Strip Laminate Bending

Major
Project
Article

MAR/APR 2004
Volume 47/Issue 2

IN THIS ISSUE
Project Articles
• Strip Laminate Bending
• The Turned Hall Tree
• Two Great Kitchen Gift Items

DEPARTMENTS
• Ask Smitty
• Owner’s Gallery
• Letters from Owners
• New Baby Workshop Calendar

Academy Notes
Clean Cuts - Pt. 5- Sharpening Jointer, Molder & Shaper Knives

Service Pointers
Troubleshooting the Shopsmith Lathe Duplicator

Safety Tips
Safety Cans for Flammable Liquids

What's New
Check out our New Shopsmith Website

EDUCATION
• Find A Shopsmith Woodworking Academy Near You
• National Woodworking Academy in Dayton, OH

ONLINE CATALOGS
• Online Accessory Catalog
• Request Printed Accessory Catalog
• Online Replacement Parts Catalog

MARK V INFORMATION
• Find A Shopsmith
MARK V Demo Near You
• Request MARK V Information Package

LINKS
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• Free Woodworking Tips

FEEDBACK
Contacting Shopsmith

Strip Laminate Bending

For larger forms, use your Bandsaw to cut out the first (bottom) layer of the form. Next, use your Disc and Drum Sanders to sand this layer to its final shape. Cut out the next layer. This must be a little over-sized and not under-sized. Glue and nail it to the first layer. Using a Router Table or a Hand-Held Router with the bearing pilot of a Flush-Trim Bit riding against the edge of your first layer, trim the second layer flush with the first (See Fig. 3). Continue adding layers and trimming them flush until your form is the required thickness.

Fig. 3. Using a hand-held router with a bearing piloted flush-trim bit to trim successive layers of the form even with the first layer.

Tip: If you don't have enough large pieces of stock to create all the layers you need, you can make all but the bottom (original) layers by gluing-up smaller pieces of stock. Just be sure to stagger the joints from layer-to-layer for maximum form strength.

You can extend the life of your form by adding masking tape or 1/8" hardboard to all inside edges. Then apply a coat of paste wax to the inside surfaces to ease the removal of your glued-up pieces. Finally, attach locating guides to ensure proper positioning...and a brace(s) to prevent distortion of your shape (See Fig. 2).

Step 4: Preparing Your Stock
Select the stock for your project based on bendability, color, availability and ease of shaping or machining. Woods such as red oak, ash, hickory and elm allow tighter curves per thickness of laminate. The porous grain in woods such as red oak and ash also help disguise glue lines.

To determine the thickness of your laminated layers, experiment by bending several different thicknesses of test strips around your form. It's best to use the thickest strip you can...without breaking the strip.

Tip: To bend thicker strips, soak them in hot water for about an hour...then clamp them into the form overnight. Remove them from the form and allow them to dry thoroughly and completely before gluing-up your project.

Remember to always crosscut your stock to several inches longer than the length of your bent piece - allowing extra stock for trimming and joining later. Also, make your strips 1/4" wider than your finished piece to allow for slippage during glue-up and final machining. Before ripping your stock, be sure to mark it so it can be reassembled in the same sequence during the gluing stage.

If you're planning to resaw thin laminate strips from thicker stock, the widths of those strips will be limited by the depth-of-cut of your Bandsaw (6" for Shopsmith's Bandsaw). Your ability to make those strips a consistent thickness will be determined by whether or not you're planning to use a Jointer or a Thickness Planer to bring them to final dimension.

Continue . . .

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