Whimsical Furniture

[myxpykalix]

I'm tempted to try something like this next:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-...40#previewlink

If anyone attempts this before i get to it, I'm sure i have some questions so please let me know you are doing it, or if you have already done something like this, so i can ask some questions!

I could see how you could draw the front and back "frames" for the furniture. And for the sides he talks about "bendable plywood" and i have seen it on tv and in videos, but don't think it is available anywhere around here.
I believe it is just basically plywood that has been "kerfed" and i could see how on the backside of the front frame and the frontside of the back piece you could cut a mortise slot for the bendable plywood to fit into, but i'm a little unclear on how you would reinforce the frame internally to hold the shape?
Since the sides would be only .25 thick how would you support the shelves and hold this together?

[Gary Campbell]

Jack...
Bendy Ply is available most everywhere. Its about 3/8 thick and you can use multiple layers. I have used it on many radiused projects, but it needs a slick coat of bondo or vitex for paint or a layer of veneer for a wood finish. Using 2 layers can give you a 3/4 thick side. Once it is either laminated or glued into the frames it is pretty rigid.

Have fun!

[wberminio]

Another Brand is "Wacky Wood"
Also check out this
http://www.outwatercatalogs.com/lg_d.../bending%20mdf

With this product you glue the cut side face to face.

I've made my own with my Bot
Works very well and very strong.All you have to be concerned with is the edge.
Bond works great if you are painting.

[kevin]

I think a inexpeise soltion is to cut the back and front with the bot using whatever curve ,You don't have to copy exact let your imagination go remeber that other guy had no bot once you have the front and back exact its easy .Make a dado for top and bottom plus side. asemble top and bttom now you have strenteght the side for the bend can use 1/4 inch lamint or bendable plywood onc it glue in
It will be trial and eror
after a litle practice i think the draws will be easy

doing the sides first will be hard to make to sides the samea lot of work for nothing

My expaltion might not be clear thr trick is to have front and back exact

[waynelocke]

i have made a lot of curved panels and some pieces similar to your photo. I make curved forms with ribs cut on the shopbot and bending ply and then glue up the panels in a vacuum bag. I usually make the panels with 1/8" mdf or plywood and 3/8" bending ply and then veneer the curved panels.

[kevin]

Heres a photo of what I.am trying to explain

[bleeth]

Jack:
The replies below give you the basics of how this is done in the two most common ways there are.
1. Using the actual furniture as a bending jig.
2. Making a separate jig to bend the parts.

If your design has a front and back then you can use the parts themselves as a bending jig. Bending ply comes in many widths but the supply of various widths may be limited in your area. 3/8 is most common but it is availabele often in 1/4 and sometimes 1/8. When you actually measure it you find that the above dimensions are very nominal. To get a true 3/4" thickness you often need to add a layer of thinner material to 2 layers of 3/8. Not a bad thing to do though since more layers means a better panel. My preferred method of getting a 3/4" door that will not be in a frame and need to hold the curve without being attached to any other parts is 3 layers of 1/4" plus a layer of 1/8.
If it is a part that needs to hold the curve on it's own then you need to use the right type of glue. Contact cement or standard yellow glue is too flexible and you will get springback in your part. Most people use plastic resin glue which comes as a powder and gets mixed with water. You can also use epoxy like West System, MAS, etc.
If the curved panel can be bent from thin plywood (like doorskin) or 1/4" MDF I will use that.
The other common way is the kerfs as shown below in the link in Erminio's post. You can buy this material or make your own. I have used my bot to make kerfed material from mdf and plywood. You just cut through with a 1/8 bit every 3/8 to 1/2" leaving a skin from 1 to 5/32. How thin your skin needs to be depends on how small your radius is. For those pieces you show it is a fairly easy radius and you may be able to pull it off with 1/4" mdf. If you need to kerf it (Kerfing your own mdf is the cheapest material-wise), then you either use two layers of 3/8 with the kerfed sections facing each other, or one layer of 3/4 and laminate over the kerfed side with veneer or something like that.
If you are kerfing plywood the kerfs need to be in the direction of the face layer.
The fun part can be how you hold the part while the glue is drying. That will depend on how you are doing it and what you have available in your shop.
All the above is a "quickie" guide to bending. Whole books have been written on it but the basics are really pretty easy. After all, bent wood on boats has been around thousands of years!!!
Here is a shot I did of something like that some years back.

[myxpykalix]

Bendable plywood is just not available in my immediate area, so it seems just as easy to make my own (and cheaper).

Since when you kerf one side that will be exposed (the inside), you need to cover that with something so what about luan plywood? That seems like it might be too stiff so would i need to kerf that also?

I was thinking about .5 plywood and .25 luan to make .75. Actually I think 2 pieces of .25 plywood to make .5 thick sides would be plenty thick don't you think?

Also looking at this pic don't you think that it would be easier to just make a mortise in the front and back to stick the bended plywood in rather then making a dado and having to use a hundred clamps (which I don't have). That way the mortise can hold the curve.

Do I need the supports (in blue) from front to back to support the case or would the bended plywood be enough to hold the front and back together?

[bleeth]

Odds are bendable ply is available in your area but is never carried at stores like Home Depot. Some "real" lumber yards carry it and a local cabinet maker can probably tell you who the nearer wholesale distributors of their materials are, who undoubtedly carry it. As Erminio's link shows, you can have kerf core shipped in but shipping would probably make the cost too high.
You probably cannot bend 1/4" ply, whether it is faced with Luann or anything else, for that curve. For kerf core type construction you are better off with 2 layers of 3/8" and laminate the two pieces with the kerf towards each other. For one layer you can use 1/2". For paint grade you can bondo and sand the kerfs, cover with what is known as 2-ply veneer, or even cover with a piece of plastic laminate with the good side scuffed up and glued down so you have the back exposed.
I would also use the mortise system you spoke of and did for the piece pictured in my previous post.
3/4" ply for the top and bottom with the front and back installed to them first should make the blocking unneccessary but it can't hurt, assuming you cut the correct angle in them to make them fit right in the corners.

[bill.young]

We end up using bending ply quite often and our local lumber yard doesn't stock it but orders it for us whenever we need some...if we can get it on the Eastern Shore then you should be able to get it from one of your local yards in Charlottesville.

If you do get some, be aware that it's available in " column roll" where the bending axis is parallel to the long side so that it can make an 8' column, and "barrel roll" where it's parallel to the short side and would make a 4' barrel.

Oh yeah, the bending ply we usually get is 3/8" and has 2 luaun faces.

Bill