Jay Michaels
08-01-2017, 1:56 PM
I've been planning to build a toboggan for my daughters this fall and for quite some time, I planned to purchase some white oak from a sawmill and steam bend it for this purpose. (For instance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_uTPrPwcKM)
However, since my original planning, we have moved to a new home surrounded by woods. Among the trees are dozens of relatively young but tall hackberry trees -- most just 4-6" in diameter.
Because I have read that hackberry is especially good for bending, I have reconsidered my original plan of oak.
I'm now considering felling one or two of the small hackberry trees and milling the lumber from that for this toboggan. I would mill it into 1/4" or 3/8" thick boards that would each be ~2" or so wide. I have a jig all built for bending (much like the one in the video above -- I used it previously to bend some tambourines).
I plan to mill the hackberry when it is relatively green -- within days of felling the tree(s)
From what I gather, it seems bending would be easiest to do while the lumber is still green
So the question is this:
Once bent, I'll obviously need to allow it to dry. Will it warp and twist out of alignment if I take the green bent pieces off of the bending form before they're completely DRY?
If so, that's problematic. I don't have 8 or 10 jigs to use simultaneously so I can leave the bent pieces in the form for months to dry...
Thanks for all input!
However, since my original planning, we have moved to a new home surrounded by woods. Among the trees are dozens of relatively young but tall hackberry trees -- most just 4-6" in diameter.
Because I have read that hackberry is especially good for bending, I have reconsidered my original plan of oak.
I'm now considering felling one or two of the small hackberry trees and milling the lumber from that for this toboggan. I would mill it into 1/4" or 3/8" thick boards that would each be ~2" or so wide. I have a jig all built for bending (much like the one in the video above -- I used it previously to bend some tambourines).
I plan to mill the hackberry when it is relatively green -- within days of felling the tree(s)
From what I gather, it seems bending would be easiest to do while the lumber is still green
So the question is this:
Once bent, I'll obviously need to allow it to dry. Will it warp and twist out of alignment if I take the green bent pieces off of the bending form before they're completely DRY?
If so, that's problematic. I don't have 8 or 10 jigs to use simultaneously so I can leave the bent pieces in the form for months to dry...
Thanks for all input!