# Bending wood in water



## debdaz (Aug 29, 2011)

This may not be new to you guys but I gave it a go. 
I wanted to go back in time and try to form a piece of wood using pressure and a tub of water solution. 
I tried many different methods over many months but the one I found that worked was this. 
I took a 4ft length 2" wide piece of regular hardware store wood into a barrel with a salt solution. In this barrel I place a preformed metal template for the wood to curl around. I soaked the wood for 48hrs before placing in the template. 
The wood is then slid into the template 6" -12" at a time every 24-36hrs.

Over 1 week it curled the wood perfectly. .... Ok yeah there were a few splits however OAK is the wood to do this with. Has anyone any experience with performing this art ??
Any tips n advice is helpful


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## jackass (Mar 26, 2008)

*Not Me,
Don't understand your description, perhaps some pictures would help us to understand. Something I am considering, would like to know more about the process.
Jack*


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## debdaz (Aug 29, 2011)

Ok … I'll dig some pictures out. I'm sure someone in this forum has had experience of this which could help us both Jack.


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## tbone (Apr 24, 2008)

My only experience has been *steam*-bending white oak. Like Jack, I can't quite visualize what your method is. 
Did you notice very much spring-back as your wood dried?
Thanks for sharing.


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## Finn (May 26, 2010)

I have bent 1/8" oak by soaking it tap water overnight and taking out of water and clamping it into a form and allowed to dry a few days. Yes oak works best for bending.


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

I filled 4" black sewer pipe with hot tap water and some Downey. Stuck in several lengths of 3/4X3/4 oak and left it in the AZ summer sun all day.
Almost like spaghetti the next day.
Smelled good, too.


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## jackass (Mar 26, 2008)

*Hi Darren,
Got to admit I have never tried to bend any wood. Something I will be trying after my lawn mowing days have vanished. The pictures Jim posted above clarify a lot for me with the basket. Still want to see your pictures though, Darren. Some good ideas here, glad I didn't miss this post.
Jack*


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## debdaz (Aug 29, 2011)

Thanks for the replies. To be honest there was nothing meaningful coming from my experiment. The jig I used was from a piece of alluminum we had lying around in the engineering office workshop. It was njot ideal but I wanted to try the method. I did read somewhere that adding a salt solution helped with the bending of the wood. I like the steam idea. How much manipulation did that take to get the basket shape Jim ….nice piece that is by the way.


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