Bending planks for the tuck

[glennb17]

Hello everyone,

I've been modeling a while but have so far managed to avoid planking the tuck at the transom, the tight bend that turns upward at the stern, carving hard until it is almost straight up.

For curves, I'm pretty disciplined about doing some preliminary shaping on a wood strip or piece, soaking it in hot water for 5-10 minutes and then clamping into place and letting it dry thoroughly to get the curve. And it works very well. Until I get to the hard bend in the plank at the transom and having no way to clamp it.

How do you guys achieve this? Pre-bend in a jig before hand? A special clamp?

Any reasonable solution would be greatly appreciated.

 

[KAYA61]

There are many resources on this topic in the forum. Here's one of them.

New Improved Plank Bender

I know a few people have tried versions of this device, but I think I have come up with an improvement/modification that really works well. I have made a rough video of the bender in action and I am still playing around with gear sizes and springs. The vulcanized or rubber rollers are really...

shipsofscale.com

This is the setup I created. It works and is satisfying.

 

[Corsair]

I pre-bend using water (does not have to be hot) and heat from a soldering iron. Keep the wood wet using multiple applications of water so you don't scorch the wood. To apply the water, I ususally initially soak the wood for about 5 minutes. After that it just gets a quick dunk.

 

[AllanKP69]

Similar to Jeff's idea but I use a hot air gun so there is no worry about burning the wood and it covers everything quickly. Once the wood is wet and pliable I clamp one end to the deck transom (or cross pieces if POB build) hold the other end against the hull forward of the bend with one hand, and heat it for a minute or two with the hot air gun in the other hand. My gun has variable temperature settings and I found where 300C is so I stay slightly below that and never burn the wood.
Allan

 

[Roger Pellett]

The photo below shows the tuck” on a POF model that I built. Planking is Boxwood, not Costello. I gave the planking a short soak in household ammonia. It bent and twisted like a wet noodle. No pre-bending. I first accurately secured the plank on the model, twisted the end, and clamped it until dry.

Roger

 

[Baco]

I use similar idea...

Placing wet wood and let it dry

 

[bill36]

Hello everyone,

I've been modeling a while but have so far managed to avoid planking the tuck at the transom, the tight bend that turns upward at the stern, carving hard until it is almost straight up.
View attachment 534565
For curves, I'm pretty disciplined about doing some preliminary shaping on a wood strip or piece, soaking it in hot water for 5-10 minutes and then clamping into place and letting it dry thoroughly to get the curve. And it works very well. Until I get to the hard bend in the plank at the transom and having no way to clamp it.

How do you guys achieve this? Pre-bend in a jig before hand? A special clamp?

Any reasonable solution would be greatly appreciated.

1. Careful choice of wood species (lemon, Swiss pear, box, etc); must lend itself to bending (no oak, mahogany, pine, fir, etc).
2. Wood to be straight grain in 2 lateral directions, no cross grain, no knots,
3. Soak in steaming hot water for 30 to 60 minutes.
4. Fix in place on the hull and allowed to dry for a day. Test for fit, repeat as necessary. Plank must fair with hull frame; file down and/or shim up as necessary.
5. Glue in place with CYA.
6. Predrill holes for mechanical anchors. Pin with wood dowels/trunnels (dip the ends in TiteBond) or use copper wire (ends coated with CYA) and drive home. Trim as necessary.
7. File out any discontinuity along lateral joint.
8. This is a "prissy/nit-picking" business. I have never been able to make it go fast.

 

[AllanKP69]

I use similar idea...

Placing wet wood and let it dry

This is only bending in one plane, but the planking all bends in a second plane which has to be accounted for as well. The bending is dynamic across the length of the hull as can be seen on planking expansion drawings such as the one below.

Allan