Some of the 1/8″ strips of plywood I’m wrapping on
the frame of the bar I’m building has cracked at the center
of the radius. The final strips will be maple ply. Can I soak
the ply in water to make the bend easier? If so, Will it cause
any problems to the finish of the maple? And will it dry thouroughly
and if so, how long should it take?
Thanks
Ken
Replies
The middle plys of the sheet are working against your success. Wetting will probably not help and may actually loosen the glue between the plys. They make special wacky plywood that bends well, that is one option. Another is you can kerf the backside vertically through the back plys (but not the front, obviously.) One other option is to use band clamps/strips of nylon (like seatbelt material) to pull the wood around the bend and hold it while the glue dries.
Good luck, I am sure others will offer even more ideas to try.
Jim:
Sometimes the obvious escapes me. Your suggestion
is just what the doctor ordered. Thanks so much!
Ken
Jim is correct. The only thing I can add is do you have enough supports. Ie. If you are bending around 4 feet do you support it at 0 2 and 4 or 8" 16" 24" 32" 40" and 48". And at last resort you can buy the wacky plywood which in my area is called wigglewood and is built with all the plys running in the same direction. You have to specify if you want to bend it in the 4X8 or the 8X4 direction, each which has their own name, which escapes me now.
Thanks!
Turned out the ply was too thin to kerf. It was too unstable
to handle.
Ken
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