50 Handy Tricks

Step 45 Instant Steambox For Bending Wood

I needed a bent rib for a boat I was fixing.
So I needed a steam box. I set one up in a few minutes and it worked well.
I set a big plastic sewer pipe on a table, propped up so it tipped toward the front.
I hung an electric teakettle from the front. I tied and draped a garbage bag over the front so the steam went up into the pipe. I plugged the other end of the pipe and draped blankets over it for insulation.
I put the sticks I wanted to bend up on cross sticks so the steam could get to all sides.

The water that condensed on the wood and the inside of the pipe ran back out the front and back into the teakettle.

The steaming part went well, but I wasn't so good with the bending. I wanted the wood too thick to bend around the radius I wanted. So I broke a lot of wood before I got the piece I needed. The second photo shows some of the failures.

Comments

[nativewater]

For thicker wood it helps to have a bending strap. But you also need a form to bend over. Wood bends mostly by compression on the inside of the bend and very little by stretching on the outside of the bend. The bending strap limits stretching and forces the wood into compression. Excessive stretching causes breaking. Careful selection of pieces with straight grain is also essential to good bending success. Anyway, the bending strap is anchored to the bending form on one end and free on the other. Insert the steamed wood between bending strap and form and start bending while applying pressure with the strap to force the wood against the form. A leather belt or piece of sheet metal can be used for the strap.

[luneydude]

and i like cut little peices of wood to fit inbetween the bends to hold it flush against the inside of the case would that work

[luneydude]

okay so im wanting to make me a new electric guitar thats built like a acoustic but its not acoustic i have a hard c=guitar case thats the shape i want my guitar if i put the steamed wood in there and bended it to the inside shape of it and then closed the guitar case with it in there and let it dry up would that work

[nativewater]

It should work in theory. You never know till you try it. Only thing is that you have to work pretty fast to get the wood bent before it cools down too much. If your idea doesn't work you can always build a bending form out of plywood

[luneydude]

thanks man, yah if mine doesnt work ill try that, thanks once again

[Grey_valentine]

Have you tried laminating the wood were you bend it?

[22tpring]

How long did you have to let the wood steam before getting pieces that "wood" bend to your will?