Cutting a curved brace
 

I am in the planning stages of a project that will require 2 curved braces
approximately 3 feet long. The material is 5/4 red oak. I can cut the braces
out of an 8" wide board but the center line of the board will run through
the inside of the arc. I don't have a lot of experience at this but
something tells me that this will weaken the piece quite a bit. This is
mostly decorative so it won't bear a lot of weight; maybe 100 pounds at
most. I just don't want the brace to split. I would rather not use a wider
board... this stuff is already too expensive. Any advice would be very much
appreciated.

Steve H.

Cutting a curved brace
 

On 15 Oct 2003, spake unto rec.woodworking:

I am in the planning stages of a project that will require 2 curved
braces approximately 3 feet long. The material is 5/4 red oak. I can
cut the braces out of an 8" wide board but the center line of the
board will run through the inside of the arc. I don't have a lot of
experience at this but something tells me that this will weaken the
piece quite a bit. This is mostly decorative so it won't bear a lot of
weight; maybe 100 pounds at most. I just don't want the brace to
split. I would rather not use a wider board... this stuff is already
too expensive. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

If the board is 3' long and 8" wide, and the center line of the board will
run through the inside of the arc, then you are cutting an arc considerably
less than a quarter circle, yes? I don't think you need to worry about
splitting across short grain, if the arc is that short.

Cutting a curved brace
 

It will be pretty close to a quarter circle.

Steve


"Scott Cramer" wrote in message
.53...
On 15 Oct 2003, spake unto rec.woodworking:

I am in the planning stages of a project that will require 2 curved
braces approximately 3 feet long. The material is 5/4 red oak. I can
cut the braces out of an 8" wide board but the center line of the
board will run through the inside of the arc. I don't have a lot of
experience at this but something tells me that this will weaken the
piece quite a bit. This is mostly decorative so it won't bear a lot of
weight; maybe 100 pounds at most. I just don't want the brace to
split. I would rather not use a wider board... this stuff is already
too expensive. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

If the board is 3' long and 8" wide, and the center line of the board
will
run through the inside of the arc, then you are cutting an arc
considerably
less than a quarter circle, yes? I don't think you need to worry about
splitting across short grain, if the arc is that short.

Cutting a curved brace
 

On 15-Oct-2003, wrote:

I am in the planning stages of a project that will require 2 curved braces
approximately 3 feet long. The material is 5/4 red oak. I can cut the braces
out of an 8" wide board but the center line of the board will run through
the inside of the arc.

What's the cross section dimension of the brace? 5/4 x 3' x ???. If it's
not too deep, use quarter sawn and steam bend it. With a roughly two foot
radius (3' is quarter circle), it shouldn't be a tough bend to do. This
would likely be the strongest solution.

Mike

Cutting a curved brace
 

what about a glue-up of narrow pieces, Michael?

dave

Michael Daly wrote:

On 15-Oct-2003, wrote:


I am in the planning stages of a project that will require 2 curved braces
approximately 3 feet long. The material is 5/4 red oak. I can cut the braces
out of an 8" wide board but the center line of the board will run through
the inside of the arc.


What's the cross section dimension of the brace? 5/4 x 3' x ???. If it's
not too deep, use quarter sawn and steam bend it. With a roughly two foot
radius (3' is quarter circle), it shouldn't be a tough bend to do. This
would likely be the strongest solution.

Mike

Cutting a curved brace
 

On 15-Oct-2003, Bay Area Dave wrote:

what about a glue-up of narrow pieces, Michael?

That'll do, but for the lines from laminating. If they are
not a problem, it'd work fine. Thin oak will bend easily
when cold for the dimensions in questions. Just make sure
there's no significant grain runout. This would also be
better if the dimensions are big - 5/4 x 3' x , say, 3".

Mike