should you always heat to bend?

[arbarnhart]

I did this with no heat or moisture:

I was planning to wet the slat and use the iron. I have a clothing iron that I clamp upside down roughly following these directions. That particular slat is boogered up slightly on one edge; possibly salvageable by sanding but I was not too worried about it so I decided to get a feel for where I might need clamp holes part way around. I didn't want to heat it, bend it and then be unable to set it aside until I had heated and bent all the way around. So I just rolled it on the concrete floor slowly, listening for the first sounds of cracking or the feel of too much resistance. I got a lot of resistance, but the bending strap kept it in a nice arc and it never started cracking. So I went on around and clamped the other end.

Should I heat it while it is in the form to help it stay bent?

The mando under construnction is roughly the size of a Weber Sweet Pea. The form is just under 8" at it's widest so that isn't an especially gentle curve at the bottom. This slat is a maple off cut from a cabinet shop. I suspect that other woods will give me more grief, but I don't know.

[thistle3585]

There are several articles in the archives at mimf that discuss "cold bending or cold molding". There is also a very good pictorial essay on how to do it. The example was bending violin sides which have some pretty tight curves. If you have difficulty finding it let me know.

Andrew

[arbarnhart]

I transferred that slat to an inside form and clamped it and tried bending another. Didn't go so easily; that was a really cooperative piece of wood. I need to get a full height bending strap and I think I need clamp spots on either side of the bottom.