How the heck do you guys bend plywood?

[schaney]

Here is some of the "Bending Birch" Madprint mentioned. This is 1/8" and it easily bends to a 6" radius. I use it around the cockpit of kayaks in making the coaming ring. It is on the soft side, not sure it would be a good choice for a Teardrop roof, unless it was covered infiberglassed. Although it would be very lightweight.

[madprinter]

Thanks for the pics Schaney. I got tied up with work and did'nt have time to get them on. I agree it is a little soft, but that could be overcome with enought staples on the ribs, of corse then you'd want to cover the staples or fill them.

[senior ninja99]

Here's how I did it.
Go to General Discussion, then to January fifteenth, click on Steve's Teardrop. Scroll down and see how I bent the plywood. I don't know where it comes from, but there seems to be a widespread myth that plywood CAN NOT be bent. As you can see from all the answers to your query, it can. Just take your time, use lots of hot water, and use a big towel to hold the hot water to the wood's surface. GOOD LUCK!
Steve

[drikwah]

I sprayed mine with hot water on a very hot day. Started at the bottom of the front and lined it up and screwed it in place. Then I proceeded to screw to the sides from the bottom up until it rounded the curve. No Problem. I did glue it really well and strapped it down when I was done. I let it dry and removed the straps. worked fine.

[Steve_Cox]

It takes a real man, or a really smart woman to bend 1/4" plywood around radii. As proven by yours truly and Barb with her post and wonderfully informative pictorial.

[looped]

Here's how I did it.
Go to General Discussion, then to January fifteenth, click on Steve's Teardrop. Scroll down and see how I bent the plywood. I don't know where it comes from, but there seems to be a widespread myth that plywood CAN NOT be bent. As you can see from all the answers to your query, it can. Just take your time, use lots of hot water, and use a big towel to hold the hot water to the wood's surface. GOOD LUCK!
Steve

i looked there and only saw one post something about swaybars.

[looped]

Here's how I did it.
Go to General Discussion, then to January fifteenth, click on Steve's Teardrop. Scroll down and see how I bent the plywood. I don't know where it comes from, but there seems to be a widespread myth that plywood CAN NOT be bent. As you can see from all the answers to your query, it can. Just take your time, use lots of hot water, and use a big towel to hold the hot water to the wood's surface. GOOD LUCK!
Steve

i looked there and only saw one post something about swaybars.

then did a search in general discussion for the keywords and found this

[Miriam C.]

One of the reasons personal albums are encouraged is to make it easier for members to see . To get back to January you really need to get in General discussion and back page till you get it or use a google site search.

[looped]

well i will wait till it shows up on top again, with this series of posts someone is bound to post in it.

for last post on the 15th of january is a reply to the swaybars subject.

[Miriam C.]

http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=21210

This was sooooooooo much faster.

[looped]

:lol: http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=21210

This was sooooooooo much faster.

[doug hodder]

Something to keep in mind is the number of plys in the material you are trying to bend. For instance, you can get a sheet of 1/4" exterior grade fir ply from HD, it's 3 plys and will for sure bend better in one direction than the other. Baltic Birch in the same thickness however won't. It's 5 plys and the whole thing about it is that it's engineered to stay flat. Luan is OK if you want to cover it with aluminum, but it doesn't want to bend very well at all and the radius of the curve may not be consistent. That may vary from batch to batch.

If you plan on doing a paint job and not covering with aluminum, I'd say get the 1/8" Baltic Birch for the curves, 2 layers and 1/4" for the flatter portions if you have them. The baltic birch will take on a finish a whole lot better than the big box fir plys, with a lot less work. I'm with Gage....if skinning with aluminum, you don't need the 1/4". For me, I'll do it on a painted one though.

I also use a piece of like 1.5" square 1/4" ply as a fender washer when I glue it all up to the ribs. It spreads the pressure and you don't end up with a screw divot that you might have to take care of later, just a small hole. Just shoot a screw through it into the rib. Once the glue dries, remove the screw and backing wood plate. I do use epoxy however, so can't guarantee this method with a yellow glue, haven't tried it.

Where there is a joint between the 1/4" and the 2 layers of 1/8", I make up a strip of 1.5" ply full length of the joint, put a piece of waxed paper between it and the joint and then shoot a bunch of screws into it all. Holds it all flat and you don't get "puckers" on the edge of either of the plys. Finishes up easily for a flat joint.

All of this is for a painted tear. If skinning with aluminum, it doesn't matter as it's all going to be hidden with the skin. Doug