how do you do it?
with minimal equipment.
clamp it? torch it? soak it?

depends on the wood and the dimensions Mike.
I would try to stay away from soaking it.
Steaming would be better.

Laminating thinner sections together to build up to the desired thickness is pretty easy but you need to rip the wood with a table saw and glue and clamp it all together on some kind of form.

what are you bending?

I was wondering the same thing, i want to build a kayak

the hull to deck joint arround my boat. the back sections are easy strait. but from midship to the bow needs to be bent.
i'm using 1" thick birch.
basicly following the contour of the hull all the way arround on the inside with 1". epoxied in, clamped, and screwed.
then i will use that as a base to secure the gunnels and bow section to.

one way is to back cut the piece with multiple relief cuts
so the board can bend even when dry...

the other method is to fashion a mold out of
plywood with the arch (bend) pre established
and then you can steam or hot towel the
clamped piece into the mold with weights
to slowly bend it into shape for uniformity.

Sounds like a question for Norm Abram
Ask this old yankee workshop !!!

Sorry my mind is warped.

Sometimes the easiest way is to rip the stock into 1/8" strips or even 1/4" strips. You can liberally spread waterproof glue on the strips, stack them together and bend the whole lot. After bending to the shape needed clamp with lots of clamps and wait ‘til the glue sets. You then can sand the piece and encapsulate it in glass. :wall: The more strips the more strength.:uhuh:

I was wondering the same thing, i want to build a kayak

thats the luan kayak method... laminate method....and a good one gone fishin... that be numero #3

birch is a poor choice of wood for boats

white oak or mahogany is better

if you laminate thin strips, glue with thickened epoxy not waterproof wood glue.

you want your foundation to be solid and long lasting

if the curves are gentle, sometimes you can scarf together bandsawn sections cut from wider boards but it wastes alot of wood.

I was wondering the same thing, i want to build a kayak

Chris check out On The Water this month there is a guy showing you how to build a kayak in there. The first part of a few. Looks interesting.

kool thank you.
i have a ton of birch here thats why i was gunna use it.
i'll look into white oak. i have mohogany i can cut that up too.
trying to do this without breaking the bank.
not building miss winnipesaukee here. but anything is better than the way this was originaly built.

lotta info here

http://www.woodenboat-ubb.com/vbulletin/upload/

don't over look preasure treated lumber...get yourself a single 2x8 or 10 and rip it to whatever size you need....it bends nicely just by clamping and will hold screws too.....also look at pl 400 premeum construction adhesive made for pt...it's an all urathane caulking/adhesive made for pt as well..cost is like 5.00 a tube...It'll fill any voids between the wood and hull and totally waterproof...just don't get it on your hands or clothes cause it won't come off.....I've and many boat yards have used this stuff for above/below decks in wet areas...you'll find it in any hardware/lumberyard...sometimes you need to think home building for your boat building needs....it'll save you money and works as good as all the epoxies that cost 5 times as much.

CS, that's a priceless bit of info. Goes in my file. Thanks.

Though expensive white oak is best, hard to find. Boulter has some. You can fab a wooden steam box. The oak still has to be sawn into somewhat managable dimensions for bending and the grain should run the right way.

Any way if you build a steam box and find a 55 gallon drum for a water drum. Some guys have old furnace burners to heat under the drum making a stacked brick stand to contain the flame. Eventually this makes steam and hose it to your steam box.

This is allot to go thru to do what you need. You can also just lay out what you need and have a sawn "bend", like a sawn frame instead of bending.

I think CS idea seems good low budget. This is all under deck and not a piece of finish work.

exactly what i wanted to hear. a cheaper/eisier way

:thanks:

Freak green oak from a saw mill, $1.00-$1.20 a board foot. Bends like rubber, nice to work with too!!. White is the best then red avoid black oak.