Spanish Cedar

[Jack]

That's a good bend. Was the wood green, air-dried or kiln dried? I'd think if you could get a 180 degree bend without heat, then red cedar bends well, and the OP can forge ahead.

[Swingman]

Basically, the wood in _tension_ on the bent toothpick broke; the wood in _compression_ expanded after is elasticity was increased by moisture content added by the tongue ... resulting in the toothpick's "leg's moving apart.

Thereby illustrating that the moisture content (water) of the wood plays a part in the bending of wood, not just heat.

When any board is bent, the wood on the outside (convex) side is put in tension; the wood on the inside (concave side) is out in compression.

It's all about increasing the elasticity of the wood fibers on the compressed side of any desired bend, which both a higher moisture content and heat will provide.

Introducing both heat, and a higher moisture content (most effectively done by the application of steam) increases the elasticity of the wood fibers, and, most importantly for bending, those that will be in compression (concave side), by roughly ten times, allowing a much greater radius of bend than with a board with normal moisture content.

That, unfortunately, doesn't apply to the side in tension ... thus ultimately limiting the radius of a bend before breaking ... just like the toothpick.

IOW, anyone wanting to bend solid wood of any usable thickness, and having it maintain the desired bend, will use both moisture and heat.

That said, this really doesn't apply to the OP, as his was about "bent lamination", a totally different method of bending wood.

[bnwelch]

t worked for me...

No idea, just a piece of 2 x 6 cedar from the big box store lying around in my garage...I was trying to build a homemade cartop sculling boat carrier out of wood instead of the usual aluminum or SST bent plate. Radius is roug hly 7"-->8", so pretty tight. I tried forming dry, and heard cracking so I decided to try wet, thinking 1/8" thick strips loaded into a 4" diameter PV C pipe capped on both ends (full of water) was worth trying...

[Sonny]

We don't know how long his boards/slats are.

The 180 degree value is not all you need to consider, no matter if steamed, heated only or watered only. What is the radius of the bend? A 180 deg ree curve in a 10' board/slat is "different" (Karl's tension notes), than a 180 degree curve in a 10" board/slat.

Agreed. He probably is ok with bending his slats with no assistance.

Sonny

[bnwelch]

it worked for me...

in my garage...I was trying to build a homemade cartop sculling boat carrie r out of wood instead of the usual aluminum or SST bent plate. Radius is ro ughly 7"-->8", so pretty tight. I tried forming dry, and heard cracking so I decided to try wet, thinking 1/8" thick strips loaded into a 4" diameter PVC pipe capped on both ends (full of water) was worth trying...

looking to create something like this:

ck.html

from cedar for carting my 1946 wood racing single to and from the lake...ju st seems like the right thing to do...

[joeljcarver]

I guess I didn't make it clear that I've already made many bent laminations from both Honduras Mahogany and Red Grandis, and my source of the less exp ensive Red Grandis has shut down. What I wanted to know was if anyone had e xperience using Spanish Cedar for bent laminations.

Since the chairs are for outdoors, I need a suitable species. I'm consideri ng any less pricey, easily and nearby available alternatives.

For what it's worth, I've done lots of steam bending for Windsor chair part s. That's not what I need for this project.

[dpb]

On 06/03/2016 2:42 PM, [e-mail] wrote: ...

...

Personally, no, but

says it bends moderately well. I'd go check the US Forest Products Lab site for the properties book as well if were wanting to know all there is to be known--or check Hoadley...

[J. Clarke]

Not really an answer to your question, but have you tried "lyptus", which is a brand name for a farm-grown hybrid of eucalyptus grandis and eucalyptus urophylla, marketed in the US by Weyerhauser?

Both my local suppliers have it for less than Spanish cedar.

Also, just a note in passing, Woodworker's Source is having a sale on Red Grandis right now through I believe July 31.

[Leon]

Alternatively, You can take an on line class for about $20.

[Jack]

Was at a bar last night, got a hamburger and it had a long round tooth pick stuck in it. I broke it in the middle and placed it in a wet spot on the bar. Nothing happened at all. Placed it in a wet napkin, and still, nothing happened... Next time I'll take it home and soak it overnight and see if it will bend more before breaking.