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WOOD FORMING (PART 2)

Now for the first attempt to bend the wood. When the wood had soaked for a week, I removed it from the solution and dried it off and placed it directly into the steam box for 1 hr at 200F.

I then removed the board from the steam box and placed it in the compression strap, slid it into the bending tool, installed the eye-bolts on each end and then attached the ends of the ratchet straps to the welded on loops and took up the slack in the straps. I then started ratcheting each side, switching from side to side to keep it even. Once the ratchet straps maxed out, I put a smaller ratchet strap across the eye-bolts to hold it while resetting the ratchet straps. I then made the final pull after which I put the smaller strap back on along with a chain to make sure it was secure. I then left it to cure on the tool for a week.

The plan was to soak the wood for a week while the steamed one sat on the form for a week. This would prolong the process since I needed 8 pieces but there was plenty of other things to do on the bed while I formed them.

The first attempt worked out pretty good except the board cracked mid-span of the curvature. After further inspection, the cracking was due to the board not being held snugly against the wood mandrel at the center point. I had a 1-1/2” space between the horizontal board (that initially held the board and compression strap prior to the pull) to give me room to slide it into place. When it was pulled then it gapped open in this area and cracked. On the second attempt I placed a scrap board under this area as a wedge before I pulled it and that cured the issue.

To check the boards after they cured for a week, I made a cardboard template in order to check them. Surprisingly the curvature (i.e. my spring-back WAG) was very close. For all of the boards I formed, the curvature was very close. It was close enough that I could get it into shape with minimal rework (standing in it, etc).

I then put the boards into the bed and trimmed them to length to fit.