July 30
Some of you all asked for this, hope you are not sorry. You can look back to my projects to see my first which is a teardrop style. This will be a hourglass style made from walnut and maple.Started the day by drawing a plan then cutting and planing some walnut for the sides 1 7/8 by appx. 34 by .130 which will be .125 after sanding. Since this is a hourglass style you need a form for the steam bent sides I made the form from some 2Ă—4's glued side to side for the width and added a piece of 3/8" plywood for thickness. Traced the pattern on this then cut the line out with the band saw. I made a steam tube for bending thin stock many years ago and remembered it did not work to well. The trick of today was not to use the fancy hot plate, kettle (could not find the kettle) and hose. The wifey loaned me her little electric water boiler. Mounted the tube with one end open vertically to the side of a table just touching and covering the boiler opening. Next slide the now top end cap off and insert one of the sides with a thin wire to hold it just below the top an let it dangle inside the tube. Replace the cap. Turn on the little water boiler and make a bunch of steam. Surprisingly after about 20 to 30 minutes in the boiling water steam the thin wood was very pliable and not to hot to the touch. I did kinda hurry to get it clamped into the form. About an hour later started the other side in the steamer. When it was ready took off all the clamps and put this one in on the other side of the form. The other one only moved a little bit. Reclamped both sides in the form. Plan on taking out in a couple days. The steam tube is made from schedule 40 tubing with a cap on one end and a screw in plug on the other. See the pictures to maybe get an idea of what was said. Thanks for looking. I will run this blog as progress is made as long as interest is shown. I do welcome comments and PM's
Some of you all asked for this, hope you are not sorry. You can look back to my projects to see my first which is a teardrop style. This will be a hourglass style made from walnut and maple.Started the day by drawing a plan then cutting and planing some walnut for the sides 1 7/8 by appx. 34 by .130 which will be .125 after sanding. Since this is a hourglass style you need a form for the steam bent sides I made the form from some 2Ă—4's glued side to side for the width and added a piece of 3/8" plywood for thickness. Traced the pattern on this then cut the line out with the band saw. I made a steam tube for bending thin stock many years ago and remembered it did not work to well. The trick of today was not to use the fancy hot plate, kettle (could not find the kettle) and hose. The wifey loaned me her little electric water boiler. Mounted the tube with one end open vertically to the side of a table just touching and covering the boiler opening. Next slide the now top end cap off and insert one of the sides with a thin wire to hold it just below the top an let it dangle inside the tube. Replace the cap. Turn on the little water boiler and make a bunch of steam. Surprisingly after about 20 to 30 minutes in the boiling water steam the thin wood was very pliable and not to hot to the touch. I did kinda hurry to get it clamped into the form. About an hour later started the other side in the steamer. When it was ready took off all the clamps and put this one in on the other side of the form. The other one only moved a little bit. Reclamped both sides in the form. Plan on taking out in a couple days. The steam tube is made from schedule 40 tubing with a cap on one end and a screw in plug on the other. See the pictures to maybe get an idea of what was said. Thanks for looking. I will run this blog as progress is made as long as interest is shown. I do welcome comments and PM's