burgundyben
Well-Known Member
I need some timber for gunnels on an impending project.
Nice and bendy, what does the forum suggest?
Nice and bendy, what does the forum suggest?
Bendy timber for gunnels.
- Thread starter burgundyben
- Start date
Woodlouse
Well-Known Member
Buy yourself a wallpaper steamer and use what ever wood you fancy.
maby
Well-Known Member
If you need to bend a long piece for things like toe rails or rubbing strakes, use a length of drainpipe to make a steam chamber. Put the wood in, fabricate caps to go on each end and connect one end up to a makeshift kettle with a length of flexible pipe. Boil the kettle on a camping gaz ring and top up the water as necessary. This way will soften the wood along its full length whereas wallpaper steamers and similar will not be able to steam it uniformly.
johnlilley
Well-Known Member
Much depends on the section size , the individual length of the piece and the extremity of curve. For instance, 2" x 1" mahogany or iroko or teak over a single length of 8 feet or more will wrap around an average bow curve starting from the stem on most boats without the need for steaming. Just make sure the grain is absolutely parallel to the run of the timber and you bend and fasten very gradually, no sharp straining into position. Do not let the timber suddenly spring as it will fracture at the point of the first fastening . A length less than 4 feet will not easily bend on a curve & best to put some pre bend in by steaming first. One hour per inch thickness and bend to shape either on a jig or directly on the boat within less than a minute of removing from steam.
John Lilley
John Lilley
pmagowan
Well-Known Member
You have given virtually no information about your requirement so I can't see that you will get any specific answers. You can bend almost any timber. If you are building a coracle I would suggest hazel, if a ship in a bottle; matches, a rowing boat; teak etc etc
Many woods will bend into knots if steamed.
burgundyben
Well-Known Member
I was in a bit of a rush and clearly not enough info.
Here's the boat, a hot moulded Fairey Falcon which I am about to turn into a Fairey Faun motor launch, same hull for both.
Open launch with electric propulsion is the goal.
Here's the boat, a hot moulded Fairey Falcon which I am about to turn into a Fairey Faun motor launch, same hull for both.
Open launch with electric propulsion is the goal.
Woodlouse
Well-Known Member
The wallpaper steamer would produce the similar results when connected to your drainpipe. Probably not got the oomph for large bits of timber but enough for anything that doesn't require a proper steam box.
pmagowan
Well-Known Member
I can't see clearly from the picture the profile of the gunnel but the curve does not look extreme and almost any wood would make the bend with steaming. Alternatively you can easily laminate wood to form any shape using epoxy as a glue. This allows you to build it in situ or with a jig and you can use cheaper strips of wood (larger dimensions are relatively more expensive). I fitted some teak to a dinghy which had a more aggressive curve and simply steamed it in a drain pipe. Building the steamer is easy and pretty self explanatory. Leave the wood in for about an hour, longer for thicker bits, wear thick gloves, take it out and clamp it either in a jig or directly to the boat. A jig will get a better result as you need to slightly overbend to allow for the wood springing back a little. A jig can be a purpose made complex affair or it can be a number of poles hammered into your lawn to hold it in place. Then fix it to your boat with screws/glue and finish it off.
maby
Well-Known Member
Couple of notes on making a steamer - you are going to get steam condensing in it, so drill a few small holes along the bottom edge to allow it to drain. To speed things up and reduce the amount of gas you burn, consider insulating it to some extent by wrapping towels or other lagging round it.
Poignard
Well-Known Member
I had to bend a piece of 2" x 1" mahogany moulding (edgewise) to the curve of the deck. I had an old length of cast iron drainpipe and I used that. I blocked one end with concrete and arranged the pipe so that it sloped upwards from the plugged end. I poured about a gallon water into the pipe and boiled it by playing a blowlamp flame on the pipe. The timber was slid into the pipe with a line attached so I could pull it out when it was ready. Whilst the water boiled I plugged the open end with rags. I can't remember how long I steamed it for; maybe an hour. After that it bent easily round a former I had previously made. I had to work quickly to bend it before it cooled.
I read somewhere that you can steam the timber inside a length of canvas fire hose. Seems a good idea. It would have the advantage that if you felt it needed more steaming you could easily get it back into the hose. Something you couldn't do with a rigid pipe!
I read somewhere that you can steam the timber inside a length of canvas fire hose. Seems a good idea. It would have the advantage that if you felt it needed more steaming you could easily get it back into the hose. Something you couldn't do with a rigid pipe!
KREW2
Well-Known Member
I have just had to scarf in a 6ft 2x1 piece of Iroko on our club work boat. Unfortunately it was under a wooden rail, and fordeck which ran all round the boat, and was glued and screwed into the gunwale
It took me 3 days, of 3/4 hours chiseling to cut out the old wood and put a nine inch scarf at each end.
I steamed it for one and a half hours, luckily the bend was not too severe as the wood was not as pliable as I was hoping for.
The real problem was there was no way I was going to bend it through 2 dimensions, and put in a bit of twist in a minute, also I was unable to get a clamp on at the stem, so I used a ratchet strap, which worked well. It then took me a good half an our working towards the stern, to clamp it up, and it fitted rather well.
I plan on leaving it on for 8 days, will this be long enough for the wood to have formed a shape making it not too difficult for me to screw and epoxy it permanently into place
It took me 3 days, of 3/4 hours chiseling to cut out the old wood and put a nine inch scarf at each end.
I steamed it for one and a half hours, luckily the bend was not too severe as the wood was not as pliable as I was hoping for.
The real problem was there was no way I was going to bend it through 2 dimensions, and put in a bit of twist in a minute, also I was unable to get a clamp on at the stem, so I used a ratchet strap, which worked well. It then took me a good half an our working towards the stern, to clamp it up, and it fitted rather well.
I plan on leaving it on for 8 days, will this be long enough for the wood to have formed a shape making it not too difficult for me to screw and epoxy it permanently into place
pmagowan
Well-Known Member
Should have mostly stabalised pretty much as soon as it cooled down, 8 days will be fine. The problem with steaming it and bending it onto the surface that it is designed for is that it will spring back somewhat. You normally need a bit of over-bend if you want it to fit without being in any tension. However, even under tension you should be able to get it back into place. Start at one end and glue and screw then work your way along. It willbe easier if you drill your pilot holes while it is still clamped in place as long as it is well aligned. It will be messy if you try and glue the whole lot in one go so apply the glue only along as much of it as is neccessary making sure you have access to apply glue to the next section as you bend it round.
Latestarter1
Well-Known Member
Ben, steamed Scottish Ash was preferred choice for the gunwale for small boats.
However a laminated gunwale as already suggest may prove more practical as Ash particularly quality which can be sourced these days will rot while you are looking at it.
Inboard powered Faun??
burgundyben
Well-Known Member
There's one with a Vedette, one with a Vetus diesel and one with a Dolphin twin 2 stroke.
I'm going for a 4.5Kw electric drive.
KREW2
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the tip.
One of my concerns was, that the epoxy would go off before I had had time to do the whole length.
pmagowan
Well-Known Member
There are different hardeners for different speeds of going off. Also the epoxy will go off faster if made up in a deep container. If you put it in a wide shallow container it lasts longer as it can dissipate the heat of the reaction. It needs well mixed. The West System site gives instructions including thickening which is good for glueing.
TQA
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KREW2
Well-Known Member
Thanks I have already bought the 206 it says it should give 25 minutes work time. I will do as Pmagowan says and do it in stages, so if necessary I can mix fresh.
bignick
Well-Known Member
Wallpaper steamer is a good shout.
It's also worth remembering that you need a flow of steam all the way along your steamer, otherwise you end up with the steam only working at one end. Some holes at the other end help, but remember that there will be boiling steam coming out....
Tradewinds
Well-Known Member
This was my set up. Worked very well.
You need the drain holes.
PVC pipe lagged with old duvets.
