On Jun 26, 10:40 am, Todd wrote:
On Jun 25, 10:03 am, wrote:

On Jun 25, 10:36 am, Todd wrote:

A piece of 1" red oak can be bent to radius of 1" if supported by a
metal strap and 11.5" unsupported according to "wood Bending Handbook"
published by Woodcraft Supply.

I think you meant that one inch oak can be bent to a radius of one
foot! I am sure most caught that though.

Nope, the book says 1" or 25 millimeters. Unsupported it's 11.5
inches. (My experience is that a radius of 1 foot is achievable with
out the metal strap support.) I'll grant you that it seems impossible
and I'm looking for another source in my office but I can't put my
hands on it just now. I know that Thonet did some very impressive
bending in the chairs he made. The book states that these are the
results of tests done on air-dried steamed material 1 inch (25.4 mm)
thick. Part of the "support" they refer to is that the work piece is
attached to a metal strap on the outer surface that is clamped to the
work piece by applying clamping pressure on the ends of the pieces,
i.e. the clamp faces are pressing on the end grain face of each end,
this is critical for this kind of bending. It is not just having a
"backing" strap. Clamping pressure must be applied to the end grain
faces as the piece is bent.

Sounds like some pretty serious control of several aspects of the
process would be necessary. Don't think I could get better than one
foot radius with much consistancy on 1 inch thick oak with the setup I
have.