OP
I'm pretty sure it was the Mercedes. I don't think it was the 911, although I did drive that to work there sometimes.
My old brain might have the dates and cars wrong, though. I had a black BMW before the Mercedes.
Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT The 12-Gauge Garage
- Thread starter Jack Olsen
- Start date
Workspaces sized between 265 and 485 squarefeet.
I'm pretty sure it was the Mercedes. I don't think it was the 911, although I did drive that to work there sometimes.
My old brain might have the dates and cars wrong, though. I had a black BMW before the Mercedes.
OP
Thanks. We've liked the boat a lot. In fact, we were out there this afternoon.
It's a Lido 14, which has been made locally since 1957 to the same specs. So there are hundreds (thousands?) of them around Southern California. It's an easy, stable boat (Or at least, I think it is. I've only sailed a couple of different dinghies.)
Bob Heine
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Jack, that's a truly wonderful way to spend a phone-free day!
1Garageman
Well-known member
Jack, awesome videos as usual, and your daughter is so cute on there!
How are you guys doing with all of the fires going on in California? I hope none of them are near your house, and the air is not bad.
How are you guys doing with all of the fires going on in California? I hope none of them are near your house, and the air is not bad.
OP
Thanks. We're out of harm's way for most of California's biblical disasters. Fires, floods and mud don't make it this far into the city itself, generally.
rlitman
Well-known member
Gojira?
Not sure what kinda Bible you're reading, but I never heard of that one in Sunday school.
OP
Here's some excitement for a Saturday afternoon.
rlitman
Well-known member
Wowza. Well handled!
APEowner
Well-known member
That was exciting! I hate it when they come back across the track. Good thing there's nothing but desert off the track. Fun video.
Grizz1963
Well-known member
Nice sailing.
And the step to the left in the Porsche.....
Love it.
And the step to the left in the Porsche.....
Love it.
Boosted1
Well-known member
Nice save.
That would have been ugly otherwise.
That would have been ugly otherwise.
aka Larry
Well-known member
As someone with lots of track experience, I'd have to say I'd love to have that much run off room. Try Watkins Glen where the armco is on BOTH sides of the track and only 6-8 feet away. If you loose it there, you will hit something. To add insult to injury, the track charges you $$$ to replace the damaged armco.
OP
Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? I ask because this was a project that took a fair amount of time, and I'm the only member of my family who will even notice it, probably -- and I didn't feel all that strongly about the need for it in the first place.
But it involved the attempt to learn a new skill -- which I kind of failed at -- so I'm going to document it.
I got a sailboat for my kids to use during the pandemic. It gives us a chance to get out in the open air without having to worry about contact with others. The boat we got is 52 years old, and it was pretty much the first boat we could find. It wasn't very expensive, and hasn't cost us much to bring up to speed.
Most sailboats are nice-looking pieces of design. They kind of have to be. The Lido 14 that we got has a lot of curves in its design. I like the way it looks.
But one part of it kind of bugged me. There's a little shelf down under the mast where you can set the halyard lines and other stuff. It's perfectly fine at what it does, but it's (pretty much) the only straight line on the boat.
So, I thought about what it might look like if that piece of wood wasn't straight. What if it had a curve that kind of flowed into the curved line of the hull? I got a piece of flexible trim and tried different curves to see what I liked.
The idea was that I could learn how to bend hardwood by steaming it. I got a piece of 2"x1/2" wood and figured I could run steam from a little teapot into a piece of PVC pipe for an hour or so, and then clamp the lumber into the bend I want and let it set.
Here's where I got it wrong. I had a 2" ID pipe and 2" lumber -- but in my head I was thinking that the 2" dimension would be finished at 1-5/8", like a 2x4. Of course, I was wrong -- the wood wouldn't fit in the tube.
So all I needed was a bigger tube. But that would mean additional time, and some expense, and this little project just didn't seen worth that kind of effort.
So I did what I considered the next best thing. I threw the piece of wood into the swimming pool for 24 hours, figuring I'd let it soak through, bend it, and then warm it up with a heat gun to approximate the effect of steam.
It didn't work very well. It was bendable, but the process revealed every irregularity in the one piece of wood I've gotten. There was a lot of kick-back as it dried, it twisted, it had one 'knot-adjacent' section that didn't bend on a smooth radius.
So I ended up tossing it back in the pool for a 4-day soak. The kids kept taking it out. When it was soggy, I made the clamped curve tighter than my final goal -- and positioned a bunch of additional clamps to force it into the final shape I was shooting for.
At this point, I gave the thing low odds of coming out in any useable shape.
But I was surprised. After two days of drying, clamped, in the sun, it came out with more-or-less the curve I'd originally imagined.
I stained it to match and transferred over the ©1960 manufacturer plate. The boat is actually a 1968.
So there we go. Will anyone notice the change the next time we're out sailing? No. Was it worth the time and effort? Well, it wasn't very much effort, honestly. I'll call it a completed job.
I still can't claim to have any real experience with steaming wood in order to curve it, but now that doesn't mean I haven't curved any hardwood.
The 'shelf' part behind it is 1/4"-thick plastic sheet.
Here it is:
If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? I ask because this was a project that took a fair amount of time, and I'm the only member of my family who will even notice it, probably -- and I didn't feel all that strongly about the need for it in the first place.
But it involved the attempt to learn a new skill -- which I kind of failed at -- so I'm going to document it.
I got a sailboat for my kids to use during the pandemic. It gives us a chance to get out in the open air without having to worry about contact with others. The boat we got is 52 years old, and it was pretty much the first boat we could find. It wasn't very expensive, and hasn't cost us much to bring up to speed.
Most sailboats are nice-looking pieces of design. They kind of have to be. The Lido 14 that we got has a lot of curves in its design. I like the way it looks.
But one part of it kind of bugged me. There's a little shelf down under the mast where you can set the halyard lines and other stuff. It's perfectly fine at what it does, but it's (pretty much) the only straight line on the boat.
So, I thought about what it might look like if that piece of wood wasn't straight. What if it had a curve that kind of flowed into the curved line of the hull? I got a piece of flexible trim and tried different curves to see what I liked.
The idea was that I could learn how to bend hardwood by steaming it. I got a piece of 2"x1/2" wood and figured I could run steam from a little teapot into a piece of PVC pipe for an hour or so, and then clamp the lumber into the bend I want and let it set.
Here's where I got it wrong. I had a 2" ID pipe and 2" lumber -- but in my head I was thinking that the 2" dimension would be finished at 1-5/8", like a 2x4. Of course, I was wrong -- the wood wouldn't fit in the tube.
So all I needed was a bigger tube. But that would mean additional time, and some expense, and this little project just didn't seen worth that kind of effort.
So I did what I considered the next best thing. I threw the piece of wood into the swimming pool for 24 hours, figuring I'd let it soak through, bend it, and then warm it up with a heat gun to approximate the effect of steam.
It didn't work very well. It was bendable, but the process revealed every irregularity in the one piece of wood I've gotten. There was a lot of kick-back as it dried, it twisted, it had one 'knot-adjacent' section that didn't bend on a smooth radius.
So I ended up tossing it back in the pool for a 4-day soak. The kids kept taking it out. When it was soggy, I made the clamped curve tighter than my final goal -- and positioned a bunch of additional clamps to force it into the final shape I was shooting for.
At this point, I gave the thing low odds of coming out in any useable shape.
But I was surprised. After two days of drying, clamped, in the sun, it came out with more-or-less the curve I'd originally imagined.
I stained it to match and transferred over the ©1960 manufacturer plate. The boat is actually a 1968.
So there we go. Will anyone notice the change the next time we're out sailing? No. Was it worth the time and effort? Well, it wasn't very much effort, honestly. I'll call it a completed job.
I still can't claim to have any real experience with steaming wood in order to curve it, but now that doesn't mean I haven't curved any hardwood.
The 'shelf' part behind it is 1/4"-thick plastic sheet.
Here it is:
Last edited:
gahrajmahal
Well-known member
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
Looks great! I’d call it a new skill... enjoy your new boat!
Looks great! I’d call it a new skill... enjoy your new boat!
GH85Carrera
Well-known member
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
That looks pretty good. Typical of your work. Great job.
One family story is back in the 1940s my dad was a boy scout. He saw a project a book about making your own boomerang. Step one was to bend the piece of wood into the curve shape, and then trim it down to have a proper shape. The instructions said to soak in in water to make it easier to bend.
My grandfather came home from a typical long hard day of work at the packing plant and cutting up cattle and it was 100+ degrees and he wanted a bath to soak in. He goes into the bathroom and floating in the bathtub was a piece of 2x4 about 3 feet long.
Of course has asked what in the hell is this 2x4 floating in the bathtub? My dad 13 yer old dad said he was soaking it so he could bend it into a curve and make a boomerang. Grandpa could hardly talk from laughing telling the story but he said his mood immediately improved as he said son, you can soak that piece of hickory all year and you will never be able to bend it. Of course that was a challenge to any 13 year old boy. So he put it over the edge of the bathtub and tried. Of course it did not budge. Grandpa was laughing and that just made dad more determined.
He finally said take the stick with you, and let me take a bath and I will help you then. So they went down the street to a friend's house that was a woodworker and had his equipment set up making chairs at the time. They found a piece of wood that they could steam, and made a rig to bend it into shape, and left it overnight to set.
Grandpa said it was the best laugh he ever had watching his son trying to bend that wet 2x4. Even when the other piece of wood was steamed it took a lot of force to get it into the shape, and a jig to hold it into shape. Dad spend hours carving the ends into a final shape to fly. He got the merit badge but never could get it to really come back to him.
Grandpa would laugh hard telling the story 40 years later. Dad said he figures some writer had heard a story about how boomerangs are made and forgot the details and just made it up to write the instructions.
That looks pretty good. Typical of your work. Great job.
One family story is back in the 1940s my dad was a boy scout. He saw a project a book about making your own boomerang. Step one was to bend the piece of wood into the curve shape, and then trim it down to have a proper shape. The instructions said to soak in in water to make it easier to bend.
My grandfather came home from a typical long hard day of work at the packing plant and cutting up cattle and it was 100+ degrees and he wanted a bath to soak in. He goes into the bathroom and floating in the bathtub was a piece of 2x4 about 3 feet long.
Of course has asked what in the hell is this 2x4 floating in the bathtub? My dad 13 yer old dad said he was soaking it so he could bend it into a curve and make a boomerang. Grandpa could hardly talk from laughing telling the story but he said his mood immediately improved as he said son, you can soak that piece of hickory all year and you will never be able to bend it. Of course that was a challenge to any 13 year old boy. So he put it over the edge of the bathtub and tried. Of course it did not budge. Grandpa was laughing and that just made dad more determined.
He finally said take the stick with you, and let me take a bath and I will help you then. So they went down the street to a friend's house that was a woodworker and had his equipment set up making chairs at the time. They found a piece of wood that they could steam, and made a rig to bend it into shape, and left it overnight to set.
Grandpa said it was the best laugh he ever had watching his son trying to bend that wet 2x4. Even when the other piece of wood was steamed it took a lot of force to get it into the shape, and a jig to hold it into shape. Dad spend hours carving the ends into a final shape to fly. He got the merit badge but never could get it to really come back to him.
Grandpa would laugh hard telling the story 40 years later. Dad said he figures some writer had heard a story about how boomerangs are made and forgot the details and just made it up to write the instructions.
txvwnut
Well-known member
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
Looks great Jack. But if you need to bend and don't want to or can't steam bend laminating is an option if you have a way to cut your wood into thin strips. Cut the strips apply your favorite glue and clamp in a jig till the glue dries.
Looks great Jack. But if you need to bend and don't want to or can't steam bend laminating is an option if you have a way to cut your wood into thin strips. Cut the strips apply your favorite glue and clamp in a jig till the glue dries.
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
Nice. Read an article once about a couple of guys building a wooden Falco airplane, which has a lot of **** curves. Standard procedure for the sheets of aircraft spruce covering the wings was to throw them in the pool for a few days before installing them.
Turns out this is a acceptable procedure if you don’t have steaming equipment.
Bill S
Nice. Read an article once about a couple of guys building a wooden Falco airplane, which has a lot of **** curves. Standard procedure for the sheets of aircraft spruce covering the wings was to throw them in the pool for a few days before installing them.
Turns out this is a acceptable procedure if you don’t have steaming equipment.
Bill S
OP
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
Thanks, everyone.
I considered doing that. My worry was that any kind of plywood (especially made by me) was likely to run into trouble when it's exposed to so much saltwater.
Thanks, everyone.
I considered doing that. My worry was that any kind of plywood (especially made by me) was likely to run into trouble when it's exposed to so much saltwater.
Wrench97
Well-known member
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
Looks good certainly a improvement.
Back in my younger and dumber days I had a wooden boat or 2, old guy that owned the boat yard taught me a lot, you either bend them with steam or slice and laminate with epoxy, epoxy is messier does not flex like steam bent wood so it's harder on the components around it.
Looks good certainly a improvement.
Back in my younger and dumber days I had a wooden boat or 2, old guy that owned the boat yard taught me a lot, you either bend them with steam or slice and laminate with epoxy, epoxy is messier does not flex like steam bent wood so it's harder on the components around it.
nadogail
Well-known member
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
A cabinet maker of my acquaintance once gave me a tour of his shop. His steam bending setup was a boiler made from a 5 gallon metal paint can with a plastic hose connected to a capped length of ABS Pipe with the steam line connected to a Tee fitting.
He had a wooden fixture to clamp the parts in position as they dried.
A cabinet maker of my acquaintance once gave me a tour of his shop. His steam bending setup was a boiler made from a 5 gallon metal paint can with a plastic hose connected to a capped length of ABS Pipe with the steam line connected to a Tee fitting.
He had a wooden fixture to clamp the parts in position as they dried.
Jeepster04
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2013
- Messages
- 3,098
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
Wow, thats truly something. I wouldve never looked at that and thought, 'that wood needs to be curved.' Great work!
Wow, thats truly something. I wouldve never looked at that and thought, 'that wood needs to be curved.' Great work!
RivennHewn
Well-known member
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
Looks like a Win to me!
Looks like a Win to me!
nadogail
Well-known member
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
The metal paint bucket, with a weighted lid, sat on an electric hot plate.
The metal paint bucket, with a weighted lid, sat on an electric hot plate.
pentavolvo
Well-known member
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
Very cool
Very cool
metaldad
Well-known member
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
nice collection of c clamps
nice collection of c clamps
pogi
Active member
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
Reminds me of a garage show on Velocity where someone brought in an old car with wooden rims. One of the wooden wheels had a portion that was so rotten that it had to be repaired/replaced. Seems that a lot of that knowledge is not readily available; interesting to see your effort.
Reminds me of a garage show on Velocity where someone brought in an old car with wooden rims. One of the wooden wheels had a portion that was so rotten that it had to be repaired/replaced. Seems that a lot of that knowledge is not readily available; interesting to see your effort.
Jlbc212
Well-known member
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
I see curved wood like that all the time at the big box store.
Seriously though, nice job!
I see curved wood like that all the time at the big box store.
Seriously though, nice job!
txvwnut
Well-known member
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
Total Boat epoxy, made for boat builders.
Total Boat epoxy, made for boat builders.
metschers
Well-known member
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
I’ve never steamed wood but I soaked in water to shape.
After I remodeled my staircase last year, I needed a curved hand rail. There was never one installed some thirty years ago when the house was built. Now that my wife is getting older.....lol, we decided this would be a good plan.
The problem was the curved staircase. I’ve never “bent” wood before. I search the steaming method on the internet. Anyway I ended up soaking a piece of red oak in a makeshift trough of water made with a tarp for about three days. I first routered all the edges and cut to length. Then figured out the curve needed using a piece of electrical metal conduit as a pattern. I used the lift in my shop to hold the shape. It was a little tricky because it needed a curve and a twist. I let it dry for about a week, then sanded and put a nice finish on it. It’s attached it to the wall with scrap pieces from a ceiling fan down rod and stainless carriage bolts.
It all worked out good. I was really surprised how I was able to twist/bent that oak strip into what I was needing.
Anyway, that was a cool learning experience.
I’ve never steamed wood but I soaked in water to shape.
After I remodeled my staircase last year, I needed a curved hand rail. There was never one installed some thirty years ago when the house was built. Now that my wife is getting older.....lol, we decided this would be a good plan.
The problem was the curved staircase. I’ve never “bent” wood before. I search the steaming method on the internet. Anyway I ended up soaking a piece of red oak in a makeshift trough of water made with a tarp for about three days. I first routered all the edges and cut to length. Then figured out the curve needed using a piece of electrical metal conduit as a pattern. I used the lift in my shop to hold the shape. It was a little tricky because it needed a curve and a twist. I let it dry for about a week, then sanded and put a nice finish on it. It’s attached it to the wall with scrap pieces from a ceiling fan down rod and stainless carriage bolts.
It all worked out good. I was really surprised how I was able to twist/bent that oak strip into what I was needing.
Anyway, that was a cool learning experience.
Attachments
Lookin4'67Galaxieconv
Well-known member
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
Very nice. I love the style of those boats from the '50s and '60s and your modification adds to it well.
Very nice. I love the style of those boats from the '50s and '60s and your modification adds to it well.
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
I used to make wooden hanging slings to hold planters out of hardwoods. Oak, maple, cherry. Youre original idea was spot on but I think you would need more steam. I used a turkey frier burner with a steel 5 gal gas can.l for the boiler. I ran a 1" hose to one end of a 4" x 6' piece of pvc. I had a 1/2" hole in the far end in a threaded cap. By the time the 5 gallon can ran out of water the wood was bendable. The thickest I ever did was 1x3. It worked well enough for me.
I used to make wooden hanging slings to hold planters out of hardwoods. Oak, maple, cherry. Youre original idea was spot on but I think you would need more steam. I used a turkey frier burner with a steel 5 gal gas can.l for the boiler. I ran a 1" hose to one end of a 4" x 6' piece of pvc. I had a 1/2" hole in the far end in a threaded cap. By the time the 5 gallon can ran out of water the wood was bendable. The thickest I ever did was 1x3. It worked well enough for me.
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
I make Windsor chairs --- Use big plastic tube (looks like gray PVC) connected to a wall paper steamer. Just a bigger version of what you made ....
Get the wood nice and hot/wet and have a form ready -- it's amazing how well it works.
Any flaws in the wood will alter the curve --- having straight clear grain is important.
I make Windsor chairs --- Use big plastic tube (looks like gray PVC) connected to a wall paper steamer. Just a bigger version of what you made ....
Get the wood nice and hot/wet and have a form ready -- it's amazing how well it works.
Any flaws in the wood will alter the curve --- having straight clear grain is important.
fatfillup
Well-known member
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
Jack, the end result looks great. At first I couldn't see the problem with what was there but after seeing the new look, you were right, it did look odd.
I will say when I saw your steam source, I couldn't imagine you would have enough steam to have success. Its all about btu's and volume and the stove and teapot just weren't enough.
I did just have an interesting machine in the shop that would have done the job. It was a dry steamer used to cure in place pipe liners for repairing/rehabbing sewer pipes. About 375,000 btu. Thing made a huge amount of steam quickly and continuously. It could cure up to a 100 feet of liner at a time. That is a lot of heat!
Jack, the end result looks great. At first I couldn't see the problem with what was there but after seeing the new look, you were right, it did look odd.
I will say when I saw your steam source, I couldn't imagine you would have enough steam to have success. Its all about btu's and volume and the stove and teapot just weren't enough.
I did just have an interesting machine in the shop that would have done the job. It was a dry steamer used to cure in place pipe liners for repairing/rehabbing sewer pipes. About 375,000 btu. Thing made a huge amount of steam quickly and continuously. It could cure up to a 100 feet of liner at a time. That is a lot of heat!
Danno1
Well-known member
Re: Bending Hardwood With Steam -- Or Not
.
Ya, you needed more steam. And ~1 hour per inch of thickness for time (depends slightly on the species, but it's a good start). I go slightly longer.
Oak bends nicely, ash is the best though.
Also, you need a small "leak" at the end of the steam pipe. Dead ended steam does not do any work.
PS. Metschers, great jig. Never seen one of those yet!!!
.
.
Ya, you needed more steam. And ~1 hour per inch of thickness for time (depends slightly on the species, but it's a good start). I go slightly longer.
Oak bends nicely, ash is the best though.
Also, you need a small "leak" at the end of the steam pipe. Dead ended steam does not do any work.
PS. Metschers, great jig. Never seen one of those yet!!!
.