Bent Plywood
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I was looking at
Design Spotter this morning and was inspired to doodle something up that looks like bent plywood. Started with something simple.
when I get some time I think I'll explore some other ideas. While it is easy to dray things that look like they could be made out of bent plywood, I think drawing things that actually could be made is another matter.
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That's really cool.
It got me thinking about how you would go about producing an item like this. The biggest problem that I can see is that the plywood is first pressed into the shape and only then could you cut out the 'tree'. However, you cant bend the plywood after it comes out of the press. Of-course there are chairs that are made in this way but the design is a result of the process, like in the chair below.
%(#FF0040)[(I made this model in about five minutes so don't go checking the dimmensions
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Gidon, there are types of plywood which can be softened with heat and bent to shape with a press.
For example:
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Any more info on that ply dave? sounds like interesting stuff.
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Remus, I didn't know you were a woodworker
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@remus said:
Any more info on that ply dave? sounds like interesting stuff.
Some bent ply furniture is made by gluing veneers and pressing them to shape in one step. But for some pieces, they are first made into plywood, then cut to shape with CNC driven routers or maybe lasers, then the ply is bent to shape.
You can by what is known as 'bending ply' and make your own bent plywood pieces. You would end up laminating several layers of the bending ply over a form. Vacuum bagging is a fairly simple way to provide the clamping pressure--you can use an air compressor with a venturi to supply the vacuum.
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Gidon, im not really, product design
Cheers for the info dave, im sure it will come in use for something.
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i have had good results by using West Systems epoxy for making bent wood laminations. its a very strong and versatile product that has many uses.
http://westsystem.com/ -
I've used bender board (a 3/8" cheap mahogany plywood that is made by a sandwich of 2 sheets of accordion-style-cut cross-grain veneer with some type of a cloth inner ply). It's very flexible - you can roll up an 8' x 4' sheet into a 4' wide overlapping cylinder, but it doesn't bend as much the other way.
I predict a ruby script some day that will allow bending as we wish. (I'm not pre-announcing anything here - but I have written "bend" code, as in sheetmetal, that works along a crease (a dynamically drawn line).
Todd
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@unknownuser said:
I predict a ruby script some day that will allow bending as we wish.
That would be awesome, I've played with some boat building ideas and SU isn't the right tool for it. There's no way to identify which curves are possible and which are not. (Maybe there is, I just don't know what they are.)
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John, for boat building stuff you should be able to find a copy of Free!Ship yet and Gregg Carlson's Hulls program is good for hard chined boats.
Todd, it would be nice to be able to do the bending thing. I hope we see it one day.
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Dave,
A product called Die Boards my be one way to accomplish your goal.
I used to use die boards for high gloss laminate cabinetry "Euro Cabinetry"Have a look http://www.getwood.com/stage/rtb1481/curv_ply.htm
I know I'm late to the party, but maybe still useful.
Best,
Charlie -
@schreiberbike said:
@unknownuser said:
I predict a ruby script some day that will allow bending as we wish.
That would be awesome, I've played with some boat building ideas and SU isn't the right tool for it. There's no way to identify which curves are possible and which are not. (Maybe there is, I just don't know what they are.)
Hmmmm! I have a little problem with that. SU is a lot more flexible than two inch thick oak, but boat builders could build some wonderful sailing vessels. I suspect SketchUp is just as capable if you replicate the same time tested techniques of a series of frames along a keel joined with planking. And if you think of rubies as the new power tools you could be very swift and efficient.
In fact Solo just posted a totally awesome(Dude!)skiddoo that is essentially a small boat with a large motor. Still the lines are clearly boat like. Anyone who designed a boat in the last 10,000 years would understand it was meant to be in the water even if the picture did not show the water. What's better (or worse for my ego) is that he said he drew it up in less than 2Hrs.
Now don't challenge me to do it, because I m not up to Solo's speed. I could get close in a month and a half if I worked nights as well as days. But the proof is right there in our galleries.
I guess you are saying that perhaps you could draw something that could not be built, but is that more a designer limitation than a SU imaging limitation? Could sketchy physics come to the rescue in the right hands? I suppose if you want to make a sphere or two hemispheres from two uncut sheets of flat plywood then yes, SU would probably not make it happen, but if you gave the 1800s naval architect Nat Hereshoff a week with sketchup, I guarantee he be churning out some great water craft in no time.
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