bending sapele

[tcoote@simons-r]

Wondering if anyone has attempted to bend sapele, and what the results were. I have 12' sections of 3/4x3/4 inch corner molding that I am trying to bend around for a rub rail. Thanks for any input.

Tom

[doingitmyway]

I've bent teak, have some sapele, super hard wood, steam it but make sure you have a piece of strap steel to secure to each end w/ a block of wood to compress it's outside edge as you bend it. Otherwise it will surely tear itself apart. Check web for steam bending woods, lots of info out there. Good Luck.

[KnottyBuoyz]

I saw a fella bending it using a home made steamer. See pic attached. Sorry I don't know any of the details as to how long he had to keep it in the steamer. Looks like a pretty simple rig to put together, a length of PVC pipe with end caps and a few holes drilled in it. I especially like the Jerry Can kettle!

[doingitmyway]

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...,45867&p=45869

[Man Overboard]

Here is something that I had not realized. Good article!

2. Only air-dried wood of an appropriate species should be used.

Kiln-dried wood must not be used; the lignin in the wood has been permanently set during the hot, dry kilning process. No amount of steaming or soaking will weaken the lignin bond sufficiently for successful bending. The same applies to air-dried wood that has been allowed to dry and stabilize below 10% moisture content; the lignin will only partially plasticize with steam, not enough for successful bending of anything beyond a shallow curve.

[Pericles]

Rip it into strips and laminate the sapele on the boat with epoxy thickened with the sawdust.

Pericles

[tcoote@simons-r]

Thanks for the tips and info. In the end I didn't try to steam it because too many folks said it would rip apart on me. I cut one edge of the corner mold, with a very fine blade, every 8 inches. This prevented the corner mold from twisiting and it laid down nicely. I will fill the fine seams with dust and epoxy. Looks great by the way. Whens its all done I'll try to post some pics. Thanks again.

Tom