Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I am planning a woody build. I’ve been researching different techniques on wood bending trim.
@Wannabefree shared a lot of valuable info with me.
I also purchased the book WOOD BENDING by Lon Schleiening.

I think I am down to Strip lamination built on forms then fitted to the build. The purpose being twofold;
1. Hide seams and fasteners.
2. Aesthetic appeal.

I am using epoxy and glass on exterior.
I have seen some beautiful work here and any advice shared would be truly appreciated.
Both successes and failures. What worked and what didn’t. Also curious as to types wood used. What worked and what brought grief.
Thanks

My son's TD is in process right now and I bent strips using a homemade steam box powered by a Wagner wallpaper stripper. It worked pretty well after cutting white cedar into 3/16" thick strips, steaming them for about an hour and laminating them around a jig until they dried enough to glue and put back on the jig. It was a slow process but resulted in nice hatch frame members that fit the profile well. The Wagner would possibly work on a steam box twice the size of mine (about 4x4x48" inside) as it was really steaming and dripping and got hot enough I had to use gloves to open the box.

The process is partially documented on pg 4 of my third build (see link in signature). It is not real detailed and I'm sure there are others on tnttt that could help you with bending. Just thought I would throw it out there. Good Luck.

Tim

This fella knows what he's talking about:



He has a remarkable Youtube channel.

Tony

Tim, thanks for the comment.
I will take a look. Did you experience much spring back? I know Rockler sells a steamer too.

@tony.latham
Thank you. I found his channel and have watched a bunch of his videos. I would love to drop by for a visit at their shop when down that way.

You can't steam bend wood without a fancy teapot, a Coleman stove, a piece of discarded downspout and a rag to stuff in the end.



And you can either laminate strips for a solid edge (1/4 ash shown) or you can scarf a piece of wood and bend that too (also shown)...

Dave,
You covered a few right there! In my research I have seen a lot of different methods of making steam.
A couple of questions.
Did you use compression on your wood bending and a mold or bend right to your build?
Which method did you enjoy doing the most/which gave you the best results?
I’ve built cap rails on fishing vessels using 2X12” mahogany out to 16” wide using scarf joints but a bit of expensive waste is expected no matter how it gets laid out. I really want to accomplish this with a pleasing result.

Hope this helps....The laminated piece and the scarfed piece had different purposes. The laminated solid wood was rounded over as part of the finished design, and the scarfed piece is only to create a track to slide the headliner in...so it didn't mater if it were scarfed as it would not show. To get the shape, I started by screwing some pieces of dowel with a flat side for clamping along the bend line.



Then using clamps, bent the steamed wood into shape...



This is on the side, but the thought is the same...use some plastic tape when glueing things up to keep them from sticking.



Here is finished rounded over edge from the solid laminated piece.

western traveler wrote:Tim, thanks for the comment.
I will take a look. Did you experience much spring back? I know Rockler sells a steamer too.

The hatch frame members that I steam bent are 40 some inches long. Placed on the top of the galley wall without pressure on the bottom they had about a quarter inch of spring back. Meaning there was a quarter inch gap at the bottom of the galley wall. Once the frame members were temporarily anchored to the wall and the hatch frame completely glued and screwed they held their intended shape when the anchor screws were removed and they are just sitting in place. I was very happy with the results.

My steam box is just scrap wood screwed together. There are countless ways to build the box. Plywood, solid wood, PVC, drain tile pipe, etc. Rockler's steamer, at least the one I viewed when buying mine, is the same as the Wagner 715. I bought the Wagner used for $25. Just looked on ebay for used ones. You might as well go new for what they are charging for shipping. I was lucky; got free shipping.

@juneaudave
I see it now and that helps a lot.

@TimC
That is a really interesting build journal. I subscribed to it.

Thank you both...