Walnut Lamination Question

[George Summers]

I am going to be laminating some walnut strips to form the apron of a half-round table. I will be using a two piece form (mold if you will) with matching curvatures. I plan on putting the strips in the form and drawing the two halves of the form together.

Question is: I have resawn the strips to 1/8"-3/16" and still have to run them through the planer. As cut they seem awful stiff and brittle. This is my first lamination, will they bend alright? Or, should I soak them to get them softer (I will be using Gorilla glue so moisture shoudn't hurt). the final thickness for the apron is to be 3/4" or as close as I can get to that.

George

Forgot to mention - Apron will be 3" tall and the diameter of the curve is 28"

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

They'll be fine dry. Remember that the thinner you can get them, the less springback you'll have. Also remember to compensate for the thickness of the lamination as you make the forms (radius on the two pieces will be different, although 'close' is probably good enough).

KC

[Jim Becker]

George, as an alternative method, the new November issue of WOOD Magazine features a table article that uses a kerfed bending technique with a form. It may also work well for your 28" radius aprons. The article is on page 22 in accompaniment of the project article on page 46.