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canucksfan · **Posted:** Wed Feb 09, 11 2:33 pm

I was looking for some tips on putting a curve into an oak board for the back of a rocking chair. Any advice would be appreciated.

MarkR · **Posted:** Wed Feb 09, 11 3:16 pm

canucksfan wrote:

I was looking for some tips on putting a curve into an oak board for the back of a rocking chair. Any advice would be appreciated.

Going to need a bit more info, how much of a curve? do you have a bandsaw? are you using hand tools only? How thick will your finished back be? Have you considered laminating? Can it be steam-bent? Could you form the curve from thicker stock and just use hand tools? Sorry for all the questions, but there are many ways to skin a cat.

tiny · **Posted:** Wed Feb 09, 11 11:58 pm

The three most common methods are steam bending, kerf cuts and laminating.

Steam bending is the easiest method for mild curves such as the top of a seat back.

Kerf cutting is the weakest and not really any use for a seat. It involves cutting deep grooves close together on the back of a piece then bending it and gluing to a form of some sort.

Laminating is sort of like making your own plywood. You cut thin strips and glue them together on a form, then remove from the form once the glue dries. Unlike plywood however, the plies in a lamination usually all run in the same direction.

Hope that helps.

Paul
the little guy

canucksfan · **Posted:** Thu Feb 10, 11 11:54 am

The chair that I'm using a a template has steam bent top and bottom rails. The top being 4 x 3/4 and the bottom is 2 x 3/4. It will have 1 x 3/8 spindles mortised into the rails.

canucksfan · **Posted:** Fri Feb 11, 11 10:41 am

canucksfan wrote:

I was looking for some tips on putting a curve into an oak board for the back of a rocking chair. Any advice would be appreciated.

I need to bend 3/4 x 4 and 3/4 x 2 for the top and bottom rails. The chair that I'm using as a t-plate has steam bent rails.

canucksfan · **Posted:** Tue Feb 15, 11 1:48 pm

tiny wrote:

The three most common methods are steam bending, kerf cuts and laminating.

Steam bending is the easiest method for mild curves such as the top of a seat back.

Kerf cutting is the weakest and not really any use for a seat. It involves cutting deep grooves close together on the back of a piece then bending it and gluing to a form of some sort.

Laminating is sort of like making your own plywood. You cut thin strips and glue them together on a form, then remove from the form once the glue dries. Unlike plywood however, the plies in a lamination usually all run in the same direction.

Hope that helps.

Paul
the little guy

I would like to steam bend it. Any advice on how to go about doing that.

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