bending maple

[Jon Heimbruch]

Hi All. I have a set of maple sides that i will be bending on an electric hot pipe. I have read that a common problem is that builders try to bend sides with wood that is too thick. Therein lies my problem. My sides are .105 in thick. I believe I have read elsewhere on the forum that .085 is the optimun thickness. I do not have a thickness sander. Do I dare try to scrape and sand by hand to get it to the right thickness.( I have trouble sharpening a scraper properly) or should I attempt bending at the current thickness? Thankyou. Jon

[ken cierp]

Maple bends easily -- but the correct thickness is .079 /- Do what you must to get them workable.

[Herman]

Hey Jon,
Look here for getting a good edge on a scraper. But there are other tutorials too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SG2LUdk-VE

When I started building, I sanded sides to proper thickness by hand. Will cost you a saturday afternoon, but doable. Scraping however, is faster. Try first to get your scraper right.
2ct
Herman

[dave d]

+1 for Herman's advice. This is a great opportunity to practice your scraper sharpening, which will come in handy for all of your future scraping situations.

[ken cierp]

Just wanted to mention that one does not need a "special" burnishing tool I have always used a large chrome plated screw driver.