Any guess on how thin/thick a strip of 1/2 inch wide red oak needs to
be for steam bending to a 12 - 14 inch diameter hoop?

Dave Balderstone wrote:

Any guess on how thin/thick a strip of 1/2 inch wide red oak needs to
be for steam bending to a 12 - 14 inch diameter hoop?

Not really, but one data point:

Hoadley (in Understanding Wood) says that for better bending species
(among which he lists white oak, but not red), one-inch stock can be
free-bent to a 12-15" radius, and down to a 2" radius with a
restraining strap. So I would GUESS that 1" of red oak could be bent
to your desired 6-7" radius with a restraining strap.
--
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alexy wrote:
Dave Balderstone wrote:

Any guess on how thin/thick a strip of 1/2 inch wide red oak needs to
be for steam bending to a 12 - 14 inch diameter hoop?

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?page=43626&category=1,42172&ccurrency=3& sid=

or

http://tinyurl.com/mcg5l

Scroll down a bit and you'll see that they state this...

Based on air-dried 1" thick stock at 25% moisture content going into
the steam box, the smallest bend radius you can achieve without risk of
failure is shown in the table below. You can get tighter radii but at
higher risks.

Species Smallest Radii
Oak (red and white) 2"
Hickory 2"
Elm 2"
Walnut 3"
Ash 4.5"
Cherry* 6"
Maple** 8"

This is with compression straps, I'm sure.

JP

In article .com, Jay
Pique wrote:

Scroll down a bit and you'll see that they state this...

Thanks, Jay.

Hi Dave,
You did notice that the oak is not dry. (25% MC). JG

Dave Balderstone wrote:

In article .com, Jay
Pique wrote:

Scroll down a bit and you'll see that they state this...

Thanks, Jay.