this post was submitted on 19 May 2026
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Woodworking

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Advice on steam bending (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by MacAnus@sh.itjust.works to c/woodworking@lemmy.ca
 

Hi everyone,

I need to bend some oak for a project. I've done it before but it was a long time ago...

Two questions :

  1. my plan is to bend a 40x70 mm (1,5" x 2,75") section of oak to a 500mm (20") internal radius, is that realistic?

  2. do I have to steam the whole piece or can I build a smaller steam box to only accept the end that needs to be bent?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Edit: added measurements in inches for universal convenience

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[โ€“] BCsven@lemmy.ca 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

BluGill gave advice on only steaming the bend portion. My only comment would be steam slightly past what you consider the bend start/stop because the material on the other side of that line still has to compress or stretch a bit also.

[โ€“] MacAnus@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 days ago

Good point, noted. Thanks!