Replies

1. 
   gwcarpenter | Mar 21, 2002 04:48pm | #1

   Several Taunton Press articles address steam bending. Some are in the compiled books on Techniques. Others like Mike Dunbar's Windsor Chair

   article are in recent back-issues.

   To provide on-line full discourse would be daunting.

   -gwc

   Post any particular questions, and we'll see what we can do.

2. 
   Danford_C_ | Mar 21, 2002 05:45pm | #2

   tw,

   Steam bending is fairly straight forward.  Basically what is needed is a heat source, a container for the water, a pipe, and the box.  What I use is a 5 gallon jerry can with a 6' length of pipe screwed into the filler opening and my boxes are of various lengths and widths made of Western Red Cedar.  The heat source is a fire pit behind the shop.  Your box should not be air tight.

   Rule of thumb for steaming is 45 minutes per inch wood thickness.  Different woods will have different bending characteristics.  I will make up a form for the actual bending with a compression strap at the apex of the curve if the radius  is "severe".  This usually is just a "female" piece of wood and will reduce the chance of the wood splitting at the apex.  Some woods will have "spring" back and there really isn't an accurate way to predict it.  Spring back depends on not only the wood type but, it's grain.  So it is a good idea to make sure your form can be "adjusted" easily after running a test or two.

   When the piece is ready to be bent, you will want to move very quickly to clamp it up, so it is best that you have your form and clamps set up.  When I mean "quickly" I do mean quickly.  Depending on the size it is sometimes helpful to have an extra pair of hands.  All hands should have leather work gloves on them and it is advisable to go over the clamping procedure with your helper before this takes place.

   As suggested more specific information from you will result in more specific answers.

   Dano

   "Form and Function are One" - Frank L. Wright
1. 
   donpapenburg | Mar 22, 2002 04:08am | #3

   Are rule of thumb was 60 min per inch thickness . I'll have to try 45min some time.

3. 
   Elcoholic | Mar 22, 2002 10:50pm | #4

   I use the propane burner for my turkey fryer.   An old style round metal 5 gal gas can and spout serves as my boiler.  The boiler is connected to a piece of abs pipe of the req'd dia x length.  The other end has a plastic valve I use as a vent and a place to insert a meat thermometer so I can watch the temp.  The pipe is slightly sloped back to the steam inlet end so the condensate returns to the boiler.  I drilled a hole in the tank and put in a tapered wood plug in for a safety valve.   White Oak is argueably one the best bending wood around, so start there.  I steam about 1 hr per inch, but sometimes as long as 2 hrs depending on the wood itself.  Select as straight grained wood as possible and no knots.  Also orient the grain so that where it runs off the board is towards the inside of the form 'cause that's where it'll blowout.  On a good day I run about 20% failure on thicker stuff.