curved apron

[Eric Mims]

I am doing my first curved apron; it's in white oak. I resawed a test piece today 3/32 thick. I was able to bend it around the 18" diameter with some force, but it didn't crack. Just wondering if I should soak all of the pieces first and then clamp them to a form so they dry in a curved state or just bend the straight pieces and get on with it. If I soak them all and clamp them, it seems like it would take a while for them to dry..

also, should I do a full circle lamination or do 4 quarter laminations (apron will joint into legs)

and should I just sand the bandsaw marks off? never tried anything thin on my planer..

any related tutorials out there? thanks

[Richard Keller]

You want to get rid of the bandsaw marks for sure. If you have a thickness sander, it is ideal for this. If not, either use the belt sander, or, your planner. If it doesn't go low enough, put a piece of melamine on the table, use some two sided tape so it doesn't go through, and possibly a cleat at the front edge of the machine as well. You should be all set.

Also, I wouldn't recommend making the thing any bigger than you have to - if you can make it in four parts, it will be the easiest. You'll only have to make one form to bend around this way.

I wouldn't worry about wetting the wood. It really doesn't do much unless you steam it or you soak it for a couple of days. For a small radius it won't matter much. You do want to overbend a little bit (I'm not aware of how you determine how much) because you will get some spring back (Not back to straight of course) when you take the clamps off. Make sure it's good and dry before you do. Basically, you get all your laminations good and "glue-ie" and then clamp to the form. When the glue dries, it holds the piece bent.