Laminating Stock

Laminating Project:

replacing the rockers on my old lawn chair!
6/01

Please note: there are many images and it takes a few minutes for this page to load.

Yikes! My favorite lawn chair has seen some better days! It broke in the middle of a mortise. I've repaired a similar break on other lawn chairs, but I know, in time, they will break again.
So I'm going to replace this rocker with a laminated piece of wood. The multiple laminations and glue lines will make the rocker strong like plywood, and will be good looking as well. I still have the other rocker in one piece, I will use this for making the "bending jig" that my new rockers will be made in.

I also chose some nice maple for the stock. I've cut a rough sawn 5/4 maple board into 1/4" strips. These will be tossed into the planer to make uniform laminations that will equal 1 1/2" when glued together.

First I planed on 8 laminations at .187" thick (1.5"divided by 8) but it seemed to stiff to bend easily so I felt I needed to add a few laminations, thus making all the laminations thinner. 1.5"divided by 10 laminations equals .15"each, this seemed to bend more easily. The number of laminations is a "judgment call", you want them to bend easily, but you don't want to apply glue to millions of strips of wood either! Trial and error I guess.
I used the good rocker as a pattern to make the bending jig. It's a little tighter (in it's radius) than the old rocker, thats because when the clamps are released after it cures, the wood will tend to spring back abit.
The form is very simple to make. It's just a piece of 2X4 screwed to a piece of plywood. The little strips of wood just keep the assembly up off the plywood so air can circulate and aid in curing. I spray a few coats silicon on the jig to prevent the assembly from bonding to the jig.

Heres another view of the jig. It's not too hard to predict spring back after a little practice...the harder the laminations are to bend around the jig, the more they will spring back. Besides, it's really not that critical. Again there's no scientific formula to determine how much spring back will occur.

Here I am stuffin the laminations thru my planer. Finish mill was to 0.15". I also decided to have 2 of the laminations African Padauk, as an accent color. When i redo the arms of the chair, I will pick up the same accent there as well. Maybe white and orange webbing for my lawn chair too.

Here I'm applying the epoxy to the laminations, giving them a liberal coat on all mating surfaces. This is a structural epoxy that is plenty waterproof, so I won't be falling off my rocker again! You can get this epoxy here.

The first clamp being applied. There are strips of wood on both sides of the assembly to protect it from the clamp pressure. It is important not to over tighten, this will cause flat spots!
Be sure to keep the pieces as flush as possible on top. You can do this with a block of wood and a hammer... gently!

As you add clamp pressure you'll notice the first clamps tend to loosen up and fall over, just givem a little more pressure. Start in the middle, and go both ways, adding clamps to the left and right, bending both sides more or less equally. This will prevent the assembly from slippin in the jig.

The rough glue up matches nicely!

Before passing thru your planer, take a paint scraper and knock off the high blobs of glue that dripped all over the place. Put the flatest side to the bottom for the first passes thru the planer. This will make the planed surface square to the edge surfaces. If you don't have a fairly flat assembly, it's not all that improtant (for this project any way!)

What comes out the other side is really a pleasure to see! The assembly is a near perfect match to the jig. It really doesn't matter though, so longs as both rockers are the same. Next a little mill work, drill some holes and some assembly and I'll be back at the soccer matches in my favorite chair!

After the final assembly and new webbing, I have a really comfortable, and stylish lawn chair! This was a really fun project, using exotic woods, bending wood, and now I have a nice place to rest when I'm done!

These guys can be a great help finding all types of hard to find hard ware and tools. Check them out, I use them all the time!!!

Home	Recent Works	Help Tips	Plans	My Shop
Members Projects		Who's Grampie?		Resources
	Plans for your shop!		WOOD Magazine Plans	Email

	Yikes! My favorite lawn chair has seen some better days! It broke in the middle of a mortise. I've repaired a similar break on other lawn chairs, but I know, in time, they will break again. So I'm going to replace this rocker with a laminated piece of wood. The multiple laminations and glue lines will make the rocker strong like plywood, and will be good looking as well. I still have the other rocker in one piece, I will use this for making the "bending jig" that my new rockers will be made in.

	I also chose some nice maple for the stock. I've cut a rough sawn 5/4 maple board into 1/4" strips. These will be tossed into the planer to make uniform laminations that will equal 1 1/2" when glued together.
	First I planed on 8 laminations at .187" thick (1.5"divided by 8) but it seemed to stiff to bend easily so I felt I needed to add a few laminations, thus making all the laminations thinner. 1.5"divided by 10 laminations equals .15"each, this seemed to bend more easily. The number of laminations is a "judgment call", you want them to bend easily, but you don't want to apply glue to millions of strips of wood either! Trial and error I guess. I used the good rocker as a pattern to make the bending jig. It's a little tighter (in it's radius) than the old rocker, thats because when the clamps are released after it cures, the wood will tend to spring back abit. The form is very simple to make. It's just a piece of 2X4 screwed to a piece of plywood. The little strips of wood just keep the assembly up off the plywood so air can circulate and aid in curing. I spray a few coats silicon on the jig to prevent the assembly from bonding to the jig.

	Heres another view of the jig. It's not too hard to predict spring back after a little practice...the harder the laminations are to bend around the jig, the more they will spring back. Besides, it's really not that critical. Again there's no scientific formula to determine how much spring back will occur.
	Here I am stuffin the laminations thru my planer. Finish mill was to 0.15". I also decided to have 2 of the laminations African Padauk, as an accent color. When i redo the arms of the chair, I will pick up the same accent there as well. Maybe white and orange webbing for my lawn chair too.
	Here I'm applying the epoxy to the laminations, giving them a liberal coat on all mating surfaces. This is a structural epoxy that is plenty waterproof, so I won't be falling off my rocker again! You can get this epoxy here.
	The first clamp being applied. There are strips of wood on both sides of the assembly to protect it from the clamp pressure. It is important not to over tighten, this will cause flat spots! Be sure to keep the pieces as flush as possible on top. You can do this with a block of wood and a hammer... gently!
	As you add clamp pressure you'll notice the first clamps tend to loosen up and fall over, just givem a little more pressure. Start in the middle, and go both ways, adding clamps to the left and right, bending both sides more or less equally. This will prevent the assembly from slippin in the jig.
	The rough glue up matches nicely!
	Before passing thru your planer, take a paint scraper and knock off the high blobs of glue that dripped all over the place. Put the flatest side to the bottom for the first passes thru the planer. This will make the planed surface square to the edge surfaces. If you don't have a fairly flat assembly, it's not all that improtant (for this project any way!)
	What comes out the other side is really a pleasure to see! The assembly is a near perfect match to the jig. It really doesn't matter though, so longs as both rockers are the same. Next a little mill work, drill some holes and some assembly and I'll be back at the soccer matches in my favorite chair!
	After the final assembly and new webbing, I have a really comfortable, and stylish lawn chair! This was a really fun project, using exotic woods, bending wood, and now I have a nice place to rest when I'm done!