Just sharing some technical things, not very technical but thought they might be of some interest. I need to make seat rings like Thonet but not having access to anything that steams well or the dollars for compwood I'm laminating them, its pretty easy, this is just a quick run without cauls. It works like a lazy Susan with a bolt running through into the bench top. The mandrel and a stop pin forces the (very unyielding) strips around nicely as I clamp it and with a spacer block on it and the big disc plate helping it keeps the laminae flat and in alignment. Just waxed for now, skinned in melamine tomorrow. The ring only really needs to be partial and there will be a fair bit of springback, both are fine and in some ways are positives.
The legs are easy to do and I'm glad I put the effort into it, I just rough turn all the legs, bolt that big plate on and a little router in a mdf box bracket with 2 guide pins runs along that axis aligned hardboard template, getting that and the router bit depth into just the right position was fiddly though, every adjustment doubles the cut, but it can lead to some nice effects. I really struggled to get that fine curved taper with spoke shaves and sanding but it wouldn't come fair. Eventually just used a jack plane on it and the rocking motion of my body with a slight exaggeration and it came out perfect. Lathe runs at its slowest speed and I move the router at about 20 sec/3 ft. Much sanding though. With the indexing pin I may be able to rout mortises in them or something similar in-situ, which will be nice, but these will just be bolted.
And a link to Matthias Wandels site, the coolest guy ever.
Thanks for the peek,
Heath. I haven't had to use the glue-up technique you show, in a while. Nice to see it done so neatly. Did you do a dry test to determine clamping, or did you just go for it ? I always found that a sufficient number of clamp holes was essential -- and easier to determine ahead of time . . . !
Love to see this stuff. Keep us posted.
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I just went for it, this wood is fit for the fire so I wasn't concerned about that, the larger curve in the bottom left of the pic came out with virtually invisible glue lines for an old project so I had a rough idea of how many clamps I'd need.
There are still quite a few refinements needed and problems to solve. I'll post some more pics next week, thanks for the interest, its appreciated.
Dang, a plywood donut would have been better for the former, or I could have made it in segments, which might then be reversible for S curves, oh well next time.
Heh-heh.
The world of curved wood is fraught with issues, possibilities, and examples. A continuous ring or cylinder is a special case, no matter what the criteria. I haven't looked at a Thonet chair base, or a bass drum, so I can hardly be called well-experienced -- but the possibilities are endless, aren't they ?
I believe an embroidery hoop needs looking at. I once made a couple of loom-woven cylindrical lamps with incorporated staves, one of which was stretched around a pair of hoops. I think they may have been laminated from a single length of thick veneer, wrapped twice and tapered at each end. Imagine the clamping technique . . .
The Shaker round or oval box is a type of solution. Basketry and woven slat work is another, I suppose. The wound-veneer cardboard cylinder must have some analog is woodwork -- wouldn't you think ?
Does an Aalto stool have a pieced-solid rim ? Is it cut from thick veneer-core, and then veneered ? How about the keg and the barrel ? Imagine a craft which long ago perfected the cutting and (accurate) beveling of hardwood staves such that they could be closed and held water-tight by binding hoops of iron ?
I did a bit of reading just t...
I did a bit of reading just to get some ideas, seems scarfing is pretty common, and there are ways with maths and stuff, staggering the lengths but to be honest it was all a bit tedious. There is this video on one way to do it.
The former is suitable for steam bending too, so that if I do get some air dried ash or something scarfing it before bending shouldn't be too much of a hassle, I hope.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hjCwav452s
The single most
advantageous move is to make the plies as thin and pliable as possible -- as I see it. For a full ring I would probably satisfy myself with staggered butt joints. But I've never made such a piece. Scarfed joints would have the advantage of making the joints more invisible -- and stronger -- and might even be a bit more forgiving in achieving correct lengths . . . ?
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I like to stick with 1/8 as a minimum, just a bit more efficient for a few reasons, also I hate ripping too thinner strips.
It was pretty interesting, would love to try something similar, was the top of the rim just running against the top of the cutter, the unsharpened part, like a bearing?
For another job I need a curve that is looser than the arc on the big former but don't really feel like making a dedicated one, what do you think of taking advantage of the springback to achieve it by laminating 4 layers of 6mm instead of 8 of 3? Does that result in any weakness with excessive creeping? I'd clamp it overnight, but do prefer white glue.
Really interesting post
You have got to show us when you have made something.
The Wandel site is just great. I am always amazed that there are these people out there who just dig into stuff and share it all. I tend to have my misgivings about the web but his site is just unselfish sharing. Aw Shucks. I am tearing up.
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