19-04-2011, 10:43 AM
Hi,
Flushed with success at having laid up the main veneers I thought I would tackle the stringing next. I have used stringing once before but over 30 years ago and the stringing were bought one yard lengths of 1/8” boxwood which I attached with contact adhesive.
http://woodtreks.com/learn-how-to-make-d...nding/529/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvxKrXYXc0g&feature=related
Whilst surfing the web for veneering information the above two links to websites are just two of many sites I visited and I was intrigued by how stringing could be made at home. I’ll use the word stringing as it is the most common term but where built up patterns are used “Banding” is the correct term.
I could have made life so much simpler for myself had I purchased plain boxwood or holly stringing but I wanted to see what I could achieve with a little more effort on my part. As it turned out this one section covering stringing took up a great deal of time but was most rewarding and highly enjoyable.
[attachment=804]
Laminations glued and clamped up.
Having viewed the videos standard stringing was forgotten and I looked around to see what I could make with the veneers I had to hand. My choice was limited and I didn’t wish to spend any money so settled on two contrasting veneers; “Quartered Sapele” for the inner and a light coloured veneer for the outer. I don’t know what timber the light coloured veneer is but I’ve owned it for many years. My plan was to lay up these veneers in a sandwich then cut into strips. I calculated the stringing needed and added extra to cover any mistakes then cut out the veneers. For the straight strings I cut two pieces of light coloured veneer at 20”x3” lengthwise with the grain but the Sapele was cut into 3” strips across the grain. At first I wanted to use hot hide glue for the lay up but rejected this as the glue would gel long before everything was aligned and clamped up so woodworking adhesive was chosen. Two pieces of 3/8” thick plywood were cut and heir edges sanded smooth; these would be the pressure blocks.
[attachment=805]
Laminated veneers.
Double thickness of Sapele was to be used for the inner layers and a liberal coating of glue was applied to the side of the veneers bringing them together ensuring joints were staggered; these were glued with the grain parallel; care was taken to eliminate any gap whatsoever where the veneers abutted each other at the joints whilst also ensuring veneer did not overlap; more glue was then applied and the outer light coloured veneers were added. The plywood clamping blocks had been covered with brown plastic parcel tape to prevent sticking and the veneer sandwich was aligned between both plywood blocks and many clamps were added each being firmly tightened; excess glue was removed with a damp cloth and the assembly put away to dry overnight. The following morning the clamps and blocks were removed to reveal what looked like a home made piece of plywood. This would be cut into strips later. As the sandwich was still damp I placed it on my computer table and was quite amused watching it as it kept curling up as the surface exposed to the heat dried out; I kept turning it over until it eventually fully dried remaining dead flat.
So far all had gone very well indeed but now I expected trouble because to try to bend the new stringing around a tight radius would break it and it would be difficult to ensure it remained in the groove so I gave the problem a great deal of thought and as usual came up with the solution in the middle of the night whilst in bed wide awake. I would try to pre-form the stringing. I copied the curved profiles making paper patterns and transferred the pattern onto ¾” thick softwood blocks. Using the large bandsaw each block was very accurately cut on the pencil line; the blocks were then further shaped on the bandsaw to give flat surfaces for clamping purposes. Sharp corners were sanded smooth and Sellotape added to prevent sticking. As an experiment just two strips of veneer were glued up and left overnight to dry. The following morning it was delightful to see the strips retain the shape of the former; this was a big breakthrough and a technique well worth learning. Now as before veneer was cut and glued up then clamped tightly in the formers leaving overnight to dry.
[attachment=806] [attachment=807]
Softwood laminating formers. Laminated stringing.
A lot of time was spent doing this work as it was all a steep learning curve for me but now I had the veneers glued up into sandwiches only needing cutting into strips thus providing the stringing.
Some days I could only spend an hour in the garage before becoming too cold to carry on; I was working in the worst winter on record with lots of ice and snow. It was difficult to leave the warmth of the bungalow to venture into the garage each day but I wasn’t going to be beaten by the weather. A I became cold it became much too dangerous to operate my machinery and I found it needed a great deal of effort to concentrate in order to work accurately but each day I battled on.
[attachment=808]
Laminated strings.
I wanted to design and make a small slitting saw for cutting the veneer sandwich into accurate strips; I have a number of electric motors and an engineering lathe plus welder etc but handling frozen metal tools was bad enough so decided to make a wooden cutting jig; I made the jig out of good quality stable hardwood and made a bespoke cutting gauge from steel and aluminium. The cutting blade was made from a bit of 1/8” dia. Silver steel. A wooden block was attached to the jig allowing the jig to be mounted in the engineering vise. What a pleasure it was to finally cut accurate strings made entirely at home. The curved sandwiches were cut freehand on the bandsaw using fierce determination as I wanted to retain all my fingers.
[attachment=810] [attachment=811]
Home made string cutting jig. String cutting close up.
All stringing sharp edges were then sanded free hand and at last after many hours work the stringing was in stock. In spite of the dire weather I did enjoy learning how to make stringing; it was highly enjoyable and had the weather been warmer I could have experimented more with design but deep down I knew I had done my very best with what was available and now had high hopes as to how the stringing would appear once inlaid into the panels.
[attachment=812]
Home made cutting gauge.
Looking at the new stringing and thinking of what had been involved in its production it occurred to me that I was now leaving veneering basics behind me and moving on to more advanced work. With each small success I gained confidence and was learning many new techniques; making this stringing was not at all difficult once I had watched the videos a number of times and grasped the idea. I still had a long way to go and in the next part will cover cutting the grooves and adding the stringing to the panels. I’m trying to be as comprehensive as possible adding my notes in order to encourage others to have a go at this fascinating side of our hobby without having learn every detail the hard way as I have done.
[attachment=813] [attachment=814]
Strings accurately cut. Stringing close up.
Kind regards, Col.
Flushed with success at having laid up the main veneers I thought I would tackle the stringing next. I have used stringing once before but over 30 years ago and the stringing were bought one yard lengths of 1/8” boxwood which I attached with contact adhesive.
http://woodtreks.com/learn-how-to-make-d...nding/529/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvxKrXYXc0g&feature=related
Whilst surfing the web for veneering information the above two links to websites are just two of many sites I visited and I was intrigued by how stringing could be made at home. I’ll use the word stringing as it is the most common term but where built up patterns are used “Banding” is the correct term.
I could have made life so much simpler for myself had I purchased plain boxwood or holly stringing but I wanted to see what I could achieve with a little more effort on my part. As it turned out this one section covering stringing took up a great deal of time but was most rewarding and highly enjoyable.
[attachment=804]
Laminations glued and clamped up.
Having viewed the videos standard stringing was forgotten and I looked around to see what I could make with the veneers I had to hand. My choice was limited and I didn’t wish to spend any money so settled on two contrasting veneers; “Quartered Sapele” for the inner and a light coloured veneer for the outer. I don’t know what timber the light coloured veneer is but I’ve owned it for many years. My plan was to lay up these veneers in a sandwich then cut into strips. I calculated the stringing needed and added extra to cover any mistakes then cut out the veneers. For the straight strings I cut two pieces of light coloured veneer at 20”x3” lengthwise with the grain but the Sapele was cut into 3” strips across the grain. At first I wanted to use hot hide glue for the lay up but rejected this as the glue would gel long before everything was aligned and clamped up so woodworking adhesive was chosen. Two pieces of 3/8” thick plywood were cut and heir edges sanded smooth; these would be the pressure blocks.
[attachment=805]
Laminated veneers.
Double thickness of Sapele was to be used for the inner layers and a liberal coating of glue was applied to the side of the veneers bringing them together ensuring joints were staggered; these were glued with the grain parallel; care was taken to eliminate any gap whatsoever where the veneers abutted each other at the joints whilst also ensuring veneer did not overlap; more glue was then applied and the outer light coloured veneers were added. The plywood clamping blocks had been covered with brown plastic parcel tape to prevent sticking and the veneer sandwich was aligned between both plywood blocks and many clamps were added each being firmly tightened; excess glue was removed with a damp cloth and the assembly put away to dry overnight. The following morning the clamps and blocks were removed to reveal what looked like a home made piece of plywood. This would be cut into strips later. As the sandwich was still damp I placed it on my computer table and was quite amused watching it as it kept curling up as the surface exposed to the heat dried out; I kept turning it over until it eventually fully dried remaining dead flat.
So far all had gone very well indeed but now I expected trouble because to try to bend the new stringing around a tight radius would break it and it would be difficult to ensure it remained in the groove so I gave the problem a great deal of thought and as usual came up with the solution in the middle of the night whilst in bed wide awake. I would try to pre-form the stringing. I copied the curved profiles making paper patterns and transferred the pattern onto ¾” thick softwood blocks. Using the large bandsaw each block was very accurately cut on the pencil line; the blocks were then further shaped on the bandsaw to give flat surfaces for clamping purposes. Sharp corners were sanded smooth and Sellotape added to prevent sticking. As an experiment just two strips of veneer were glued up and left overnight to dry. The following morning it was delightful to see the strips retain the shape of the former; this was a big breakthrough and a technique well worth learning. Now as before veneer was cut and glued up then clamped tightly in the formers leaving overnight to dry.
[attachment=806] [attachment=807]
Softwood laminating formers. Laminated stringing.
A lot of time was spent doing this work as it was all a steep learning curve for me but now I had the veneers glued up into sandwiches only needing cutting into strips thus providing the stringing.
Some days I could only spend an hour in the garage before becoming too cold to carry on; I was working in the worst winter on record with lots of ice and snow. It was difficult to leave the warmth of the bungalow to venture into the garage each day but I wasn’t going to be beaten by the weather. A I became cold it became much too dangerous to operate my machinery and I found it needed a great deal of effort to concentrate in order to work accurately but each day I battled on.
[attachment=808]
Laminated strings.
I wanted to design and make a small slitting saw for cutting the veneer sandwich into accurate strips; I have a number of electric motors and an engineering lathe plus welder etc but handling frozen metal tools was bad enough so decided to make a wooden cutting jig; I made the jig out of good quality stable hardwood and made a bespoke cutting gauge from steel and aluminium. The cutting blade was made from a bit of 1/8” dia. Silver steel. A wooden block was attached to the jig allowing the jig to be mounted in the engineering vise. What a pleasure it was to finally cut accurate strings made entirely at home. The curved sandwiches were cut freehand on the bandsaw using fierce determination as I wanted to retain all my fingers.
[attachment=810] [attachment=811]
Home made string cutting jig. String cutting close up.
All stringing sharp edges were then sanded free hand and at last after many hours work the stringing was in stock. In spite of the dire weather I did enjoy learning how to make stringing; it was highly enjoyable and had the weather been warmer I could have experimented more with design but deep down I knew I had done my very best with what was available and now had high hopes as to how the stringing would appear once inlaid into the panels.
[attachment=812]
Home made cutting gauge.
Looking at the new stringing and thinking of what had been involved in its production it occurred to me that I was now leaving veneering basics behind me and moving on to more advanced work. With each small success I gained confidence and was learning many new techniques; making this stringing was not at all difficult once I had watched the videos a number of times and grasped the idea. I still had a long way to go and in the next part will cover cutting the grooves and adding the stringing to the panels. I’m trying to be as comprehensive as possible adding my notes in order to encourage others to have a go at this fascinating side of our hobby without having learn every detail the hard way as I have done.
[attachment=813] [attachment=814]
Strings accurately cut. Stringing close up.
Kind regards, Col.
