flexible wood hardening

[pk_volt]

Hi, I'm new here.


so I want to make a drawer where the outside panels are curved.

Question is, how would I make this panel.

Obviously, I'd have to use some sort of thin flexible wood, steam it, bend it to shape, and leave it there.

But What are the exact correct procedures of doing so, and what kind of wood should I use.

And also, is there any kind of material hardening I could use to harden the front panel?

many thanks!

 

[breezer]

what about flexible mdf?

that may not be the right name for it though, but its mdf and its flexible

 

[splinter]

what about flexible mdf?

that may not be the right name for it though, but its mdf and its flexible

I suppose fexible Mdf or ply could be used as a core then veneers of wood or what ever material is needed could be glued to the "core".

 

[Scrit]

Hi PK

What sort of finish are you after? If it is just a painted finish then the cheapest and fastest way is two layers of flexible MDF glued back to back (i.e. kerfed sides inwards) - they will need to be laid up over a curved form, but you won't have to calculate spring-back, etc. No need to worry about "hardening" as the end result will be pretty solid. The ends can be dealt with by "lipping" with 4mm MDF then trimming with a router. This is the approach taken by ship fitters these days for speed.

Of you want a "real wood" finish the foregoing will still make you the ground work, but the edges will then need to be lipped with solid timber or veneer and both the faces veneered. The question is have you ever veneered anything? At a pinch it might be possible to veneer using pre-glued veneer sheets providing you can find a way to veneer the inside of the drawer front - both sides need veneering to stop the item from warping. The only minus ti bendy MDF is that the kerfs can sometimes telegraph through to the surface.

As to steam bending - it is more an art than a science and can be quite dangerous. Only certain species will steam bend, for example beech is a good timber for steam bending whilst poplar simply breaks if you try it. There is a comprehensive list in Lincoln's book on wood species. It is almost impossible to steam bend anything safely which is greater in section than a chair leg without an industrial set-up, and a drawer front is really a bit bigger than that. Even if you could you'd find that steam bent stock always springs back a bit once it has cooled down

The other way to laminate-up a drawer front is with thin plywood (e.g. 3GL birch or 1.5mm beech veneers), although that, too will have springback (you need to calculate the springback and adjust your curved form as appropriate).

The most traditional approach is to make a core from wood "bricks" glued together then planed off using a compass plane. The resulting shape is then veneered. This techinque has been used for hundreds of years.

Scrit

 

[Jasonb]

Scrit missed of laminating from solid timber:

Cut your solid stock into thin strips 3mm (1/8") thick then glue them together and clamp over a former. You will get some spring back but if you use something like Titebond and the curve is not too great then this should be minimal.

I tend to prefer the plywood method using several layers of 1.5mm skinply and a veneer on either side, this can be clamped to a form like this and will look like this from the side but without the tapered fillets.

Jason

 

[gcol]

Hi PK

What sort of finish are you after? If it is just a painted finish then the cheapest and fastest way is two layers of flexible MDF glued back to back (i.e. kerfed sides inwards) - they will need to be laid up over a curved form, but you won't have to calculate spring-back, etc. No need to worry about "hardening" as the end result will be pretty solid. The ends can be dealt with by "lipping" with 4mm MDF then trimming with a router. This is the approach taken by ship fitters these days for speed.

Of you want a "real wood" finish the foregoing will still make you the ground work, but the edges will then need to be lipped with solid timber or veneer and both the faces veneered. The question is have you ever veneered anything? At a pinch it might be possible to veneer using pre-glued veneer sheets providing you can find a way to veneer the inside of the drawer front - both sides need veneering to stop the item from warping. The only minus ti bendy MDF is that the kerfs can sometimes telegraph through to the surface.

As to steam bending - it is more an art than a science and can be quite dangerous. Only certain species will steam bend, for example beech is a good timber for steam bending whilst poplar simply breaks if you try it. There is a comprehensive list in Lincoln's book on wood species. It is almost impossible to steam bend anything safely which is greater in section than a chair leg without an industrial set-up, and a drawer front is really a bit bigger than that. Even if you could you'd find that steam bent stock always springs back a bit once it has cooled down

The other way to laminate-up a drawer front is with thin plywood (e.g. 3GL birch or 1.5mm beech veneers), although that, too will have springback (you need to calculate the springback and adjust your curved form as appropriate).

The most traditional approach is to make a core from wood "bricks" glued together then planed off using a compass plane. The resulting shape is then veneered. This techinque has been used for hundreds of years.

Scrit

Scrit, can you briefly explain "lipping" please? I just don't follow your meaning.
Cheers

 

[Scrit]

Scrit missed of laminating from solid timber:

Yes, but Jason that is really wasteful of material because you loose as much in saw kerf as you get in laminae, not to mention it's difficult to get a consistent thickness of sawn stock..... But then all the techniques have their own particular problems.

gcol

By lipping I mean glueing-on thin layers of timber, from 3mm upwards to 10 or even 16mm which overhang the surface to which they are glued. Once the glue has dried the overhangs are trimmed off and the faces are veneered with the veneer extending over the trimmed edges of the lippings. This was a traditional way to veneer work which required a durable edge (such as a drawer front) or where the edge was to be profiled subsequently - and it's probably the nearest in appearance that you can get to using solid timbers, but it's a a lot less expensive if you are using expemnsive materials such as ebony or teak (as well as being a tad more environmentally sound)

Scrit