Making a Steam Box to bend 1/8" paneling to form
Aug 20, 2024 5:03:37 GMT -8
nccamper, WhitneyK, and 1 more like this
Post by Teachndad on Aug 20, 2024 5:03:37 GMT -8
Hi Friends,
So, here's how I bent 1/8" thick paneling to re-skin three cabinets with curved sides on my 57 Westerner. These include the upper kitchen cabinet and the two dinette bases.
Upper kitchen cabinet
Before
After
Dinettes
Before
During
After trimming with a router
I got lucky because each cabinet has a 6 3/4" radius – a larger radius. For those of you with trailers with curved cabinets that have tighter radii, I don't know if this will work for you.
I used natural birch plywood paneling which had a wood core. It was higher quality bought at a lumber yard. I did not use cheaper paneling with with an MDF core as it will expand and disintegrate if it gets wet.
Here is a cross section of the paneling I used.
Steam box
I built a home-made steam box from an underbed sized plastic storage container. I needed one that was wide enough to accept the careful insertion of the new unbent panel for the cabinets. Fortunately, the tallest cabinet height was less than the width of the plastic container. I used Gorilla duct tape to seal it up but left some gaps. The original lid had been lost, so I just taped a lid from a different brand storage container onto the tub section of the storage container. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder? For the homemade steam box, I cut long narrow slits in opposite sides using a combination of a jigsaw and a box cutter. I measured the length of the bend on the cabinet with a seamstress measuring tape. I made sure the length of paneling needed for the curve would fit within the steam box.
Here’s the steam box. Not pretty, I know, but hey it worked. Make sure you have your electrical cord for the steamer nowhere near the drip off of the steam box.
Inspiration for the design came from VTT member tincanalley. He posted this in another thread. He was attempting to bend the skin on a tighter radius.
I considered a similar design, but read that the melting temperature for Styrofoam is about that of boiling water. I wanted to use something less risky to melting. So, I scanned my house and found the storage container in the attic. The spirit of McGyver lives.
This is also from member tincanalley. This image inspired the clamping technique as the panel dried after steaming.
Steaming
Steam was supplied from a clothes steamer through another shorter slit cut into one of the short sides of the storage container. I made sure I bought a steamer that had a removable spout that could be removed even when attached (taped) to the side of the steam box – use gloved hands when adding water so you don’t get burned by any exiting steam. To be safe, I drilled two small weep holes in the bottom to release pressure and condensation. Before I inserted the birch panel into the side of the steam box, I took a spray bottle and sprayed and soaked both sides of the panel in the area that would be inside the steam box. The steamer would run out of water in 15 minutes. So, I had to refill the clothes steamer two more times after the initial fill. After @40 minutes, I pulled out the panel.
During the last ten minutes of steaming, I screwed some 1 x 2’s underneath the cabinet to raise it off the worktable surface. I did this, so the any glue that dripped off the cabinet didn’t glue the cabinet to my work table surface. Then I clamped down the spacers on to the work table to stop the cabinet frame from moving around when I started to clamp the panel. Note, I cut my panel larger than the glue surface, to allow for a margin of error when clamping and gluing. Then routered off the excess after the glue had dried. I used up my margin for error as it's easy for the panel to slide out of square during clamping.
I found references on line for steaming that it steam times in a "professional" steam box were 1 hour per inch of material thickness.
Glueing
Apply glue to the outer frame work of the cabinet during the last steaming period. Don’t do this on a hot day in the afternoon. It might shorten your work time with the glue. I did this in the morning hours on a hot day.
Clamping
Begin clamping. I was alone but 2 people would be better. I laid out my clamps and clamp boards in preparation.
Begin clamping the paneling at the end of the cabinet but closest to the bend in the cabinet. The panel will want to slip around. You want it as close to square as possible. Then, gradually press and clamp towards the bend. Clamp just before the bend and then gradually clamp and flatten the panel as you work around the curve of the cabinet using what I will call clamp boards. I struggled at this stage with juggling the clamps, clamping boards and just fighting the tension in the paneling. I had to press and clamp with some force, but I never had any panel split. I remember bending the panel waiting for the crack of spitting wood, but it never came.
Note the glue dot trail below the cabinet - I put down a strip of packing tape below to catch the glue drops. When I fiinished, I just peeled back the tape and the work table was clear of any glue. Voila'
I hope this helps someone.
Final note. I am not a woodworker. Any wood working skills were learned on this restoration. Feel free to add any comments our suggestions for the next person coming down the pike.
Cheers,
Rod
So, here's how I bent 1/8" thick paneling to re-skin three cabinets with curved sides on my 57 Westerner. These include the upper kitchen cabinet and the two dinette bases.
Upper kitchen cabinet
Before
After
Dinettes
Before
During
After trimming with a router
I got lucky because each cabinet has a 6 3/4" radius – a larger radius. For those of you with trailers with curved cabinets that have tighter radii, I don't know if this will work for you.
I used natural birch plywood paneling which had a wood core. It was higher quality bought at a lumber yard. I did not use cheaper paneling with with an MDF core as it will expand and disintegrate if it gets wet.
Here is a cross section of the paneling I used.
Steam box
I built a home-made steam box from an underbed sized plastic storage container. I needed one that was wide enough to accept the careful insertion of the new unbent panel for the cabinets. Fortunately, the tallest cabinet height was less than the width of the plastic container. I used Gorilla duct tape to seal it up but left some gaps. The original lid had been lost, so I just taped a lid from a different brand storage container onto the tub section of the storage container. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder? For the homemade steam box, I cut long narrow slits in opposite sides using a combination of a jigsaw and a box cutter. I measured the length of the bend on the cabinet with a seamstress measuring tape. I made sure the length of paneling needed for the curve would fit within the steam box.
Here’s the steam box. Not pretty, I know, but hey it worked. Make sure you have your electrical cord for the steamer nowhere near the drip off of the steam box.
Inspiration for the design came from VTT member tincanalley. He posted this in another thread. He was attempting to bend the skin on a tighter radius.
I considered a similar design, but read that the melting temperature for Styrofoam is about that of boiling water. I wanted to use something less risky to melting. So, I scanned my house and found the storage container in the attic. The spirit of McGyver lives.
This is also from member tincanalley. This image inspired the clamping technique as the panel dried after steaming.
Steaming
Steam was supplied from a clothes steamer through another shorter slit cut into one of the short sides of the storage container. I made sure I bought a steamer that had a removable spout that could be removed even when attached (taped) to the side of the steam box – use gloved hands when adding water so you don’t get burned by any exiting steam. To be safe, I drilled two small weep holes in the bottom to release pressure and condensation. Before I inserted the birch panel into the side of the steam box, I took a spray bottle and sprayed and soaked both sides of the panel in the area that would be inside the steam box. The steamer would run out of water in 15 minutes. So, I had to refill the clothes steamer two more times after the initial fill. After @40 minutes, I pulled out the panel.
During the last ten minutes of steaming, I screwed some 1 x 2’s underneath the cabinet to raise it off the worktable surface. I did this, so the any glue that dripped off the cabinet didn’t glue the cabinet to my work table surface. Then I clamped down the spacers on to the work table to stop the cabinet frame from moving around when I started to clamp the panel. Note, I cut my panel larger than the glue surface, to allow for a margin of error when clamping and gluing. Then routered off the excess after the glue had dried. I used up my margin for error as it's easy for the panel to slide out of square during clamping.
I found references on line for steaming that it steam times in a "professional" steam box were 1 hour per inch of material thickness.
Glueing
Apply glue to the outer frame work of the cabinet during the last steaming period. Don’t do this on a hot day in the afternoon. It might shorten your work time with the glue. I did this in the morning hours on a hot day.
Clamping
Begin clamping. I was alone but 2 people would be better. I laid out my clamps and clamp boards in preparation.
Begin clamping the paneling at the end of the cabinet but closest to the bend in the cabinet. The panel will want to slip around. You want it as close to square as possible. Then, gradually press and clamp towards the bend. Clamp just before the bend and then gradually clamp and flatten the panel as you work around the curve of the cabinet using what I will call clamp boards. I struggled at this stage with juggling the clamps, clamping boards and just fighting the tension in the paneling. I had to press and clamp with some force, but I never had any panel split. I remember bending the panel waiting for the crack of spitting wood, but it never came.
Note the glue dot trail below the cabinet - I put down a strip of packing tape below to catch the glue drops. When I fiinished, I just peeled back the tape and the work table was clear of any glue. Voila'
I hope this helps someone.
Final note. I am not a woodworker. Any wood working skills were learned on this restoration. Feel free to add any comments our suggestions for the next person coming down the pike.
Cheers,
Rod
