CHOPSTICK Steamer and Bending Jig

With all these chopsticks laying around (My wife loves to eat Chinese a little too much) I'm always looking for ways too make use of these little shard's of wood. It occurred to me that  I could probably make some cool curves, however looking at my 6ft wood steamer outside really was a waste of a lot of electric and water just to steam a couple of small sticks of wood. I've steamed and bent a lot of wood pieces over the years and this will be my first try at chopsticks. I am thinking about another project that I can use these for.

Step 1 Materials:

Materials:

2" PVC Pipe a little longer than the chopsticks, But planning ahead for smaller projects than my 6 ft steamer.
2" PVC Fittings (I used a screw on end cap and a 90 degree)
Various sizes of wood to make a stand
Multi-groove / fluted wood dowel pins
Old Pot for heating water
Tubing (I used a plastic tubing that is re-enforced)
Hot plate or stove
Screws
Chopsticks or wood dowels
Aluminum foil

Tools used:
Drill
Drill press (optional)
Various size drill bits
Hole saw (or jig saw will work in a pinch)
Blowtorch
Crosscut saw (circular saw or hand saw will work too)
Wood lathe (Optional: used it just for looks)

Comments

[Robot Lover]

Instead of drilling so much, try using a layer or two of peg board.

[LifeWarrior]

I had tried to use that as a shortcut once for a big project, no matter how soft I got the wood (even balsa) the pins just couldn't stand up to the pressure when the wood would start to dry. For something small didn't take long to drill for multiple forms, If I'm doing something bigger I just trace the form and drill just what I need to make it no more. Thanks for the reply

[Broom]

Great-sounding suggestion... and great reply.

[LifeWarrior]

Thanks, The pegboard idea I've had a lot of mixed results when trying to do that, but and it could work with a lot of layers, but after a few missed attempts I just started drilling the forms,

[Graffix10g]

do you think steaming with pvc is safe..?

[LifeWarrior]

Just FYI:

http://www.bayareawoodworkers.org/steambox/steambox.html

[LifeWarrior]

Yes when I built a 6 footer I had the same question but after googling it is a world wide professionals choice to use pvc pipe as a steam box, I first seen it on the yankee workshop

[Graffix10g]

sweeet, thanks! time to go make some back scratchers.

[LifeWarrior]

The 6 foot one works great and I wanted to see if a small one would work too for things like a back scratcher. Good luck on building and let me know if I can be of any help.

[badpanda]

Great build!

[LifeWarrior]

Thanks I looked at your Humane Animal Trap as well, First thought that came to mind was "Cool way to think out side the box" but I didn't want to post such a bad pun on your 'ible, LOL!