EC

Electric Comet

16/05/2018 8:22 AM

steam bending plywood


was looking at some objects made from steam bended ply

just realized that they had to havve bent that when they glued the plys
together

far as i know ply will come undone if you steam it and not magically
adhere when it cools

bending and gluing plys would get messy and require a special built
jig


it is a nice look though






This topic has 3 replies

Dt

DerbyDad03

in reply to Electric Comet on 16/05/2018 8:22 AM

16/05/2018 5:16 PM

On Wednesday, May 16, 2018 at 3:07:07 PM UTC-4, John McGaw wrote:
> On 5/16/2018 11:22 AM, Electric Comet wrote:
> >
> > was looking at some objects made from steam bended ply
> >
> > just realized that they had to havve bent that when they glued the plys
> > together
> >
> > far as i know ply will come undone if you steam it and not magically
> > adhere when it cools
> >
> > bending and gluing plys would get messy and require a special built
> > jig
> >
> >
> > it is a nice look though
> >
> >
> No steam needed if it is done properly with the correct materials. It
> _will_ require an accurate jig/form/fixture to achieve the correct
> curvature and unless you are up for making both male/female forms you will
> need a vacuum bag setup. Other than making sure that the glue used is
> low-creep it is a pretty simple process to put together 5mm sheets of
> 'wiggle wood' in a way that they will stay that way after the glue dries
> and it comes out of the bag.

I wonder if they used steam to bend these arches. ;-)

https://i.imgur.com/8VCSsc6.jpg

That's the Arthur A. Smith Covered Bridge, the only Burr truss bridge
in Massachusetts. Originally built in 1869, the arches were added in 1920.
It was completed restored in 2007. It's located in Colrain, MA. That's
SWMBO and my daughter going into the light.

Exterior view:

https://i.imgur.com/QMkPosf.jpg


JC

J. Clarke

in reply to Electric Comet on 16/05/2018 8:22 AM

16/05/2018 7:05 PM

On Wed, 16 May 2018 15:06:58 -0400, John McGaw <[email protected]>
wrote:

>On 5/16/2018 11:22 AM, Electric Comet wrote:
>>
>> was looking at some objects made from steam bended ply
>>
>> just realized that they had to havve bent that when they glued the plys
>> together
>>
>> far as i know ply will come undone if you steam it and not magically
>> adhere when it cools
>>
>> bending and gluing plys would get messy and require a special built
>> jig
>>
>>
>> it is a nice look though
>>
>>
>No steam needed if it is done properly with the correct materials. It
>_will_ require an accurate jig/form/fixture to achieve the correct
>curvature and unless you are up for making both male/female forms you will
>need a vacuum bag setup. Other than making sure that the glue used is
>low-creep it is a pretty simple process to put together 5mm sheets of
>'wiggle wood' in a way that they will stay that way after the glue dries
>and it comes out of the bag.

Note that this is not new technology. The Romans made their curved
shields of 3 layers of laminated wood.

JM

John McGaw

in reply to Electric Comet on 16/05/2018 8:22 AM

16/05/2018 3:06 PM

On 5/16/2018 11:22 AM, Electric Comet wrote:
>
> was looking at some objects made from steam bended ply
>
> just realized that they had to havve bent that when they glued the plys
> together
>
> far as i know ply will come undone if you steam it and not magically
> adhere when it cools
>
> bending and gluing plys would get messy and require a special built
> jig
>
>
> it is a nice look though
>
>
No steam needed if it is done properly with the correct materials. It
_will_ require an accurate jig/form/fixture to achieve the correct
curvature and unless you are up for making both male/female forms you will
need a vacuum bag setup. Other than making sure that the glue used is
low-creep it is a pretty simple process to put together 5mm sheets of
'wiggle wood' in a way that they will stay that way after the glue dries
and it comes out of the bag.


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