Help making curved aprons

[Brian Hale]

I need to make some curved aprons for this dinning table and i'm not sure the best way to go about it. The table is solid cherry (36x72) and basically oval shaped.

Should i resaw some cherry and make a bent lamination around a form? What glue should i use?

What about bending ply with resawn cherry on it?
(Where can i get the bending plywood?)

Thanks!

Brian :)

[Jim Dunn]

I need to make some curved aprons for this dinning table and i'm not sure the best way to go about it. The table is solid cherry (36x72) and basically oval shaped.

Should i resaw some cherry and make a bent lamination around a form? What glue should i use?

What about bending ply with resawn cherry on it?
(Where can i get the bending plywood?)

Thanks!

Brian :)

Brian I just re-sawed some planks for rockers here http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=70438 It was easier than I thought it would be. PM me if you have any detailed questions about the jig I built.

[Fred Voorhees]

I need to make some curved aprons for this dinning table and i'm not sure the best way to go about it. The table is solid cherry (36x72) and basically oval shaped.

Should i resaw some cherry and make a bent lamination around a form? What glue should i use?

What about bending ply with resawn cherry on it?
(Where can i get the bending plywood?)

Thanks!

Brian :)

Brian, I would resaw a number of cherry plies myself. However, if you have access to some bending ply, that would be more economical as a substrate. As far as glue, I remember attending a woodworking show where David Marks was doing some presenting and he demonstrated the glue aspect of bent lamination work. He had a glob of regular wood glue and a glob of plastic resin glue. The hardened glob of regular wood glue could easily be bent whereas the glob of hardened plastic resin glue could hardly be bent at all. The idea behind this demonstration is that if you use the plastic resin glue for your lamination work, the piece is much less likely to have any amount of springback once it's out of the form where the softer and more pliable regular wood glue would allow such.

[John Fry]

If I were doing it, I would do the bent lamination with resawn cherry. I feel you will end up with a much better quality table than if you use bending ply or a kerf cut backer and a single sheet of cherry veneer.

This also allows you to profile, bead, or edge treat the bottom of the apron any way you wish.

I use Unibond 800 for all bent lam work, but I would at least recommend any plastic resin glue, or epoxy, over PVAs.

Good luck.

[Grant Morris]

You will also need some decent clamps too if you don't already have them...

[Brian Hale]

Good stuff guys, Thanks!

I was leaning towards the bent laminations but it's something i've only read about, never actually tried. I did do some large cylinders with bending ply and plastic laminate years ago during my stint as a "cabinetmaker" but that doesn't feel like the kind of woodworking i prefer.

So plastic resin glue? I assume this is a 2 part epoxy type glue?

Like this stuff? http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=20013&cat=1,110,42965

I should have enough clamps but any excuse, right ;)

Brian :)

[Jamie Buxton]

So plastic resin glue? I assume this is a 2 part epoxy type glue?



No, epoxy is a different glue from Plastic Resin. Plastic Resin is DAP's name for a urea formaldehyde glue. Epoxy is epoxy, not urea formaldehyde.

Both epoxy and urea formaldehyde are two-part adhesives. You mix the components together, and then you have a few hours before the adhesive sets. The open time depends strongly on the temperature; read the instructions. I know of no urea-formaldehyde which will cure properly below 55 degrees F.

Niether epoxy or urea formaldehyde suffer from the same creep which PVA is said to do. That is, they;re good for bent laminations.

Urea formaldehyde costs about 1/3 the price of epoxy, but in the quantities you're going to be using, that may not matter to you. What's more interesting is that urea formaldehyde is water clean-up before it cures. That means you can re-use mixing and application tools. For epoxy, you pretty much have to throw away your tools each batch.