Laminating curved wood

I am considering making my chair backs out of laminated wood, rather than steaming them or cutting them on the band saw.

My chair book says to buy 1/16" veneer. I can't find 1/16" veneer, but judging by the prices on 1/25" veneer, it would be cheaper to buy the chairs than the veneer. Is it available at a reasonable price somewhere?

I cut a few pieces of 3/32" (after sanding) and glued them up to see how it would go. It works, but I would have to cut about 80 pieces of it for the project. Its doable, but would take a while.

Reply to
Toller
Loading thread data ...

How severe is the curve you're after? If you start with wide enough stock, you can probably nest a few legs per board. Then bandsaw them. If you make a cardboard template, you can transfer the shape onto a board, using up a lot of wood and making sure the waste is big enough to use for stretchers etc. You get to 'work' the grain for maximum visual effect. Think of the time, sawdust, adhesive, sandpaper, hassle in finishing, the 'look' of laminations.... and unless you have a bezillion clamps, the task will be immense.

r
Reply to
Robatoy

The curve is not large; I am talking about the back rails. The book says to laminate them, but I did think about cutting them on the band saw. I am not sure my bandsaw skill are up to producing 8 identical pieces, all of constant thickness. But, I guess it is a chance to improve my bandsaw skills, isn't it?

Reply to
Toller

I did some research on laminating before I started this rocking chair; I was considering laminating both the backs and the rockers. From what I've read, 1/8 or even 1/4" thick strips should be able to bend to a ~30" radius. Depends on the wood, moisture content, etc. I know Rockler etc. sell 1/4" pieces of "craft wood", but it seems like it'd be much cheaper to use a bandsaw and planer. My chair backs came out to something like 30-32" radius, but I ended up cutting them on the bandsaw instead of laminating. Of course, I only needed 2. Laminating would still take a while, unless you made up several forms and have a bunch of clamps. I really liked the grain patterns that came out on my bandsawn backs (cherry). Also, how are you planning to attach the backs to the uprights? I was able to cut the tenons on my square stock before bandsawing the curve, which was much easier than cutting angled mortises or trying to figure out the tenon angles after the fact. Something to consider. Another thing I was considering but didn't try was to use a bandsaw circle jig to cut the outer curve on my chair backs. I would have needed to attach a few strips of wood to my stock to serve as radii, but then the bandsaw cut for the outer curves should be very consistent. Then you can reference the outer curve against the bandsaw fence to cut the inner curve. Let me know if you want me to try to clarify that further. Hope this helps, Andy

Reply to
Andy

What kind of wood are you using, and what is your design and radius for the chair back rails?

Having recently cut curved back rails for seven chairs (2/chair), perhaps I can give you a few ideas if I had a better idea of what you're shooting for.

formatting link

Reply to
Swingman

Hi Toller,

IIRC you're in Western NY. Depending on what species you're looking for "Certainly Wood" in East Aurora may have 1/16" veneer. See:

formatting link
1/16" would be considered a "special" thickness so you'd have to call them for availability and pricing.

Certainly Wood Inc.

13000 Route 78 East Aurora, NY 14052-9515 Phone: 716-655-0206
Reply to
Nova

identical to yours. The book said that laminating avoided the odd grain you can get from cutting, but yours look fine.

Any tips would be appreciated. I am sure that between the band saw and the oscillating sander I can make one, but getting 8 that are all constant thickness; that is intimidating.

Reply to
Toller

Reply to
Toller

That may even be better, because QSWO over 8/4 is non-existent and, depending upon your radius, you may need a finished thickness of greater than 2" for your starting blank (red oak should be readily available up

16/4).

I had to glue up two pieces to get QSWO blanks in excess of the 2" thickness necessary to cut a curve with a radius of 20", over a 12 1/2" span/chord/width.

I used loose tenon joinery, so if you're using integral tenons you need to take their length into account when dimensioning your blank.

Actually, it's _much_ easier than you think, as only the two per chair really need to be _identical_ , and this is the easy part, particularly if you have access to a CAD program and a printer.

Just for talking purposes, the dimensions for the two curved rails for each chair I built were:

Crest rail: 2" tall x 12 1/2" wide x 1" thick; and Intermediate rail: 1" tall x 12 1/2" wide x 1" thick.

For each chair I started with ONE blank, roughly 4 1/2" tall x 13" wide x 2

1/2" thick, and with a centerline penciled into the top of the blank (IMPORTANT!).

Out of this one blank you will end up with two _identically_ curved rails for one chair.

I used a CAD program to print out the TOP view of a 1":1" scaled template of the curve on a legal size sheet of paper, thusly:

formatting link
the center line on the template lined up with the centerline AND a flat edge of the blank (use scissors to cut away portions of the paper template to make this easy), then pasted on top of the blank with Elmer's spray-on glue, it becomes your cutting guide for bandsawing your curves; your tenons if you're not using loose tenon joinery; and to locate your slat mortises.

Regarding the latter, be sure to carry ALL the lines completely around your blank with a saddle square AFTER you cut and sand the front and back curves so that you can locate the mortises after ripping the blanks into the two finished parts.

The sequence in which you do the operations is dependent upon whether you are using integral or loose tenons. Just give it some thought and the sequence should become apparent.

IOW, do those cuts which are easiest/more accurately done with a flat face against a fence before you cut your curves ... you don't need to being making extra jigs to do angled cuts.

On the bandsaw, I used a 1/2" blade to cut the curves.

I slowly, and carefully, cut right to the line, but left the line, then sanded using a ROS just until I got rid of the bandsaw marks on both sides.

Go slow on the bandsaw ... you're saving a good deal of time by doing it this way, so take all the time you need to make your cuts as close to the line as you can.

(Might want to make up an extra practice blank or two out of some cheaper wood till you get the hang of the bandsawing)

Once satisfied with the smoothness after sanding, go to the table saw and, with the back curved side up, rip the completed blank into two parts of the correct dimension ... you should now have the two _identically_ curved parts for one chair (the only two that really need to be _identical_).

All the above notwithstanding, I had also made provisions for using a router table, with a flush trim pattern bit and a template to do the above, but by being extra careful with the cuts on the bandsaw, it was not remotely necessary as the ROS worked like a charm to "fair" the curves.

NOTE: You may want to wait until after you glue up a chair to do the final 'fairing" and smoothing of the front curves, but you can't do that with the back curves for obvious reasons, so make sure you have the back side smooth to your satisfaction before you cut the blank in two.

Let me know if you have any questions.

FWIW, there is a jig on my website for using a plunge router to cut the mortises in the curved parts if you're interested in seeing one method of doing that:

formatting link
down to "jigs for jigs".

Good luck ... and don't hesitate to ask if something is not clear.

Reply to
Swingman

I really appreciate all the help. I will probably have some questions later on, but the first thing to do is to practice some cutting. The plan calls for 3.5" and 2" rails, but I am probably going to make them narrower; more like yours.

The wood is no problem. 2 years ago I bought 150bf of 10/4 and 12/4 oak on ebay for $1, and have been looking for a use for it. I am using some for a bowl turning course I am taking, but you can only turn so much...

I was also planning loose tenons; the kind with the drill fixture.

Reply to
Toller

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.