I need to make a curved molding for the base of the apron on a half round table. I’ve never attempted to steam bend anything, but I must say, with the right prep, it worked very well.

I built a steam box out of PVC pipe and purchased the steam kit from Rockler. I do plan to do more, so it was worth the investment to me..around $100 all in. Took about an hour to put the steam box together.

It was probably overkill, but I saw somewhere that it was recommended to pre-treat kiln dried wood. My molding is kiln dried quarter sawn cherry...just shy of 1/2”. I soaked it in water/fabric softener over night before steaming it. Steamed for about 30 minutes, it wrapped around my aluminum pattern quite easily.

I guess I’m just posting to say I’m really thrilled this worked so well. I actually made 4 moldings thinking I would break a few...but it worked great on the first try. Anyone thinking about trying this, well, give it a go. It isn’t as intimidating as it might seem.

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