DIY-Bending timber (with Pics)

[reelemin1974]

I am a carpenter and was recently asked to build a couple of 'Japanese' style curved bridges with curved Handrail.
Now I know this is unrelated to boating and fishing but I thought some might appreciate the lesson of making cuved timber for a future boating project.
Here is how I did it:

The timber I was useing was rough sawn Hardwood. If the timber is too green you will need to let it dry out a lot as if it is laminated and starts to shrink it will buckle and split.

Allow the timber to be a little larger than its finished size so you can plane/saw/sand it to the desired width.

First I left my timber 150x15 out in the weather with load on the centre to start it bowing the way I wanted it to. I didn't get a pic of this so I set up a 'stunt' one so you could get the idea........

More to come

[Wahoo]

G'day reelemin,

as your doing that, it helps to wet the timber down with a hose a few times a day
also if the timber is green the water/sun brings out the sap

Daz

[reelemin1974]

After about 5 weks I left it undercover for 1 more week to dry out.

Determine your Face sides and set out on a bench or stools ready for glueing.

My use was going to be in direct weather so after a bit of research I found a product called 'Epiglue' from Ballina Marineland that was dirt cheap;D ;) ($149 for 3kg's) it is a 2 part epoxy that can be used for sub-surface applications.

I aplied the glue to the two faces with a spatula, ensuring to get quite a thick coat on the edges..........

[Horse]

You can always put it in a PVC pipe and add some steam to it for a few hours.

[reelemin1974]

Yes I know, it was out in the weather.......I haven't needed a hose!!!!

[reelemin1974]

I had pre-determined the curve I needed with a string line.

I placed the two glued sides together and clamped both ends down to my predetermined curve. Make sure you allow a little bit of spring back once the glue has set......

[reelemin1974]

As I had pre- bent the curve to see how it would bend I was aware of the problem of the two pieces wanting to seperate so I had made some 'Clamping' blocks before.......

And then I spaced them out to where they were required to clamp the pieces fully together......

[reelemin1974]

I then had to size it up with an electric planer, and give it a light sand with a belt sander. 1 coat of 'Intergrain-Ultradeck' and it was ready to fix in place....

[reelemin1974]

The finished product!!!

That is how I did it anyway, seemed to turn out OK.

I did gloss over a fair bit so if anyone has any Questions feel free to ask.

[Wahoo]

The finished product!!!

That is how I did it anyway, seemed to turn out OK.

I did gloss over a fair bit so if anyone has any Questions feel free to ask.

they came up a treat reelemin8-), thanks for sharing


Daz

[charleville]

Looks great, mate!


Well done!!!! :)

[Keechie]

Mate that looks great:o . i know a friend of the family that is looking for something like this i might show them. Well done.

regards,
keechie

[BaitThrower]

Great work mate. I am a hobbyist woodworker with a full woodworking shop out the back, so I can appreciate the effort put in there. Whenever I need to bend hardwood, I usually just cut thinner strips which bend much more easily and then laminate them together onto a form. But then of course, you will see the laminations if you aren't painting the thing.

[disorderly]

Nice job..they look like good clients also.It looks like they are spending a bundle on that landscape.

Scott

[Chimo]

Very nice job and well described ta, but as an ex-bushie wouldn't it have been easier to just pipe the creek::)

Chimo

[reelemin1974]

Baitthrower, It's staying like that for the time being. I thought if the strips were any thinner but still 150 wide they would have had a tendency to break.

Disorderly, That is only about 1/50 of it as far as landscaping goes you have to see it to believe it.

Chimo, It's all about 'beautification' I am told, not so much about getting across the man made creek.