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Before we can make this crazy thing, the first step is
to make the bending jig, the form to bend the stock around. I used four
pieces of 5/8" thick plywood to build up the 2-1/2" needed. Any size plywood
is fine so long as you come up with the 2-1/2" height. |
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I carefully cut the first piece of the form fairly close
to the pattern. The others I cut well outside the line. When assembled
the first piece which is on top will act as a guide to sand the whole mess
to. |
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To help keep the pieces in place when I start clamping
this up, I shot a couple of short brads into the pieces. Glue is slippery,
and if I don't secure them somehow, everything will slide all over the
place as soon as I tighten the first clamp! |
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Ahhhh.... looks like a lot of clamps, eh?
Well you ain't seen nuttin yet! |
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Using that top piece as a guide, I form the inside with
my drum sander.... |
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....and the outside with my disk sander. The inside doesn't
need to be perfect, because only the clamps will be in there.
The outside though will form the finished side, and needs
to be smooth all the way across. Also take care to make it a smooth surface
from one end to the other, no dents or dips, as these imperfections will
transfer to the work piece later! NOTE: When your done sanding, tape
a piece of waxed paper to the outside if the jig. This will prevent the
laminations from sticking to the jig, and damaging your hard work! |
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Ok, now you can mill up some stock, I used some old pine
I had laying around. I made eight pieces at 1/8" thick by 2.5" by 24" long. |
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| Find the center point of your jig, by simply measuring
around the circumference. Then mark the center of all your stock, and start
applying a thin coat of epoxy on all mating surfaces. Yellow glue won't
work here, I prefer a structural
epoxy, that requires overnight or longer to cure properly. |
This
stuff really holds! |
I let mine cure for 24 hours to be safe. |
After your all glued up, grab your first clamp
and apply a little pressure. Not too tight, or
you'll squeeze all the epoxy out of your glue
lines, and you will wind up with a "starved joint".
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To protect the outside from clamp marks, and
to distribute the pressure across the entire width of the laminations,
I cut two pieces of masonite (any scrap will do) and placed them against
the outside of the assembly. I also cut 1/2" thick blocks out of some scrape
maple. This will distribute the clamp pressure all the way from the top
to the bottom. These are very important to use, because if you don't use
these lil guys, you'll wind up with more pressure in the center under the
clamp and sell on the edges, and your final assembly will be cupped all
the way around, and not very strong.
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Ok back to the clamps! After you snug your first clamp,
start working your way around, by adding a clamp to each side of your first.
Adding clamps to each side as you go helps keep the pieces from sliding
around too much. |
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You will notice as you add clamps the center most clamps
will loosen up and fall over. You will need to go back and snug these up
again before you continue. Always add pressure from the center point outwards,
bending gently as you go around, a little at a time. If you go from an
end and just crank it around, the laminations will break! Take your time,
this glue gives you plenty of time to work! |
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Ok, now that's allot of clamps! You
got enough? |
