Bending Mahogany

I have used castoff aluminium guttering to heat / steam wood. By
folding the ends up just so to retain the water and using two pieces,
one as a lid, sitting on a couple of camp stoves, I was able to boil
teak. Then I found out that teak does not benefit from steaming.
Still, the method was satisfactory in principal.

Terry K
 >> Stay informed about: Bending Mahogany 

This message is not archived
 >> Stay informed about: Bending Mahogany 

On Dec 7, 8:23 am, Terry K <tspragg....TakeThisOut@rogers.com> wrote:
> I have used castoff aluminium guttering to heat / steam wood. By
> folding the ends up just so to retain the water and using two pieces,
> one as a lid, sitting on a couple of camp stoves, I was able to boil
> teak. Then I found out that teak does not benefit from steaming.
> Still, the method was satisfactory in principal.
>
> Terry K

I would imagine any of several problems with your setup made it fail,
not the wood...
 >> Stay informed about: Bending Mahogany 

On Dec 7, 8:23 am, Terry K <tspragg....DeleteThis@rogers.com> wrote:
> I have used castoff aluminium guttering to heat / steam wood. By
> folding the ends up just so to retain the water and using two pieces,
> one as a lid, sitting on a couple of camp stoves, I was able to boil
> teak. Then I found out that teak does not benefit from steaming.
> Still, the method was satisfactory in principal.
>
> Terry K

Let me explain my last post. I do not think you method was
satisfactory in principal. Heat makes the wood cell walls soft so they
can be bent, but only once. Once the wall is heated soft, if the
temperature drops, even for a few seconds, it will harden, and once
that happens that's it, it will not resoften. Aluminum, with water, on
heating elements screams uneven heat to me. The water around the
elements will be a different temp than the surrounding water, aluminum
sheds heat so fast, there is probably no way to keep an even temp
throughout the box. As the different areas heat and cool, you lose the
ablility to get any benefit from the steam by the time you pull it
from the steam box. I could be wrong, but I do not think your method
was satisfactory in principal, Just my opinion. All of my steam boxes
are 3/4 inch wood panels. I drill a 1 inch hole in the end and put a
rag in to keep the steam box full and moving...
 >> Stay informed about: Bending Mahogany 

"Terry K" <tspragg567.DeleteThis@rogers.com> wrote in message
news:18279036-d5fb-4bdf-8863-55cd2ae29a7c@w56g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
>I have used castoff aluminium guttering to heat / steam wood. By
> folding the ends up just so to retain the water and using two pieces,
> one as a lid, sitting on a couple of camp stoves, I was able to boil
> teak. Then I found out that teak does not benefit from steaming.
> Still, the method was satisfactory in principal.
>
> Terry K

Teak certainly benefits from steaming, if your purpose is to bend the teak.

I have steam bent teak for rails, frames, inwales gunwales etc. for my
lapstrake boats.

Most wood will take steam better if it is not kiln dried.

...Ken
 >> Stay informed about: Bending Mahogany 

On Fri, 7 Dec 2007 13:43:54 -0800 (PST),
justwaitafrekinminute.TakeThisOut@gmail.com wrote:

>On Dec 7, 8:23 am, Terry K <tspragg....TakeThisOut@rogers.com> wrote:
>> I have used castoff aluminium guttering to heat / steam wood. By
>> folding the ends up just so to retain the water and using two pieces,
>> one as a lid, sitting on a couple of camp stoves, I was able to boil
>> teak. Then I found out that teak does not benefit from steaming.
>> Still, the method was satisfactory in principal.
>>
>> Terry K
>
>Let me explain my last post. I do not think you method was
>satisfactory in principal. Heat makes the wood cell walls soft so they
>can be bent, but only once. Once the wall is heated soft, if the
>temperature drops, even for a few seconds, it will harden, and once
>that happens that's it, it will not resoften. Aluminum, with water, on
>heating elements screams uneven heat to me. The water around the
>elements will be a different temp than the surrounding water, aluminum
>sheds heat so fast, there is probably no way to keep an even temp
>throughout the box. As the different areas heat and cool, you lose the
>ablility to get any benefit from the steam by the time you pull it
>from the steam box. I could be wrong, but I do not think your method
>was satisfactory in principal, Just my opinion. All of my steam boxes
>are 3/4 inch wood panels. I drill a 1 inch hole in the end and put a
>rag in to keep the steam box full and moving...

I've used a plastic downspout set over an electric kettle with rags at
each end to bend ash and cherry. It worked very well and the downspout
was back on the house before wifey came home from work
 >> Stay informed about: Bending Mahogany 

"Don Dando" <speedliner.DeleteThis@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:QS16j.23238$4V6.17651@newssvr14.news.prodigy.net...
>I made up a 10 ft length of 4" plastic pipe with the end cap cemented on
>one
> end, the other end is removable. I have put various species of wood in
> it,
> filling it with water and let it soak prior to bending the wood. It work
> well.
>
> I have not tried bending mahogany using this method. I need to bend two
> pieces of 1 X 3/8ths mahogany for seat rails in a lap strake dinghy. Just
> spent $38 on the mahogany right after trying to bend other pieces dry only
> to break them.
>
> Does anyone have an opinion?
>
> Don Dando
>
>
My first question to you is what specie of mahogany are you trying to bend?
When we build the 17' runabout we needed to make the 1/2" African Mahogany
planks more supple where we had to roll around the barrelback of the hull.
I used a 30Ga garbage can with a drain valve in the bottom to make it easier
to drain. I wrapped the can with some close cell neoprene for insulation
and cut a flap door in the top. we filled the can with 180 degree water,
placed the end we needed to bend into the water, wrapped a towel around two
feet above the can, wrapped plastic around that with the bottom of the
plastic tucked into the can so water would return to the can and used a
quart container to take hot water and pour it down the upper section of the
plank. All you need is about fifteen to twenty minutes in the soak. Have
all your clamps staged and ready. We used the towel to wrap the plank in
transit to the hull to maintain temperature as best as possible. After you
have clamped it in place use a heavy duty heat gun, such as you would use to
strip pain, and apply heat to both side of the plank for about ten minutes.
This not only dry the wood but helps set the bend/twist needed. We left the
boards clamped for twenty-four hours the sanded the inside to remove the
raised grain, completed the fitting of the plank and installed it. We also
used this method in a 4" PVC pipe to bend the shear clamp.

My experiance, hope this helps.

Tom
 >> Stay informed about: Bending Mahogany