Hi everyone,

I need to bend some oak for a project. I’ve done it before but it was a long time ago…

Two questions :

  1. my plan is to bend a 40x70 mm (1,5" x 2,75") section of oak to a 500mm (20") internal radius, is that realistic?

  2. do I have to steam the whole piece or can I build a smaller steam box to only accept the end that needs to be bent?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Edit: added measurements in inches for universal convenience

  • Marafon@sh.itjust.works
    11·
    2 天前

    Oak would be a good species to try and bend but other than that I can only say good luck!

    If the curve is ultimately not manageable with steam bending consider taking a look at kerf cut bending. I’ve never attempted it but when using a tapered router bit the kerf cuts should almost disappear when the curve is glued.

    https://www.blocklayer.com/kerf-spacingeng

    • MacAnus@sh.itjust.worksOP
      4·
      2 天前

      Thanks, I’ll try my best!

      Also thank you for the kerf cut idea, i’ll keep it in mind as a backup solution.
      That website is going straight into my bookmarks!

      Cheers

      • BCsven@lemmy.ca
        3·
        2 天前

        BluGill gave advice on only steaming the bend portion. My only comment would be steam slightly past what you consider the bend start/stop because the material on the other side of that line still has to compress or stretch a bit also.