Steam bending

[Mike Holbrook]

I was looking up information on making a steam bending box and found this YouTube video. I figure if a few teenyagers can do this maybe it isn't as scary as I thought:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9co_Db9Q7JM

Have patience with the giggling and wait until the end. The result is worth the ear assault and time.

[Mike Holbrook]

For anyone interested in building a steam box. I found a design that uses 6" metal stove pipe inside a simple wood box. This design looks like it will work better and more efficiently than the solid wood or plywood boxes I have been finding. It is relatively inexpensive and simple to build and uses easily obtained parts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebeye3LlZJs

[Jim Koepke]

Steam bending has been an interest of mine.

I wonder what they were making.

jtk

[James Conrad]

6" schedule 80 PVC pipe makes a great steambox. Yes, it has to be supported down its entire length.

[Mike Holbrook]

I took a course at Highland Woodworking, Making a Continuous Arm Windsor Chair. We started out using a plain plywood box for steaming. The plywood box had some problems so we tried one Highland had, made from 6-8" PVC. The PVC container bent all out of shape when we got it to temperature so we went back to the plywood box. Maybe PVC with lots of support under the bottom works? I believe CPVC is designed to handle hot water but I have never seen it in 6" diameter pipe. The 6", galvanized stove pipe is designed to handle the heat and insulation can be placed around it inside a wood box that does not have to deal with all the hot wet air.

[Steve Voigt]

I took a course at Highland Woodworking, Making a Continuous Arm Windsor Chair. We started out using a plain plywood box for steaming. The plywood box had some problems so we tried one Highland had made from 6-8" PVC. The PVC container bent all out of shape when we got it to temperature so we went back to the plywood box. Maybe PVC with lots of support under the bottom works? I believe CPVC is designed to handle hot water but I have never seen it in 6" diameter pipe. The 6", galvanized stove pipe is designed to handle the heat and insulation can be placed around it inside a wood box that does not have to deal with all the hot wet air.

I wouldn't assume that the plywood box design doesn't work, just because one gave you trouble. Mine works great, though I admit I have never tried a bend as tight as that required for a continuous arm chair.
More importantly, guys like Peter Galbert and Curtis Buchanan use the plywood box, and they make chairs for a living. I found this post by Peter very helpful, though I did not even need to use the insulation; having two steam sources, and making the plumbing as short as possible, were the keys for me.

[Mike Holbrook]

Steve, the course I took at Highland Woodworking was originally taught by Curtis Buchanan. Peter Galbert taught the specific course I took, using some of Curtis's patterns... It was some of what I learned during the course concerning the limitations of the boxes Peter used that got me looking for a better design. Peter is an interesting guy, he is very enthused about improving the design of tools used in the making of Windsor chairs. Peter came up with several modifications of his tool/jig designs during the course he was teaching at Highland Woodworking. I guess I caught Peter's redesign bug.

The link above, to Peter's Blog, has some interesting ideas. I'd bet 1-5 odds Peter has changed his box at least a couple times after posting the one in the link. Peter actually mentions the Highland course in the Blog article. As I recall he liked the Wall Paper Steamer Highland used but was working on box design ideas, apparently resulting in the box in his Blog.

[Chris Fournier]

PVC and ABS piping work beautifully, I also have a shop made tempered HDF chest that works beautifully. I like the pipes for quick and dirty - screw on end caps make it super easy. An old 5 gallon compressor on wheels turned into a steam generator will turn everything I want to bend into a noodle.

[Mike Holbrook]

Peter's blog, Steve's post and the link to the design I made all mention insulation of both the line from the steam unit and the steam holding container as influences on how well these units work. I have at least 4 German Shepherds and a few smaller dogs running around the house most of the time, right now I have a bitch with 5 puppies in my shop. I imagine I am more interested in making the exterior of the box safe to touch than most will be due to the number of careless "helpers" I deal with. Now I have a couple options for making the exterior of the work piece container safe.

I don't know what kind of "foiled" insulation Peter used in his design but there is some sort of foiled insulation board made specifically to insulate heating units that I plan to look into. There is some more flexible insulation they use on the ducts running from those units too. I am just wondering how much heat these insulations are designed to handle?