Help with bending walnut strips 7x3mm

I use a steam box that I built myself with ordinary supplies available at any hardware store. A single burner hot plate, a steam kettle, and some PVC pipe and fittings. Steam is a reliable way of bending wood, just about any wood, I have even bent Ebony. Picture of the set up is attached. Give the steam time to soak into the wood fibers, each wood type will vary, from 10 min. to an hour.

Bob

first planks being steamed.jpg
 
Thank you, do you have details on what a steam box looks like, my guess it is something to boil water in and you funnel the steam into an enclosure which holds the wood piece and keep boilng the water as long as needed. Lots of great ideas thank you all.
The steamer I got from Home Depot... connected with a tube to the elongated box capable of holding the longest length of planking. Which seems to be about 500mm.., unless you cut your own (although I made it about 2.5 ft long) The box is sealed except for the hinged door. Which I put rubber stripping along. Then one vent hole. Also, I installed horizontal dowels to keep wood pieces elevated to get complete surround of the steam Steamer was about $60.. The capacity of the steamer seems to hold enough water for several hours. According to directions and youtube, thin small thicknesses only seem to take short time..... How ever,,,, I'm still learning and playing with it. After steaming,,,, the best thing seems to make a form to hold piece in until dry. I was going to try and bend and immediately apply to framework.......haven't got that far yet. I am almost done with my Mamoli Victory and will be applying this to my ext ZHL build which is a Soleil Royale.
 
Thank you, do you have details on what a steam box looks like, my guess it is something to boil water in and you funnel the steam into an enclosure which holds the wood piece and keep boilng the water as long as needed. Lots of great ideas thank you all.
I built a steam box for bending strips of wood for fly fishing hand nets. Made of pine, it's 6 feet long. Steam is created by a steam generator designed just for this purpose. I think you would want a smaller version though. I can answer any questions you might have.

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I use a steam box that I built myself with ordinary supplies available at any hardware store. A single burner hot plate, a steam kettle, and some PVC pipe and fittings. Steam is a reliable way of bending wood, just about any wood, I have even bent Ebony. Picture of the set up is attached. Give the steam time to soak into the wood fibers, each wood type will vary, from 10 min. to an hour.

Bob
Thanks for the pic, nice little setup, so to confirm it's a normal kettle filled with water and you let it boil away as long as needed while making sure not to boil dry, does the PVC pipe have a vent hole to ease pressure and do you soak the wood first. Quite a wide time range so expect it would be some trial and error for correct timings, do you know it's right when the wood should bend fairly easy.
 
I built a steam box for bending strips of wood for fly fishing hand nets. Made of pine, it's 6 feet long. Steam is created by a steam generator designed just for this purpose. I think you would want a smaller version though. I can answer any quedtions you might have.
Thanks, it looks great.
What does the steaming device look like, in Australia we don't have HomeDepot.
Yes something a bit smaller would be required though, something like Squarebriggs above would probably do me.

 
The steamer I got from Home Depot... connected with a tube to the elongated box capable of holding the longest length of planking. Which seems to be about 500mm.., unless you cut your own (although I made it about 2.5 ft long) The box is sealed except for the hinged door. Which I put rubber stripping along. Then one vent hole. Also, I installed horizontal dowels to keep wood pieces elevated to get complete surround of the steam Steamer was about $60.. The capacity of the steamer seems to hold enough water for several hours. According to directions and youtube, thin small thicknesses only seem to take short time..... How ever,,,, I'm still learning and playing with it. After steaming,,,, the best thing seems to make a form to hold piece in until dry. I was going to try and bend and immediately apply to framework.......haven't got that far yet. I am almost done with my Mamoli Victory and will be applying this to my ext ZHL build which is a Soleil Royale.
Good tip to keep it in shape until dry, I think I might see if I can rig up something to give it a go, will see if the steamer my wife is about to get is also suitable as per comment from martijnonderwater

 
Thanks for the pic, nice little setup, so to confirm it's a normal kettle filled with water and you let it boil away as long as needed while making sure not to boil dry, does the PVC pipe have a vent hole to ease pressure and do you soak the wood first. Quite a wide time range so expect it would be some trial and error for correct timings, do you know it's right when the wood should bend fairly easy.
The end caps are perforated so pressure can't build up and explode, and no, I don't soak the wood first, I let the steam do the work. I do keep a close eye on water levels so the pot doesn't run dry. It is a trial and error process to see how long certain woods and thicknesses take to become bendable. I hope this helps.

Bob
 
The end caps are perforated so pressure can't build up and explode, and no, I don't soak the wood first, I let the steam do the work. I do keep a close eye on water levels so the pot doesn't run dry. It is a trial and error process to see how long certain woods and thicknesses take to become bendable. I hope this helps.

Bob
Don't forget when removing the steamed wood, they need to be clamped in a form or installed then allowed to fully dry.
 
I usually let the wood soak in water for a couple of hours, and then use a steam cleaner (looks like this) to heat the wood. If you make a template of the corner that you need to bend, then you can use that to bend the (heated) strip around. It also easy to reheat the strip a bit with the steam cleaner. Looking at the picture, it seems like a difficult bend to make, but not impossible. And the other suggestions above are also good ideas! Have fun!
The Admiral has just brought the one in the picture which looks similar to yours for another purpose, I think the Deckhand could also put it to good use with your instructions, lets see what I can do over the weekend.

Steam.jpg
 
Cool, let me know how you get on? The one in the picture is indeed very similar to mine
Tried one and came out better than the soaking and direct heat method, will need to experiment a bit more to see if I can improve on it.
Bend.jpg
 
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