Steam bending wood using a clothing iron
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ธ.ค. 2020
- I'm showing how to steam bend two oak planks (10x80mm) for a wall opening in my sister in law's kitchen.
My workshop isn't quite big enough for a steam box so I decided to use this method instead. It works very well for this application where it's a rather small part of the plank which needs to get bent.
The required tools are things I believe most people have at home or could easily source.
I try to explain the process in the CC.
Hope this was helpful,
tell me what you think and thanks for watching!
Instagram:
/ davidnikkinen
No annoying music.
No annoying introduction.
No annoying narration.
Excellent. Skilled man. Brilliant thank you.
No chitty-chatting, just doing it. Perfection. Thank you!
This has just given me an idea to use my heat press, especially as i can control the temperature and the time and it will heat both sides at the same time, thank you
Awesome work dude. When it comes to building whatever, I too enjoy being minimal, simple yet EFFECTIVE. All these other peeps out there spending big bucks on fancy machines and never learning to do it the way our elders did in times past. Your build looks FANTASTIC my friend.
Thanks alot for the kind words, John! Indeed, it's important to understand that you will be able to accomplish much even without the fanciest tools.
Cheers!
John Sanchez "do it the way our elders did in times past". How far back are you going? Obviously not further back than before the electric iron, the quick action plastic handle clamps or the aluminium foil!
@@gbwildlifeuk8269
a natural body of water,
5 different types of bar clamps,
a basic hand saw,
and a non-battery operated clothes iron,
is as elder as one needs to go these days.
Thank you very much.
Work like this deserves good payment. That's genuine skills and techniques.
Putting another thin cloth on top of the aluminum might be a good idea so the iron slides easier but this is a fantastic method. Thank you 🙏🏼💜🇨🇦
Might have to try that the next time i bend some wood!
Cheers!
Thank you so much, David, for posting this. For someone bending wood for the first time, it shows the essential elements needed to get the job done. I followed the steps for two strips of 2 mm width koa wood for the sides of a ukulele. 30 minutes was too long for that width. The koa was dried out and the linen touching it was barely damp. Before I cracked the wood I put that strip back in the water for another eight hours. I then ironed the 2nd strip for 15 minutes and placed the strip into the shape I needed while the wood was still wrapped in linen and foil. It worked. I had to BEND SLOWLY and let the wood ease into the bend. I let it cool and sit for eight hours before removing the linen and foil to let it air dry the rest of the way. So far, so good.
this seems like a nice, simple, cost-effective way of bending wood, i'm gonna try this method to make the sides for a guitar making project i'm working on with my brother. thanks 👍
You’re a genius. Great job and thanks for sharing
A very good video using the tools that most people have.
Thanks, it's the reasoning behind the video as well!
Right? It’s all about making due with what you’ve got on hand! I believe the word is ingenuity?
"Turned out alright"!!??? It turned out bloomin lovely!! 👍
Simple and effective! Thank you for sharing!
Love the result transition!
Thanks alot man!
Wow!!! End result looks amazing!
Thanks, glad you liked it!
Your shots are really good
perfect! inspiring thank you very much!
Very nice and practical. Glad I found this one.
Great, I'm happy that it helped you!
End product looked great. Nice job.
Thanks alot!
Thank you very much for sharing the process for bending wood its awesome
Thank you, it's great that you enjoyed it!
Thanks for sharing!
This video proved very helpful, Thank you very much
Thats great, I'm really glad to hear that!
That really help me, thank you
Great! Glad that I could be of help :)
Awesome work
Thanks alot!
Excellent
Hei David... This was a really lovely build :) First time I watched a tutorial by you and subscribed... I really liked your video. Your calm way of showing how you are doing things. Also like the idea of using CC to explain the process... I would have liked a bit more information personally. The wood type, thickness. How long it took you to heat it up with the iron. Maybe even how you did the joinery. But maybe thats another video :) Anyway i really like this and will be keeping an eye out for more. Keep up the great work :)
Thanks for all the kind words and for the tips for future videos!
There is always something to learn :)
How well do you think something like this would hold up outdoors? Hoping to make a curve for top of a trellis.
How hot should you have your iron for this? Newer irons don't get nearly as hot as the old ones, but I do have an old one that I can set to Wool. Is that what I should use? Thank you.
This is genius
Good job. Cheers
Thanks!
You Made it look so easy 😅
Thanks alot!
How thick would you go with this technique ?
Deserve more like
Whay material did you rap the wood in under the aliminum foim
Very nice. Cooling time depends on ambient temperature and current in the stream. 😋
Glad you liked it! Yeah, it was a pretty cold day that day so I could probably have left it for a shorter amount of time. Current in the stream, what does that mean? :)
@@davidnikkinen4521 means I am full of fecal matter! Stronger the current, faster the saturation. Excellent job!!
@@killerkane1957 That's what I thought you meant as well! ;)
I am working on a project trying to bend a thin strip of maple. Going to give this a try. Is there a time limit on how soon you should get it into the jig before it stiffens or hardens?
Hey!
I wouldn't worry to much about the time between the steaming and the jig, especially if it's a thin strip. That being said, I would still recommend you to prepare the jig so that the procedure is fluent.
Best of luck!
@@davidnikkinen4521 Thank you so much David! I tried it and it worked, definitely good to prepare the jig and having the right clamps lol
Hi mate,just found your chanel and I love your work!How thick can you cut that wood so you can bend it properly?Thank you and keep up the good work!
Hey! Thanks, that really means alot!
I don’t have any exact meassurement, i’ve never bent anything thicker than 12-15mm. Give it a try and tell me how it went! Good luck :)
Amazing! 🤠✝️🇺🇸
Beautiful and effective. Is this possible with only warm water soaking?
I am laminating mahogany strips for the first time. They strips can't bend as far as I would like (just by a bit). So thinking of hot water soaking for a couple of hours. Before drying in the mold and lamination.
Thanks!
I'm not sure, I have never tried it. I've seen some amazing lamination bends before but the strips they used were really thin, perhaps you can find someone who has some more experience with that kind of bend?
Anyhow, best of luck on your project!
@@davidnikkinen4521 thank you, I appreciate that. I will get back to you when done with succes.
Now when heat pressing how long would you let it stay in the jig mold for and then how long until you were confident they were permanently curved
I believe i left mine for about an hour and a half, when the moisture and heat leaves the wood it will stabilize again. Leave them longer than you think if you are not confident about it!
Would you have to steam it/soak it in water less if you had thinner wood
I would assume that is correct! I'm not 100% sure on timings, I usually let them sit in the water over night, which works good for me.
How long did you keep the wood in the second mold you made (when you chisrled out grooves?) thanks
Hey Jo!
I usually keep them there until i need them, in this case it was a couple of days later. I'm not entirely sure how long they need to rest for. Will have to do some experimenting on that!
@@davidnikkinen4521 i kept mine for 2 days and it was good. 3 have cracmed, due to too little time under the iron (20 mins each side is necessary). But thankz zo mu h for your idea.
@@johorn2887 I see, what kind of wood are you using? Best of luck with your bending!
@@davidnikkinen4521 i think itz pi e
Pine
Need to describe what you’re doing. How long was the wood soaking? What material goes on the piece before the foil?
Hey Joshua!
I believe that those things are explained in the CC, anyhow, the wood was soaking over night and the material that i fold around the wood before the foil is just some piece of old bedsheets.
Cheers!
This is awesome! Do you have to use oak? Or will this work on most wood?
It sure is! No you don't have to use oak, there is plenty of bandable wood. I believe soft woods are not suitable for bending, please correct me if I'm wrong!
What setting should the iron be on?
I just try to keep it as hot as possible and then to distribute the heat evenly!
how long was the oak in the river/water?
I left the oak in the water overnight. :)
how thick a piece of wood can you use using this technique?
I've seen pretty thick pieces being bent this way. Might need some more heat, try it out!
Fint!
Tack så mycket!
What are you building these pieces for
Hey Ethan, it's for a wall opening in a kitchen. You can see the installed pieces at 8:33.
Nice bow tie. More refined.
Was the iron damaged at all from the aluminum?
Not really, but I think it would get damaged if i did this more often.
Use an iron that wont be touching clothes again!
@@davidnikkinen4521 sweet thanks. I’m going to look for an iron when I go to the flea market.
@@davidnikkinen4521 yea I’ll get an iron separate from our clothes one.
Can this method be used to "fix" crooked wood planks
Not sure how you mean exactly, planing crooked or warped wood would be my way to fix it!
@@davidnikkinen4521
I have several 0.75in x 2.5in x 10ft boards, and I need to glue three of them together. A couple are crooked and I wanted to avoid cutting the planks any thinner since they're the perfect thickness. The project is a desk using wood joints, in a way that I can avoid using screws and nails.
How thick were those? 1/2"?
They were more like 3/8" or 10cm.
How hot did you have your iron?
I had it at it's max!
Hey man how long did you soak your wood for? I'm trying to make a bow and arrow 🏹 and I have a stick pretty well shaped out I just wanna bend it where I want it to be before I even touch it with sandpaper again but I don't really know what I'm doing and my stick is round not flat, do you think a clothing iron might still work?
Hey Jacob! Sounds like an exciting project, I soak the wood over night. I guess it might be harder to get the heat evenly distributed on a round piece. If the wood ain't to thick, maybe you should give it a try? :)
Good luck, hope to hear how it turns out!
Jacob: Just an idea, but maybe you could flatten the stick roughly, before you soak it? To make it easier? Bending a piece of circular shaped wood doesn't sound like an easy task
What is thickness of wood you bend please
10mm
You know you can afford 1/16'' wood veneers these days.
Nice detail, but I prefer it bit more explanation. "The reason why I'm doing this..." and "Be careful here..." go a long way...
Would have taken less time to build a steam box
Perhaps, I'm thinking of building one in the future. But for this project the clothing iron worked perfectly fine!