how?

[cowboy682]

how would you do some thing like this do you cut 1st or bend 1st?

[Fab4]

Hi Cowboy:
I would say you cut first then bend
How are you bending it?
Do you have a steamer?
Do you have a jig set up to bend your piece
Just curious
Good luck
Fab4

[cowboy682]

Hi Fab4
never bent wood don't have any jigs just found it to-day and her in doors was asking if l could make it for her that's way l posted it on here, to get more info about how to do it
thanks
Graham

[crupiea]

I would put the pattern on the inside of the curve and use a spiral blade so i did not have to spin the piece around.

[Rapid Roger]

Cut it first. Put the cutting into a pan of water and boil it for about 5 or 10 minutes. Basically forcing the air out of the pores and letting the water in. Take it out of the water with tongs and go to the shop, wrap the wood around a 3# coffee can or something even larger diameter CAREFULLY and either wrap tape or a very large rubber band around the wood forcing it into a curve. Holding it in the curve around the can, let it dry for a day or two (at least overnight) so that the water gets out and air gets back in, and release the tape or rubber band and it will hold a curve. It may spring out to a larger radius but, it will be close. Maybe one of the wifes sauce pans or something larger would be better than a coffee can.
There are areas that look prone to cracking but the softer the wood (think pine) the easier it will be to make it curve.
Hope that helps.

Rog

[spirithorse]

Greetings,
Near the end of this article  http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-to-bend-wood.html of Wood Bending Techniques, it says you can use a microwave to bend small pieces.
Just wrap the wood in a wet towel and microwave for short amounts of time and bend the wood
immediately.
You can look for lots of YouTube videos and choose an option that suits you with a simple search of
www.youtube.com and search Wood Bending.
Good luck and God Bless! Spirithorse

[Fab4]

Cowboy:
I would try what Rapid Roger suggests
Boiling water and tongs.
I would have my clamps and jigs close by so when it comes out of the water
you can clamp it onto your fixture
Try it on a blank piece of wood to see how it will bend then you'll know what to expect when you do the real thing
You may have to leave it the boiling water longer than 10 minutes
Let us know if you try it and how it worked
Thanks
Fab4

[Rapid Roger]

Fab4 is probably right. It might take more than 10 minutes and of course it would help to practice a few times to get everything right. And the wood must be completely submerged in water while boiling.
All I know is that boiling wood in water lets you do strange things to wood. 
That is how I accomplished this.....



And I had to boil it twice! Once to crush the top arm so I could drill the hole and install the nail and once to get it to go back into shape. 

Rog

[Fab4]

That's funny because I have the same thing on my work bench and this is exactly what I was thinking of when talking about bending wood.
When the piece is small enough I would think that the boiling method would work really good
That's why I stated that it might take more than 10 minutes.

Cowboy -
Hope you try it - You might just be surprised as to how easy this is
Fab4

[cowboy682]

thanks all l will try this when finished xmas orders will let you know what happens

Graham