Upcoming project question., (wood steam bending involved)

[John Pollman]

Question about forming wood slats.

I've had them for a long time, but I think it's about time to get started. I have a bunch of seats that were taken out of Tiger Stadium in Detroit before it was demolished. The folding part of the seat and the backs are slats that are about 5/8" thick. The seats are fairly flat, but the backs have a curve to them.

I haven't decided which wood to use yet. I've got to see if I can figure out what the original pieces are first. I'm assuming some sort of hardwood. I've bent wood in the past and have a nice steam box. I like steaming and bending wood. Let's say they are 5/8" thick and I decided to use, say Maple for the slats. I'm assuming that it would be better to use two or three thin pieces and laminate them to a form. That would work better than trying to form a solid 5/8", right? It seems like they would be easier to form, and would hold their final shape better. I have a bandsaw, so resawing is no problem.

Thanks for any input.

 

[Rennie Heuer]

No expertise here, just a tiny bit of past experience. If the bend is mild there may not be a need for steam. I've had good luck with white oak resawn and planed to 1/8", wet down with a sponge and glued up in a form using polyurethane glue.

Chess table

 

[Jim DeLaney]

No expertise here, just a tiny bit of past experience. If the bend is mild there may not be a need for steam. I've had good luck with white oak resawn and planed to 1/8", wet down with a sponge and glued up in a form using polyurethane glue.

Same here - also with cherry, poplar, and walnut. 3/32" ~ 1/4" slats work best.
BTW, slats wider than about 4" are pretty unwieldy to handle. They tend to cup.

 

[Jonathan Shively]

John, I have nothing to provide as my attempts have been crude at the least and anytime I found success it wasn't due to any expertise on my part. But I wanted to let you know I am one of the reasons few responses but many looks total up as I keep checking in to see what is being offered and/or discussed.

 

[Darren Wright]

I've done some cherry with about a dozen 1" x 20" x 3/32" strips, no steam or other moisture, bent to 90*, 4 sets total. I've had no issues and they've held up well. Keep the order of the strips as you cut them and they blend well when glued up.

 

[Ted Calver]

Many years ago I made a gothic style green house for the middle school my kids attended. I steamed 1/4" white oak strips and let them sit, clamped on a bending frame until they dried, then glued them up on the same frame. The steamer was a cobbled together wood box and a wall paper steamer. Very little spring back.

 

[John Pollman]

Thanks guys!

As I suspected, it's probably better to bend thinner strips than one piece. I'm pretty sure that once they cool on the form, they'll stay curved. It's a fairly mild bend.

 

[Rennie Heuer]

Many years ago I made a gothic style green house for the middle school my kids attended. I steamed 1/4" white oak strips and let them sit, clamped on a bending frame until they dried, then glued them up on the same frame. The steamer was a cobbled together wood box and a wall paper steamer. Very little spring back.

Oops. Forgot to mention the 'wet only interim bend". Thanks Ted

 

[John Bartley]

Let's say they are 5/8" thick and I decided to use, say Maple for the slats. I'm assuming that it would be better to use two or three thin pieces and laminate them to a form. That would work better than trying to form a solid 5/8", right?

My experience is with bending 3/4" Ash to make a deck step. I used an old kettle steaming into a furnace pipe for a steamer. I used 5" x 3/4" thick solid Ash with 1/8" kerfs across the inside of the bend, so the net bend was 5/8" solid. I steamed the bend +50% of the bend length on each side for about one hour, and then I bent them by hand, and I ain't Superman. My bends were 90 degree, so a slight bend in Maple or Oak should be a cinch if properly steamed.

 

[Jonathan Shively]

I used to fondle the stair rail bannister that my great-great grandfather bent/steamed into a circle into itself on top of the post on the bottom step. No one knew the process he used other than soaking it but all knew he had made it into that circle.

 

[Robert Horky]

I have had excellent results with bent wood laminations, no steam involved. I bandsaw each a strip to roughly 3/16 to 1/4 inch thick (tighter the radius, thinner the strip), then fresh joint the cut edge, cut next strip, repeat for number of strips needed plus a few extras. Then drum sand strips to final thickness. Then spread out a formaldehyde resin glue, place in form, clamp, clean up squeeze out (much easier to do before it cures as it gets rock hard and glassy sharp), let it cure, then clean up edges, bandsaw, joint, plane to final width as needed. If more detail needed, let me know.