Wood Bending
RogueEagle91
Regular
I know some of you have projects that require wood to be bent every which way, rather than carving, filing, sanding, etc. to get the right angles.
This isn't a guide, so much as my two bits on the subject to hopefully lend a hand to at least one person here. Feel free to give your own methods.
With whatever you're using, try to get your wood as thin as possible, while still keeping in mind structural integrity. I don't like using anything over 1/8th inch thick for most applications. If you don't need a severe bend, feel free to give it a shot, but be careful not to crack.
Similar to basket weaving, get your materials wet. The more you do, the longer you'll want it to soak. I've gotten away with just spritzing some water on a piece for small degree, long bends. Use your best judgement.
Once the wood is flexible, shape it around whatever angle you're trying to emulate. Clamp it and let it dry. Repeat as necessary and glue/assemble.
To speed things up, you can use a heat gun. Be careful! It's way easier to crack your project when rapidly adding/subtracting heat and moisture.
To give you an example of the above (if you can't quite visualize it), I'm presently repairing the back of a guitar headstock. It comes out in a long J type shape. I planed a small piece of wood down to <1/16th". I then sprayed water on the patch, placed it over the "j" and slowly applied pressure with a bar clamp. To get it perfectly flat, I alternated between heat, more pressure, and more water. It's a slow process, but better than waiting hours for the wood to dry and shape again. Once the shape is solid, I will glue it down and shape it as necessary.
Like I said, hope this helps some of you, and please add your own ways of achieving the same thing.
This isn't a guide, so much as my two bits on the subject to hopefully lend a hand to at least one person here. Feel free to give your own methods.
With whatever you're using, try to get your wood as thin as possible, while still keeping in mind structural integrity. I don't like using anything over 1/8th inch thick for most applications. If you don't need a severe bend, feel free to give it a shot, but be careful not to crack.
Similar to basket weaving, get your materials wet. The more you do, the longer you'll want it to soak. I've gotten away with just spritzing some water on a piece for small degree, long bends. Use your best judgement.
Once the wood is flexible, shape it around whatever angle you're trying to emulate. Clamp it and let it dry. Repeat as necessary and glue/assemble.
To speed things up, you can use a heat gun. Be careful! It's way easier to crack your project when rapidly adding/subtracting heat and moisture.
To give you an example of the above (if you can't quite visualize it), I'm presently repairing the back of a guitar headstock. It comes out in a long J type shape. I planed a small piece of wood down to <1/16th". I then sprayed water on the patch, placed it over the "j" and slowly applied pressure with a bar clamp. To get it perfectly flat, I alternated between heat, more pressure, and more water. It's a slow process, but better than waiting hours for the wood to dry and shape again. Once the shape is solid, I will glue it down and shape it as necessary.
Like I said, hope this helps some of you, and please add your own ways of achieving the same thing.
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