Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Back to steam bending

Steam bending unit
As previously mentioned, the Windshield was cut down to a lower profile.  Decide to add wood trim.  The wood had to be steamed to bend without cracking.  The setup pictured above worked pretty good....here's how it works:  take a length of plastic pipe with a diameter that will fit the girth of the wood you need bended.  cap the ends with aluminum foil.  run vinyl hose to the pipe from the 1 gallon paint cans that you can get at a reputable paint store (empty cans @ approx. $2.50 ea).  turn on the electric burners to high after filling the cans about a quarter way to the top and wait for the steam to rise up and saturate the wood for about an hour......take the wood out and - quick like a bunny - bend it to whatever mold or jig or whatever you have and there you go!