For a school project, my son's building something which requires that he use
curved wooden "rods". Not really rods, but 1/4" square bar stock (best term
I can think of). A friend had a lot of wood left over from a project, and
donated it. There are two types: Balsa, and one which the friend believes is
basswood. So...my son got on the web and did some research on steam bending
wood. Most sites he found said 10 minutes of intense steam should do the
trick. He build a jig using nails, to hold the steamed wood in shape after
steaming, and arranged a couple of wide pots with lids so the wood could sit
on the rims of the pots, but be covered, and thus bathed in steam.

Within seconds of being removed from the steam, the wood was moved to the
jig. 4 hours later, took the wood out of the jig, and it sprang back about
halfway to its original shape.

Is there a something he's missed here?

The final shape needed is this: Each 2 foot piece of stock has to look like
1/4 of a circle after bending.

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

Within seconds of being removed from the steam, the wood was moved
to the
jig. 4 hours later, took the wood out of the jig, and it sprang
back about
halfway to its original shape.

Is there a something he's missed here?

Not enough time in the jig.

My guess is you need at least 3-4 days minimum.

Lew

Lew Hodgett wrote:
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

Within seconds of being removed from the steam, the wood was moved
to the
jig. 4 hours later, took the wood out of the jig, and it sprang
back about
halfway to its original shape.

Is there a something he's missed here?

Not enough time in the jig.

My guess is you need at least 3-4 days minimum.

Lew

And I bet it will STILL spring back some. Everything I've heard about
bending wood including laminate bending says that there's always some
springback. My guess you'll have to experiment with several curves that
are greater than the radius you're going for and then settle on the one
that gives you the closest result.

I'll also wager that you'll get a bit of give and take for consistency
too; some will have a little more or less springback than others.

I think you and yours are learning some good stuff there. :-)

wrote in message
oups.com...

Lew Hodgett wrote:
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

Within seconds of being removed from the steam, the wood was moved
to the
jig. 4 hours later, took the wood out of the jig, and it sprang
back about
halfway to its original shape.

Is there a something he's missed here?

Not enough time in the jig.

My guess is you need at least 3-4 days minimum.

Lew

And I bet it will STILL spring back some. Everything I've heard about
bending wood including laminate bending says that there's always some
springback. My guess you'll have to experiment with several curves that
are greater than the radius you're going for and then settle on the one
that gives you the closest result.

I'll also wager that you'll get a bit of give and take for consistency
too; some will have a little more or less springback than others.

I think you and yours are learning some good stuff there. :-)


Now, I'm wondering how he oriented the wood relative to the direction being
bent, if you know what I mean, because I can't describe it because the
phone's ringing and I gotta fly....

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
For a school project, my son's building something which requires that he use
curved wooden "rods". Not really rods, but 1/4" square bar stock (best term
I can think of). A friend had a lot of wood left over from a project, and
donated it. There are two types: Balsa, and one which the friend believes is
basswood. So...my son got on the web and did some research on steam bending
wood. Most sites he found said 10 minutes of intense steam should do the
trick. He build a jig using nails, to hold the steamed wood in shape after
steaming, and arranged a couple of wide pots with lids so the wood could sit
on the rims of the pots, but be covered, and thus bathed in steam.

Within seconds of being removed from the steam, the wood was moved to the
jig. 4 hours later, took the wood out of the jig, and it sprang back about
halfway to its original shape.

Is there a something he's missed here?

The final shape needed is this: Each 2 foot piece of stock has to look like
1/4 of a circle after bending.


Go to Google Groups and do a search on "bending wood". There are a lot
of discussions about it there. For those interested, you can also search
"bending veneer"

http://groups.google.com/groups/sear...22&qt_s=Search

"Stewart Schooley" wrote in message
.. .
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
For a school project, my son's building something which requires that he
use curved wooden "rods". Not really rods, but 1/4" square bar stock
(best term I can think of). A friend had a lot of wood left over from a
project, and donated it. There are two types: Balsa, and one which the
friend believes is basswood. So...my son got on the web and did some
research on steam bending wood. Most sites he found said 10 minutes of
intense steam should do the trick. He build a jig using nails, to hold
the steamed wood in shape after steaming, and arranged a couple of wide
pots with lids so the wood could sit on the rims of the pots, but be
covered, and thus bathed in steam.

Within seconds of being removed from the steam, the wood was moved to the
jig. 4 hours later, took the wood out of the jig, and it sprang back
about halfway to its original shape.

Is there a something he's missed here?

The final shape needed is this: Each 2 foot piece of stock has to look
like 1/4 of a circle after bending.
Go to Google Groups and do a search on "bending wood". There are a lot of
discussions about it there. For those interested, you can also search
"bending veneer"

http://groups.google.com/groups/sear...22&qt_s=Search


Thanks, Stewart & everyone else for your tips. The bent wood design has been
scrapped for another which uses only straight pieces. My son realized he
needed a week to experiment with bending wood, and a few nights to actually
build the project. Since there are only 7 days left.....the teenage calendar
has kicked into action. Translation: He waited too long. :-)