Day 166: Recutting and Rebending the Bridges

As you know from a previous post, I decided to recut and rebend the bridges. The first attempt resulted in bridges that were less than cosmetically beautiful because I used non-stainless nails to hold them in place for the bend and they stained the wood. And, well, nail holes. So, after talking things over with both Ernie Miller and Owen Daly, I decided to create bridges using both of their methods. As in making two new sets of bridges. Then, I came to my senses and developed a hybrid approach.

I picked up some double-sided carpet tape at our local blue box store and grabbed the form I had used for the initial bending episode. I started with the 8' bridge assuming it would be easier to work with than the 4'. For once, I was right. I taped it to the plywood on a taper running from 3/4" to 1/2" and ran it through the table saw.

As you can see in the top photo, the beech board had plastic wrap around it. This was due to the fact that my friend, John Finn, donated the wood to the cause and it was raining buckets the day I picked the piece up at his house. He was kind enough to wrap it and there you go.

The tape held like, as Owen would say, grim death and I was able to cut the width and height to the dimensions I described above for both the 8' and 4', resulting in a couple of blanks that are just a fraction rich so I'll have a little room when it comes time to trim them down with the spokeshave.

The previous bending session went well by simply soaking the bridges in a water trough I made from some 4" PVC pipe capped with Talenti gelato lids and Gorilla Glue. I've been given the recommendation to also use a steamer, but I found all they really need is to soak overnight. They are super-thin pieces of wood and this is what Mr. Miller recommends in his eBook Most Excellent.

Yeah, that's a rock from the front yard and yeah, I cleaned it in this kitchen sink first with soap and water. When I checked the bridges the following morning, I noticed that the 4' had jumped ahead and started bending itself without me. I was not alarmed because it almost perfectly followed the angle I would be putting upon it with the form.

This may become problematic if it decides to twist, but I've been keeping my eye on it as it stands in the form and it looks pretty good.

Speaking of forms, rather than mess around with a custom jig, I went ahead and used the bentside form as Owen suggested in another one of our conversations that ended up with me saying, "I don't know." The question: "Why don't you just use your bentside form to bend the bridges?"

So, now they stand in the shop drying for a week.

And I remind you that this is a hybrid approach based upon suggestions from Ernie and Owen. I'll be cutting the bevels into the bridges on the band saw as soon as they're dry, which will get a blog post all its own.

Until next time...