Bending Trim planks.

[Ed Meyer]

Members:

My wife bought me the Model MS Endeavour from Constructo and even though I am a good wood worker and have been wood on other projects.  What I am trying to bend is a piece of trim that is 12mm x 2mm by about 10 " long.   I have tried boiling the strips and putting them into a press.  I also tried wetting the strips and using a heating element to bend them on a form.   Any Ideas?

 

Thanks Ed Meyer    edmeyer@north-pt.com

[mtaylor]

Ed,

Either of those two methods should have worked although the thickness is probably an issue.  They may need more soaking time as you didn't specify soaking time or the wood type.

[Ed Meyer]

Thanks for the reply.  I soaked it for about 30 minutes in boiling water.  2mm x `12mm by 12" longs.

 

I had previously built the Independence and finished it this year.

 

Ed Meyer

[Derek C]

What a type of wood is it Ed?

I just finished a boat made out of teakwood and Had a heck of a time bending planks I found if I boiled them for 20-30 minutes and then let them sit in the water as it cools a bit the wood started to relax . The window of time was very limited once I pulled the wood from the water to get my bends . Not sure what wood your using but maybe this method will work for you 

 

Derek

[Jim Rogers]

You could also try a steam box

[tlevine]

What species of wood are you trying to bend and what are you using it for?  One thing you might consider doing is laminating two thinner strips of wood as they will be easier to work with.

[SaSi]

With fragile and hard pieces of wood, I've found it easier to soak it - as you did - and then press form it at a smaller extend than the desired, let it dry and rest, then re-soak it and repeat with a steeper angle than the first, until I reached the desired curvature. That was with walnut and cherry pieces of solid wood as well as rosewood, walnut, cherry and oak veneer. Veneer is harder to bend along the grain as it is very brittle and breaks. But this method allowed me to achieve rather small diameter rings.