What to do about a bow..

Re: What to do about a bow..

Ellis Walentine

If there's to be a rail or rails under the seat, you can make it/them with a crown on top and yank the ends tight with big screws, pushing the crown up against the underside of the bow, which is concave side up, of course. I've used this trick many times to straighten things out. If the show side of the seat is on the convex side of the bow, make the rail(s) concave side up and pull the center down.

Ellis

Re: What to do about a bow..

johnv

Or if the seat is to be contoured can you take advantage of the bow to your advantage? ie convex side up

Re: What to do about a bow..

Yonak

..Or, since it's a seat, concave side up ?

That's all?

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

The only place I would worry over a piddly 1/8" in 4' would be the stiles for a tall door frame, or any other free standing application.

Unclear how this lumber is to be used. A seat 4' long? Are you gluing this lumber up into panels? If so alternate the bows and they will largely cancel. As Ellis said if they were to be used where they are on a frame pull them to the frame with screws, small ones as it will take little force to move a 4' board 1/8".

I am not picturing how in a seat an 1/8 bow would matter, but then I don't know exactly how this lumber is going to be employed in the seat.

The strips for this framing for a drawer under a table top bows more than 1/8". It gets screwed to the table top which will pull it straight.

Two pieces

JL

Two pieces 8" x 50" x 1 3/4"

The idea is that they will be glued to make a settee seat blank.

The pieces have a bow roughly the same amount.

Could I glue them up in "opposition" to each other?

Would that work - or would I get a twist?

Re: Two pieces

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

Let me be sure I understand. You will be edge gluing them to make a 16" wide plank that will then be carved into some profile for the seat, probably thick on the edges and butt shaped in the middle?

I would have no reservation edge gluing them with bows opposed so as to cancel the tension. You will need sturdy clamps, with a clamp at each end close to the end. You will need some means of mashing the convex board in the middle and the concave at each end. I don't glue much 8/4 lumber so I can't picture how flexible these pieces will be. Trivial with 4/4, I do it all the time. For 8/4 I have resorted to having wife stand on the assembly until I got the clamps tight. If you can get the ends of the concave board near a bench edge I have clamped the bowed up end down onto the clamp with an "F" style clamp, with wife standing on the convex bow to mash it flat. One time I used a jack and jacked against the ceiling joists to mash a bowed up (convex) hump down on the clamps.

However, what is the down side of gluing with both humps up together? Nobody is going to see a piddly 1/8" hump in a 5' long run.

Re: Two pieces

Sgian Dubh

Or just do as you say Bill with bows opposed, plus biscuits, dowels or Dominos in each edge to help align the faces ... if it's found the 1-3/4" thick boards can't be straightened easily with light pressure. Slainte.

I've never been able to hand bend 1 3/4" cherry

Make the curve a feature *LINK*

Jim Matthews

Seating need not be flat to be comfortable.


https://www.scottishfurnituremakers.org.uk/makers/adrian-mccurdy-furniture/

Re: What to do about a bow..

johnv

Thanks for the correction I misspoke and did mean concave.