From: Todd Schlemmer <toddsch@microsoft.com>
To: "'baidarka@lists.intelenet.net'" <baidarka@lists.intelenet.net>
Subject: RE: Dry Heat
Date: Wed, 26 Nov 1997 13:45:19 -0800
I remember trying that after reading about it 5 years ? ago in a Woodworking
book on bending wood.
I used a >>completely<< dry birch yard stick (~1/4" thick) and applied heat
with an industrial Heat Gun. The wood scorched up a bit, but became quite
elastic. I bent the yard stick 90 degrees with just a slight bit of
splitting on the outside. I suspect the splitting was more the result of
grain runout than over-stressing. The trick, I think, was to heat the
compressed side of the stock and not the tensioned side.
Since the yard stick belonged to my boss, I bent it back and scrubbed off
the scorched area an no one knew...
bboT
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Gerlach [SMTP:jdgerlach@ucdavis.edu]
> Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 1997 1:08 PM
> To: baidarka@lists.intelenet.net
> Subject: Dry Heat
>
> Has anyone tried to bend ribs using dry heat? WoodenBoat magazine ran an
> article on using things such as paint removing guns to heat wood prior to
> bending. It didn't seem to matter if the wood was green or seasoned and it
> worked with thicknesses common in Baidarka building.
>
> John Gerlach