Shopsmith Forums

Having trouble bending veneer.

I want to make an S curve in a 1/2" square by 2" pen blank.

what I want to do is sandwich a dark veneer between a pen blank of a lighter color.

so I went to woodcraft, after trying to cut a thin piece of walnut unsuccessfully thin enough, and brought some veneer.

It's quite thin but doesn't bend enough.

I soaked it in water for about 2 hours and was going to clamp it in
between the two halfs, then when dry and shaped, I was going to glue it in place.

It still is too hard to bend--any other ideas?

TIA

Try putting the veneer strips in boiling water for a few minutes which should make it pliable enough for your needs. If this doesn't do it, try the boiling water again but cut the veneer across the grain which will give much more flexible strips.

Try putting the veneer strips in boiling water for a few minutes which should make it pliable enough for your needs. If this doesn't do it, try the boiling water again but cut the veneer across the grain which will give much more flexible strips.

And if boiling doesn't work, try steaming next. With a piece as small as you're working with, you can steam it in a double boiler.

If steaming is not possible, you can soak the piece and use a heat gun (be careful that you don't burn it!). I have successfully bent 1/8" thick walnut that way.

in the model airplane world, we bend and shape balsa, basswood, and spruce by soaking them in amonia. i pour some in a pan used for soaking wall paper. let it soak until the smell disappears and then bend slowly to shape. it doesn't want to go as far as you need, soak some more in a fresh batch and then bend. once its dry it wont budge from the shape you put it in. thicker needs more solution........

then when we were building a little deck out off the front door, it curved around to the door. i notched the back of a pressure treated 2 X 6 and soaked it with amonia. it bent right around without any splinters!

it has something to do with the "glue" that holds the celulose fibes together? softens it up and then when its dry the fibers are in the new shape.

take care, bill

brick1 wrote:in the model airplane world, we bend and shape balsa, basswood, and spruce by soaking them in ammonia. i pour some in a pan used for soaking wall paper. let it soak until the smell disappears and then bend slowly to shape. it doesn't want to go as far as you need, soak some more in a fresh batch and then bend. once its dry it wont budge from the shape you put it in. thicker needs more solution........

...it has something to do with the "glue" that holds the cellulose fibers together? softens it up and then when its dry the fibers are in the new shape.

take care, bill

Most interesting, Bill!!! Model airplane builders are smart cookies!

Never would have thought of ammonia! Not being even a mediocre organic chemist, I wonder how ammonia will soften the "glue" and not remove it. Kinda like a paper pulping process, but not removing the glue.

"Glue" is an excellent term for lignin.

thanks the boiling for about 30 mintues did work,

pen on the left with a few offset turning i did.



http://www.chromewiretie.com/pendentanpens.jpg

Looking good!

Farley,

Thanks for the creative ideas! Yet another reason I love this forum. I happen to have some maple and walnut veneer sheets without much to do. And even plenty of blanks to practice with.