Good video. Nice work. Couple of useful points: You spent quite a bit of time building the form. Protect your form by applying a thorough coating of wax to prevent any glue sticking to it. The wax paper was a great idea. Instead of clogging the disc sander or belt sander with glue, try using a scraper to get the bulk of the glue off before you sand. Another thing; If you are going to do more of this plywood bending, it might make sense to build a router jig to remove the excess glue from the edge. As you noted, the bandsaw gives a rough finish. Using a router to trim the glue leaves a very nice surface. Have fun, stay safe.
Three things i would do different. 1 Misting the wood with water before prebending. This helps soften the wood and helps keep the form after the prebending and aids with the glueing as I explain later. 2 using straps on the outside layer will help prevent wood from cracking or snapping. 3 roll on polyurethane glue, this glue uses the moisture from when spraying water on the wood earlier to cure and is much stronger then standard wood glue. And will not seperate when subject to high or low temperatures like standard wood glue does.
The Varier Balans chair back support add-on I want is a whopping $200 for a 2 bend ply and some hardware. Enlightening to see that 1/8 birch can bend without steaming. Or I'm thinking to just build it up without any bending and add aluminum edge supports for the lower weight bearing curve.
Hi, nice video and very comprehensive explanation. But I still have a question concerning bent lamination: Would it also be possible to glue up "curved beams" from individual pieces / "boards" that are shorter than the final beam (for example make a 9 foot beam out of two 4.5 foot "boards", than three 3 foot "boards" than again two 4.5 foot "boards" and maybe only use 9 foot "boards" for the top and bottom layers)? I hope you understand what I mean. Thanks in advance
Can I bend 18 or 20mm plywood with this method? I mean for thicker plywood will this work? Because I wanna make a curved baby hammock. Or If I use ratchet strap will that work too?
I thought the video was well presented and informative. The comments were also valuable. Even though I already knew the process, it was nice to go back to basic. I wipe away excess glue from any project which makes sanding easier. I sometimes work with an outdoor glue which expands. I use a chisel or a sharp tool to scrap the excess once it dries to a soft consistency (1/2-1 hour).
Soaking the laminates in water and then placing them into clamps before they are glued make the transformation much easier. Just as a "warm up period" before any strenuous physical activity reduces the possibility of any injury.
Bad idea to try to sand away glue. The glue just heats up, melts, and clogs the sandpaper. It's best to use a scraper. Better than than waiting till the glue cures, wipe it off as soon as the work is clamped up, like others have said.
Hello! You're the answer to all my questions, great video, great help.. But a question, how long (hours/days) did you leave the plywood (Glue) to dry? (Excuse me for my English)..
