boat material / furniture material

[bogeyinthekeys]

Hi there,

I am new at this and am trying to educate myself on possible materials that I might use for a furniture design as it may relate to boat design process. I need to find a material that is flexible(1/4" to 1" in thickness), and that can be bend to different radiuses to fit into a jig. I guess the form could be hardened with an epoxy. The stool must also accomodate the weight of the person sitting on it.

Can anyone help me out ?

Heidi

[Bergalia]

Bogie - most long grained timbers (especially pine) when steamed can be bent with care. But for making a stool, cane when steamed, bends easiest of all. However its boat building qualities are questionable (without a ton of caulking).
If you're working with 1/4 inch thickenesses try a decent ply, and laminate it to build up strength. Now that, you can use for boat building.

[JR-Shine]

you can also laminate 3/16" mahogany of meranti plywood over a honeycomb (3/4") core. It would be very light and strong.

[John ilett]

There are quite a few varietys of honeycomb type core panels made just for this. Cores can be coated paper, nomex honeycomb, alloy honeycomb, plastic honeycomb etc. Skins can be fglass, alloy, formica, etc.

I have worked with the glass skinned alloy honeycomb which you can rout or cut grooves in one face then bend on a jig with a filler in the cuts. Once set it stays.

http://www.plascore.com/

http://www.tricelcorp.com/

http://www.nida-core.com/default.asp

Of course there are plenty of ways to make a bent sandwich also, foam, ply, glass..............

[nero]

Or you can laminate thin strips of wood with epoxy. Add some uni-directional fiberglass or kelvelar on the outside if needed for extra strength.

[bogeyinthekeys]

thanks a million !

you don't know how great it is to talk to people who know what they are doing. I will check out the sites. Is the material expensive ?

there aren't many women doing this you know !!

Heidi

[bogeyinthekeys]

Hi again,

That Nida-core Structiform is right up my alley - saw a photo of a man standing on a piece. That might be what I will use depending on the minimum radiuses capabiliy.

Heidi

[bogeyinthekeys]

Hi there,

Thanks so much for the information - nida-core is sending me a sample to check out, it looks like it will be what I need. I can laminate 2 skins to the bent honeycomb material (a la eames bent wood furniture) to achieve the look.

I will let you know how it goes, can't wait to work with the stuff.

Heidi