Quote:
Originally Posted by Viking
I'd like to hear some commentary on the way I went about bending the wood. I would spritz a little water on, then wait a couple minutes for it to heat up and begin to evaporate, the steam being what I believe is heating and allowing the wood fibers to relax. Then I would crank down the nuts on the eye bolts a couple turns. Once the wood was dry, I would crank another time or two, and then slightly re-wet. Should I wet the wood multiple times? Or just once at the beginning? This was successful, but I wonder if I used too much water. I suppose it doesn't much matter as long as it worked.
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Over the last three decades, it's been fascinating to see the number of variations that have emerged from the one basic design of light-bulb-heated side bender designed by Charles Fox. Most of them work, some better than others.
As you may be aware, most benders of this general design sandwich the wood between two metal slats - usually spring steel - rather than have bare wood against the bender. The primary reasons for the slats is to retain heat, support the wood while bending - reducing side cracking in difficult woods - and keep moisture in during the being process. With the wood sandwiched, it is generally inaccessible during the bending so that one can't add water while bending. Instead, the sides are spritzed with water prior to bending, then bent.
Most of the benders of this general design also have spring loaded "batons" that are used to actually bend the sides as they are drawn from the waist to the ends of the side, usually in a single, smooth motion. Think rolling pin type motion. With the pre-heated bender, the actual side bending only takes a minute or two. It's then left to "cook" for 15 minutes or so, before turning the bender off to cool. (Or the sides can be removed while still hot and then placed in a form to maintain their shape while they cool.)
The half forms between which the 1/2" rods run have the bends in the waist and ends exaggerated a little to decrease spring back. Ideally, the holes in the half forms are drilled so that the circumference of the rods are tangent with the curve of the half form. That prevents kinks in the sides and ensures that the bend follows the desired curvature of the half forms.
As you said, none of this much matters if you are satisfied with the result you obtained.