It's Cold Out There

[littlelegs]

I'm attempting to steam bend some wood for a toboggan. Never tried it before so the results could be...interesting.

The steam box has been going for about 45 mins now (15 mins time we find out if this worked) and has icicles hanging off of it. When a warm box filled with steam at close to boiling temps has icicles forming you know it's cold out.

[got_a_300]

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr................... that does sound like it is cold there
thank goodness it is 50°F with bright ☼ sunshine here . :cool:

[littlelegs]

We managed to split one piece and only have one spare so hoping the last 4 pieces bend OK. It's really tough to find a supplier for the wood hence having none spare.

The steam box now has its own little bubblewrap jacket to see if that helps. :)

[tumblebug1949]

It was 50 degrees or more here also. Hope your steaming wood to bend works. I always thought that would be interesting.

Tom

[StormGirl]

What is steam bending wood? First time hearing the term. I wish it would get a little colder here in Georgia. The weather feels like we're stuck in fall still.

[tumblebug1949]

Hey StormGirl,

I will trade you but it has to be for all year. I can have my harley polished up and ready to go in no time.

As far as steam bending of wood, little legs can probably explain in more detail but if wood is subjected to steam for a period of time. it becomes flexible. If you want to bend wood in a "U" you can. Maybe to make a walking stick or cane. You might want to bend wood to make runners on a sled. Once the wood is taken out of the steam and allowed to dry out, it will retain the bend.

Good Bowling

[bdpeters]

it is nice to see folks still practicing this sort of craft and keeping the skills alive, kinda like glass blowing. I certainly could handle some fall weather again.

Bri

[littlelegs]

It's for the front of a toboggan as it needs to be a U shape. We've decided to have a go at the Camden National Toboggan Championships this year so I'm building one. First time trying to steam bend wood.

The basics are simple enough. If you can get non-kiln dried wood up to 200 degrees+ it becomes flexible. Steam's the easiest way to do this without drying the wood out. The steam itself doesn't help the bending oddly, other than as a vehicle for the heat to penetrate (probably more than you ever wanted/needed to know about bending wood).

Unfortunately we didn't get it hot enough first attempt and 3 pieces snapped so we've got another steam source now to try again.

A picture for those not bored to death already.The box on the right is the steam box, the left is the bending jig and the broken piece is because we suck at bending wood (but are getting better :p)

389

[tumblebug1949]

Hey littlelegs,

Are you saying it is the temperature that allows the wood to be bent and not the use of steam necessarily? I have never tried it but always thought it was the steam.

Good picture of the jig and steam box.

Hope it works for you and you do well in the race.

P can't believe the local police department let you block the road like that. Course it is winter and probably not much traffic there.:p

Good Luck

[tumblebug1949]

I did some research on the subject and learned a lot. I didn't know you could over steam and the it needed to be timed very closely. I also learned it can help to pre soak the wood.

Seems to me this would have been a great summer time project :p

Tom

[littlelegs]

The pre-soaking is an odd thing as it depends totally on the source of the article as to whether it's worth doing. Many say not....unless you use fabric conditioner which apparently does the same with wood as with clothing i.e. softens if and makes it more flexible. I've not had enough experience yet to form an opinion one way or another.

I've also learned by trial and error that although you can over-steam it it's still way better than under-steaming :p

And yep...would have been a great summer time project. With just a little hindsight....

Oh and finally it's my father-in-laws driveway. Even Mainers would get pissy if we closed the road off just to do that :p

[kev3inp]

I just watched a "How It's Made" where they were making lacrosse sticks with steam bending. Oh, and it's 77 down here right now. I don't miss winter a bit. Down to the 40's at night later in the week. We might have to turn off the AC and turn on the heater. Cold hurts!

[tumblebug1949]

littlelegs,

The only thing I can think of that would give soaking the wood in water an advantage is that water should be good for conducting heat and maybe keeping the heat even across the wood. I may have to try this some day. Make some good walking canes or something. I was also reading about having sampling pieces of wood being steamed and using them to insure the actual piece is ready to bend.

OK, last question. Is that a commercial electric steaming box?

tempature 41 degrees and holding at 1:30pm
Tom

[littlelegs]

We built the steam box. We're trying again today and managed with one piece ok :) Final piece is in the box now. We're reaching 200 degrees with a 2nd steam source which is right where we need to be. There's no more spare wood left so here's hoping this last piece bends properly...

[littlelegs]

The bending's finished :) A few minor splits that we can patch (not convinced the wood was air dried) but structurally sound at the bends. Now the easier bit of just screwing it together.

390

[johncongdon]

That sounds like a lot of fun. Being in Florida, we don't get to do that kind of fun stuff. Neat project, good luck with it.

[littlelegs]

I have a friend who lives in the keys and was complaining it was cold because it hit the 40's at some stage this week. That was the night we hit -1 :p

[mhrinko]

It's currently 18 degrees in Northeast PA. We had 1/2 an inch of snow two nights ago....But theres no better way to warm up then with a little bowling with friends

[littlelegs]

Snow is scarce for us this year. Portland usually get less snow than much of Maine as is still 9" below the average. Where we are in central Maine even more so. A shame as we enjoy winter sports and the man made snow isn't quite the same and doesn't get produced on all the runs.