curved plywood panels

[rustynut4247]

who knows how to mold plywood panels curved both ways .i know there is pressure mold maybe steam . like the chrysler barrelback wood car would like to make a woodie teardrop trailer. thanks for all your knowledge

[38bill]

Seems to me all the teardrop trailers I have seen have flat sides and only the top is curved and that's only in one direction. What parts do you want to mold?

[rockfla]

Kurf cuts!!! Depending on the radius you "may" have to eliminate centers OR double to triple cut side by side cuts to make a sharper radius to get MORE curvature

[Karl Wescott]

Kerf cuts are one way.


Another is to make a mold, then soften veneer with water or steam, then laminate and compress. You are not reshaping the plywood, per se, but rather making the plywood in the molded shape.

[woodiewagon46]

They do make flexible plywood under the names of Curve-Ply, Flex Ply, Wacky Wood and Wiggle Wood. It's used in cabinet shops to make curved cabinets and other furniture. I believe the maximum radius is something like 8", depending on the thickness of the plywood.

[rockfla]

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Originally Posted by Karl Wescott

Kerf cuts are one way.


Another is to make a mold, then soften veneer with water or steam, then laminate and compress. You are not reshaping the plywood, per se, but rather making the plywood in the molded shape.

I'm not sure "steam" and the "glue" used in the plywood play real friendly together, NOT after seeing what moisture has done to the sub floor of our house after the A/C condensate pan overflowed? For sure a solid piece of wood though

[ford38v8]

Originally Posted by rockfla

I'm not sure "steam" and the "glue" used in the plywood play real friendly together, NOT after seeing what moisture has done to the sub floor of our house after the A/C condensate pan overflowed? For sure a solid piece of wood though

rockfla, I believe you misunderstood the process Karl described.

[rockfla]

I did, SORRY Karl!!!!

[GB SISSON]

I have a vacuum press that can make a 4x8 panel with compound curves. As stated previously it is more like you are stacking veneers to 'make' plywood as opposed to making the panel from layers of plywood. Rather spendy for one project though. Maybe a cabinet shop in your area has a vacuum press. It is nothing short of amazing what this piece of equipment can do. It all goes into a clear vinyl envelope and the very heavy pump apparatus pulls out the air and everything conforms. Before this we stacked dead car batteries on un-clampable glue ups. One day a guy came into the shop and saw the batteries and suggested we buy his vacuum press left over from a failed business building cold molded canoes. When I first tried this contraption out I was astonished!

[Als48]

Wow, I figured GB would know a good way to do this. I remember laminating a rail into a curve when I was in college making a project stool which was to be mass produced. We made about 10-12 of them. It wasn't strong enough for the application and my rail de-laminated after a little use. It needed more bracing.

Al Hook

[rotorwrench]

The Fairchild Duramold process was developed to a large degree by Hughes Aircraft while building the Hughes/Kaiser HK1 (later called the H4 after Henry J Kaiser pulled out of the project). The government wouldn't let them use aluminum in large quantities so it was largely made out of bias grain laminates of birch wood veneer and plastic resin. They formed acres of the stuff to build that thing.

I get aircraft quality poplar mahogany plywood from Aircraft Spruce when I need it. The real thin stuff can be formed to a certain degree but real tight turns would have to be all hand done.

[ford38v8]

Originally Posted by rotorwrench

The Fairchild Duramold process was developed to a large degree by Hughes Aircraft while building the Hughes/Kaiser HK1 (later called the H4 after Henry J Kaiser pulled out of the project). The government wouldn't let them use aluminum in large quantities so it was largely made out of bias grain laminates of birch wood veneer and plastic resin. They formed acres of the stuff to build that thing.

I get aircraft quality poplar mahogany plywood from Aircraft Spruce when I need it. The real thin stuff can be formed to a certain degree but real tight turns would have to be all hand done.

Better known as the Spruce Goose.

[miniceptor86]

You could search for homemade travel trailers and also plywood boats for techniques they use.

[Brian]

So, How did De Havilland make the mosquito during WW2? They were made of plywood- right? formed into compound curves.

[rotorwrench]

Furniture & cabinet manufactures converted to building aircraft wood structures like the mosquitoes during the war. Horse gliders also had wood structures.

[deuce_roadster]

As Karl said, you make a mold of the shape you want and press the individual plys together with glue and make the piece in the shape you want, not try to take an already glued up piece and force it to your shape.
We made the plywood for our 2 woodies (Tom's and mine), but ours were flat but if it were compound like a Sportsman trunk lid, we would have done it with the individual plys. We used 1/8" aircraft maple and veneered it up to the thickness we needed and chose our outer plys using a vacuum press like Gary.

[aussie merc]

ply wood is made in to types cross grain in which the timber grains of each ply are laid in random to each other resulting in a very strong but stiff sheet this is your standard style and mono grain or single grain otherwise known as moulding ply where the timber grains of each layer are laid in the one direction this gives a sheet that will curve with relative ease in one direction speak to a specialty supplier and if you have some plans show them they will be happy to advise on what works best and how to achive the results