Bending wood

[vykus]

I have this strange idea and I thought I would throw it out there and see what you all think. I want to take a narrow piece of 1/4 BB steam it and bend the whole thing about 45 degrees. Would this work? It would be solid, not scrolled. I think it could work I'm just not sure it's worth the effort.

[ike]

? am not sure. using plywood. you have 3 or 4 plys. is all the grains going all the same direction. if not would it break when you bend the  ply/?

[DWSUDEKUM]

I have this strange idea and I thought I would throw it out there and see what you all think. I want to take a narrow piece of 1/4 BB steam it and bend the whole thing about 45 degrees. Would this work? It would be solid, not scrolled. I think it could work I'm just not sure it's worth the effort.

You can bend it however what you will get is not a 45 degree bend but something a bit less.  As the wood cools it will tend to straighten out a bit since it has the tendency to do this you might have to bend it a bit more than 45 degrees.  Interesting idea though... I have seen folks make chair backs and seats by molding plywood.  Let us know what you come up with.

 

DW

[oneleggimp]

I have this strange idea and I thought I would throw it out there and see what you all think. I want to take a narrow piece of 1/4 BB steam it and bend the whole thing about 45 degrees. Would this work? It would be solid, not scrolled. I think it could work I'm just not sure it's worth the effort.

I'm not sure about the glue between layers holding when it' steamed. Heat and Moisture. I suspect it's gonna delaminate and if not that then as others have mentioned I don't think it'll hold it's bend because of the lawyers (pliies) going in different orientations.

[LarryEA]

I have this strange idea and I thought I would throw it out there and see what you all think. I want to take a narrow piece of 1/4 BB steam it and bend the whole thing about 45 degrees. Would this work? It would be solid, not scrolled. I think it could work I'm just not sure it's worth the effort.

 With a good grade plywood, it should work. But to what end?

What will you make?

[bonacker]

It's not going to work. At the angle bend point, the ply will fray and the whole thing will probably warp. The plys (plies?) will probably separate. Why do this? The great thing about a scroll saw is that you can cut any angle or arc you want without compromising the integrity of the piece. I made a Japanese pagoda once and I wanted a nice sweeping curve for the roof. First thing I thought of was to steam or soak the wood to get the bend I wanted. Then I said "Why am I doing this when I can simply cut the arc I want without compromising its strength?" I cut it on my saw and it came out beautifully.

[DWSUDEKUM]

I'm not sure about the glue between layers holding when it' steamed. Heat and Moisture. I suspect it's gonna delaminate and if not that then as others have mentioned I don't think it'll hold it's bend because of the lawyers (pliies) going in different orientations.

If you use real Baltic Birch Plywood the plys are glued with marine glue and are highly moisture resistant and should not delaminate.  I have seen folks bend BB ply before with no real problem.

 

DW

[amazingkevin]

Proof's in the pudding , lets have a go of it already i wanna see what happens,good or bad ,makes for interesting reading here!

[woodduck]

Everyone seems to be divided on this ,give it a go & tell us if it works.

[mgmine]

Been there done that doesn't work. You could do it with soild wood or maybe even Italian bending plywood but not BB. Try putting a strip in your oven and give it a try but 90 degrees is asking a lot.