JoeWay
Well-known member
...to tell me if this will work?
The car is a '29 Tudor. The wood is the tack rail above the rear window frame to which the headliner gets attached. It is supposed to line up with the ends of the tack strips that curve around the rear corners. This one lines up pretty well on the driver's side, as shown in the first photo below looking straight up at the bottom of the wood. The next photo shows the passenger's side, which has so much curve in it that the wood is about 3/4" proud of the tack strip line. It is original wood in otherwise excellent condition, and I would very much like to save it.
I have built a fixture to use in my hydraulic press that I think will take the curve out. Photos show the fixture exploded and together, and the last photo shows the required curve drawn on the wood.
The plan is to steam the last 12"-14" in a bucket of boiling water. I've read that dry wood requires about 1 hour of steam time per inch of wood thickness, and this piece is right at 1". So, at the one hour mark I turn on the press, grab the wood and run to the press where the fixture will be clamped in place under the ram. Shove the wood in to the stop and squeeze the heck out of it. The arrow on the fixture is at the point of maximum displacement from the desired curve, and this is where I will center the ram.
Two main questions: Will sticking the end in a bucket of boiling water work, or do I need to devise a steambox? Most on-line references are showing steam boxes, but I think that may be because most people are bending pieces too big to submerge in boiling water. I need only the end pliable. And will there be any springback, or will the wood hold the shape of the fixture after it cools?
Are there any other questions I don't know to ask, or issues I should address before I attempt this?
Thanks.
Joe
The car is a '29 Tudor. The wood is the tack rail above the rear window frame to which the headliner gets attached. It is supposed to line up with the ends of the tack strips that curve around the rear corners. This one lines up pretty well on the driver's side, as shown in the first photo below looking straight up at the bottom of the wood. The next photo shows the passenger's side, which has so much curve in it that the wood is about 3/4" proud of the tack strip line. It is original wood in otherwise excellent condition, and I would very much like to save it.
I have built a fixture to use in my hydraulic press that I think will take the curve out. Photos show the fixture exploded and together, and the last photo shows the required curve drawn on the wood.
The plan is to steam the last 12"-14" in a bucket of boiling water. I've read that dry wood requires about 1 hour of steam time per inch of wood thickness, and this piece is right at 1". So, at the one hour mark I turn on the press, grab the wood and run to the press where the fixture will be clamped in place under the ram. Shove the wood in to the stop and squeeze the heck out of it. The arrow on the fixture is at the point of maximum displacement from the desired curve, and this is where I will center the ram.
Two main questions: Will sticking the end in a bucket of boiling water work, or do I need to devise a steambox? Most on-line references are showing steam boxes, but I think that may be because most people are bending pieces too big to submerge in boiling water. I need only the end pliable. And will there be any springback, or will the wood hold the shape of the fixture after it cools?
Are there any other questions I don't know to ask, or issues I should address before I attempt this?
Thanks.
Joe
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