I need to make two 32 " diameter kitchen lazy susan shelves.
I am going to make them out of 3/4" MDF with a band of 1/2" oak wrapped
around them.
I need a simple way to steam the oak so I can bend it around the MDF.
I have read all about making various steam boxes out of PVC pipe, 5 gallon
gas cans and propane stoves. Iam not going to bebendin allot of wood in my
lifetime so I'm looking for the simplest way to do this. I'd like to not
use lamination.
Thanks, Cliff
Cliff Hartle wrote:
> I need to make two 32 " diameter kitchen lazy susan shelves.
>
> I am going to make them out of 3/4" MDF with a band of 1/2" oak wrapped
> around them.
>
> I need a simple way to steam the oak so I can bend it around the MDF.
>
> I have read all about making various steam boxes out of PVC pipe, 5 gallon
> gas cans and propane stoves. Iam not going to bebendin allot of wood in my
> lifetime so I'm looking for the simplest way to do this. I'd like to not
> use lamination.
>
> Thanks, Cliff
>
>
I actually just did this on our kitchen remodel. I used 3/4 baltic
birch plywood for the base.
To make the sides I thought about steam bending but decided to go with a
laminate of 1/8" birch plys and epoxy. I created a circular form the
diameter of the base (but only a semi circle, see below) to clamp the
plys to and about 2 inches high (about the same height as the sides.
Next I resawed some birch strips and ran them through the planer until
they were 1/8 of an inch thick. Then I could use 4 of those to make a
side. Since I only had a semi-circle, it took 2 pieces to make up
single side.
After they were dried, I cleaned off the edges on the table saw and cut
a 1/4 dado along the inside curve with a router table. You can wipe up
epoxy while it's wet with acetone.
They came out pretty well considering it was my first attempt at this.
I had made a couple of test pieces with white oak before I tackled the
birch. Some lessons I learned:
1) You really need 1/8" plys, I tried 1/4" but they sprung open too much
after drying.
2) Making the circular form a slightly smaller diameter than the actual
shelf might be a good idea, then they could spring open to the correct
size. It would probably take some expermenting to get that right.
3) Make your form enough of complete circle so that you can glue up a
single side in one shot. My form was only have the length I needed (I
was just making it out of scrap). So my shelves have sides made up of
two halfs with a joint in the back. Cutting that joint was a PITA,
getting a 90 deg cut on a curved piece of wood isn't easy!
Jeff