use. So I was thinking of making a metal box.

Any suggestions for someone with limited metalworking tools?

I have some tin snips, and a special plier for bending aluminum (it
has different width vice-like jaws). I don't have any welder.

I was thinking about using aluminum sheet rolls used for flashing.
But I'm not sure hot to make the seams water-tight. Rivets? Some sort
of caulk/glue?

Thanks.....

Max: although I don't quite "get" your dimentional requirements, an
inexpensive steambox can be made out of pink foam insulation from a
building supply store. Use duct tape to hold it together.
a good source of steam is a pressure cooker over a camp stove. Thread
a pipe nipple into the lid and slip a piece of tubing over that.
Watch your water level carefully so you dont have a meltdown.

A larger steam generator can be had using a metal gas can over a
propane "turkey cooking rig". A piece of radiator hose over the inlet
of the tank and into your box. I have a rig like this which feeds
steam into a wooden box 12' x 5"x 12" It takes about an hour to get
the box up to temp, then an hour of steam for every inch of thickness
of your work.

Happy bending,
Andy

Maxwell Lol wrote:
Maxwell Lol writes:

Any suggestions for someone with limited metalworking tools?

Thanks Tom, Calif Bill, Winston, Geolane, stan and Ed! Lots of things
to think about! The wallpaper steamer and PVC pipe may be the way to go,
as I don't have a hotplate, and this seems the quickest approach.
Steaming some types of wood in contact or close proximity to ferrous
metals can cause permanent staining of the wood. The PVC pipe may need
to be in a close fitting wooden trough to support it as it may get
excessively floppy when hot. Preheat the pipe till steam comes out the
far end *BEFORE* inserting the wood. If possible lag the pipe, it will
work a lot better with a smaller steamer.

--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk
[at]=@, [dash]=- & [dot]=. *Warning* HTML & 32K emails -- NUL:

u can find it at the nearer store at ur house..usually supermarket
sell the thing u want...
have a look

xoxo,
aineecumi

neway, my secret to release tension is playing this game a
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On Feb 8, 1:36*pm, Maxwell Lol wrote:
I have a kit to make a set of cherry Shaker boxes for my wife. *However,
one of the things I need to obtain/make is a metal box that I can use
to steam the wood before I bend it.

The size he uses is 3 feet by 6 inches by 37 inches. He puts a hot
plate underneach it. The lid is wood.

I haven't found one I can use. So I was thinking of making a metal box.

Any suggestions for someone with limited metalworking tools?

I have some tin snips, and a special plier for bending aluminum (it
has different width vice-like jaws). I don't have any welder.

I was thinking about using aluminum sheet rolls used for flashing.
But I'm not sure hot to make the seams water-tight. Rivets? Some sort
of caulk/glue?

Thanks.....

Bend thin sheet metal by clamping it between 2x4s and hammering it.
The flange will be neater if you hammer on a block of wood rather than
the metal. Bend it a little at a time along the full length or else
you will stretch and kink the flange. It's easier if you flange one
side and leave the other flat, stronger and more steam-tight if you
flange both. You could extend the flat side past the corner and fold
it down after joining them if you have a thin steel backup plate that
fits inside between the corner and the screws / rivets.

I would drill bolt holes in the outer sheet before bending it, then
clamp the two together over a wood block and match-drill the inner
sheet. You don't need much clamping pressure, just support directly
under the drill bit.

You can make the bottom hold water by folding the corners instead of
notching them. Mark the diagonal from the corner of the finished
bottom to the corner of the sheet and lower that line while you raise
the two sides, then fold the tab over against one of the walls. Try
this with paper first, corners are tricky and hard to explain without
pictures.

Install the side sheets inside the bottom so condensation doesn't drip
out.

Jim Wilkins