Quick steaming solution and cheep!
Early this morning (I’m up working in my shop about 3 AM when not babysitting).. No, I do not sleep well.. But.. I get along..
Yesterday after babysitting I glued up the back rest rails, slats, and support arms? for a child size rocker I am working on.. I’m not sure what the technical name is for what I call the support arms that attach the backrest assembly to the seat.. The back legs and back support arms are not one unit.
Anyway, I took the assembly out of the clamps and guess what?.. It had a small twist in the assembly and did not lay flat on my cast iron reference table. (The table is two old cast iron table saw extension tops bolted together).
So I said to myself “How do I get out of this one?”.. I’v had more strange things happen to me this year in my shop!
I do not have a steam box because I usually make all of my bent parts from laminations.
I went and made some ‘spiked’ coffee and thought.. Then I remembered..
I have this steam machine used for taking wrinkles out of drapes and clothes that I hardly ever use. It is a Conair and I think it cost about $30.00. So me being me, I got it out and filled it with distilled water (using oak and did not want to turn it black). I clamped the chair back assembly to the cast iron table with a hunk of old plywood between the chair back and the cast iron reference. Tipped the whole thing so water would drain off. Then I cranked up the steamer.. Stuck the hose above the wood and covered all of the parts with a heavy duty black plastic trash bag (large one) and let it ‘cook’ for about a hour.
I have some (a lot) of sanding to do because of the grain raising on the oak but guess what when I un-clamped it.. FLAT! FLAT.. ..
I will check tomorrow if it remains that way.
Just a hint for you folks… L’Cheap’O steam box…
Update:
I guess I got lucky. I checked the assembly this morning and it was still flat. All in all I guess I lucked out. AND it was raining all night and damp in my shop. I guess the heat from the steam did the trick.
Edited 10/18/2007 10:05 am by WillGeorge
Replies
Remember " how good we are is how good we fix our mistakes "
Be interesting to see if it springs back to warp ( that's my hunch )
dusty
Spring back.. It may that is why I said I'll check tomorrow.By the way I have never had this happen before BUT I am using mostly Riff sawn oak (for the look) and I 'think' it may have something to do with that. In NO way am I sure of that but I did some tests on glue strength (childs rocker for safety) and it 'pops' apart much more easily than QS or FS oak (at least on smaller surfaces)..I found that the 'break' contains small particles of the grain and each is firmly attached to the mating surface with glue.The best way I know of to describe it is if you break a glue joint (on purpose) using birdseye maple.. The 'eyes' pop out and are glued to the mating surface.I have never used Riff sawn 'sticks' before.We will see.. And I may have to do it all over with plain sawn and QS sticks.
Edited 10/17/2007 11:30 am by WillGeorge
Rift sawn is my favorite Oak along with QS . Rift is very stable and typically is trouble free , give it a chance .
dusty
I like the look of the Riff sawn oak so I'll continue on. However, with what I experienced with the way the stick broke during my glue test I will be adding a corbel to the underside of each arm where it attaches to the back and use some pegs!I looked at the assembly and it is still flat (about 11 hours since I set it aside).
Edited 10/17/2007 7:22 pm by WillGeorge
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