Hi,
Been along time since I had time since I visited but thought I might find an answer to my quest here.
I told my son and future daughter-in-law I would make them a piece of furniture for a weeding gift. Well they picked out a sleigh bed from a fine furniture catalog. It’s beautiful but— to make one similar I need to make a bit of an elongated “S” curve in both head and foot boards. I can get bending ply and build the forms but I have little experience with veneer, and these are large and pricey pieces. Did I mention the frame is 8/4 cherry and the head and foot panels are figured maple. Oh and I don’t have acess to a vacum press.
I remember going to a woodworking show in Grand Rapids and a booth with bendable veneered plywood and wondering if that would be an option. I can’t remember what it’s called or the name of the manufacturer though.
Also the picture I got of the bed shows the top edge of the panels with no visible frame work on the edge running between the two side posts got me puzzled unless it’s coopered
Any comments on any of this would be greatly appreciated. I suppose the last part should be in the techniques section.
Thanks
Replies
For a gentle curve, you can bend ordinary 1/4" or 1/8" hardwood-veneer plywood. Make an internal structure with ribs whose profile is the curve you want. Glue the plywood to the rib structure using wide cauls to get clamp pressure in the middle of the panel. As you're gluing the second face on, be very careful to not have the panel twisted. You're building a torsion box, and you can't take the twist out after the second face goes on. Use a lumber edge at the top to cover the ply edge.
Shop carefully for the veneer plywood. I've noticed recently that the face veneer thickness on 1/4" plywood is thinner than on 3/4" plywood.
Of course, you'll still have veneer footboard and headboard. The other way to make them is to cooper solid lumber. Cooper the boards, and then smooth the corners until they have the smooth curve you want. You can shape the convex parts with a plane (if you're a hand-tool guy) or a sander (if you're a power tool guy). Smoothing the concave part is a challenge. The best scheme I've found is to use a 4" angle grinder with a sanding disc on it. If you hold the disc almost flat to the workpiece, it cuts a radius which is very large. The more you tip the disc away from flat, the more the cut radius approaches the radius of the disc, or 4". Someplace a little off of flat, the disc is going to be cutting the radius you want, whatever it is. Draw the curves you want on both ends of the coopered panel, and go at it. You'll find it surprisingly easy to make those concave curves.
In my experience with kerfing , depending on the exact curve it may not produce the smooth flawless curves that can be required for fine furniture .
A method I have used for bending veneered plywood products is to sand through a ply on the back side , until you reach a cross band of core , then try to gently bend and clamp the piece to your frame or whatever .
try it you'll like it
have fun dusty
There's a product called wacky wood or wiggle wood that we did a lot of bent reception desks from. Check with a good plywood seller as opposed to HD.
There's also kerfcore
http://www.interiorproducts.com/products.html
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