I am planning on building a tall-clock case out of walnut with a cylindrical-shaped hood and pedestal. The cylinder has an outside diameter of 17.5″, a length along the cylinder axis of 9″, and a thickness of 0.75″. My idea was to steam-bend four 3/16″-thick laminations of (ideally quarter-sawn) walnut into the cylindrical shape, and then glue them together to make the 3/4″-thick cylindrical hood and pedestal, but I am unsure if this is the best approach. I could also imagine coopering and veneering the hood and pedestal.
Could you comment on my plan and advise me as to the best way to construct the hood and pedestal?
Replies
Dear Dr.
Coopering is much simpler than your steam bending method. Why not cooper something out of something pretty and you can skip the veneering. I'd use quarter or rift sawn stock as it's easier to line up the grain lines.
Decide how many staves you want in your half barrel shape, figure out the total angle or arc of the whole shape and then divide it by the number of staves you want. Take half of this angle to make each cut on the sides of the staves. This is the easy part. The clamping is the tough part.
I glue up two staves at a time to keep things simple. Just make sure you get good pressure on both sides of the joint. Clamping down or using go bars works great here. Clean up the shape with a short plane or spokeshave on the outside curve. The inside curve will need a curved plane to get that shape. Have fun. Gary
Gary, Thanks very much for your reply. I appreciate your advice. I liked the idea, which bending would allow, of the wood grain maintaining a consistent direction from the clock case sides into the hood and pedestal. With the coopering, the grain in the hood and pedestal would be perpendicular to the grain on the case sides. But perhaps this idea is more trouble than it is worth.
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