Next time you go to bend the material… have a template set up and fastened down, that you can clamp to. This will allow you to keep one hand free to hold your iron. BTW… drape a wet rag over your miter cut area and keep the iron over them as you bend.. keeps the wood from drying and infuses the grain with steam. I do this every day… I build cabinets for private jets.
Ummm…. The jets are big, cabinets are big. Principle applies to all wood bending. No matter the size. Large hardwood(without miter/cerf cuts) gets the steam chamber.
I bought an 18 degree router bit to do this very thing. (5 cuts = 90 degrees) I decided I preferred an odd number of cuts because that allows me to use a cut as the center. I also did the math to figure out the bend radius in order to account for the gain in material length. Glad to see someone beat me to proof of concept!
@@wolfslayer44 Picture a circle inside a box. The box touches the circle at the mid point on each part of the box. Measure from the mid point to the edge of the box. Figure out the circumference of the circle, 1/4 of the circle, 90 degrees, should give you the length of the curve. Subtract that length from the value of measuring the mid points to the edge of the box. If this is completely unclear, which it probably is, because I'm no math teacher, let me know and I'll see if I can do a better job of explaining the process. Also, there may be an easier way, but, this is what I came up with.
@@thisoldguywithagun9043 idk about anyone else. But that was crystal clear thank you so much!! I went from not understanding how to now i have the step by step logic to determine for future projects. You are awesome!
This is why I love reading the comments on good woodworking videos, there are always people sharing tips and solutions. I wish I could save youtube comments!
Gorgeous! I’ve never seen anyone use that bit to do kerf bending, but it makes perfect sense. You need so much less wood fill than using a circular saw. I think maybe you could make it a little safer by just plunging one quarter inch of the router per pass and doing each kerf over 3 passes. I worry that the skinny CNC bit is more prone to break with high friction. Overall you’re a boss and I loved this video and subbed
Gotta say this is the first time I've seen someone attempt to do kerf bending on solid hardwood instead of plywood. Your solution is nothing short of brilliant, giving a nice clean and even result. The kerfs are nearly invisible, compared to the traditional methods, and if you wanted to, you could get rid of the remaining faceting inside and out with a bit of sanding. Nicely done and you've got a new subscriber. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome video and awesome results! As a luthier who deals with bending wood on the daily, I have some tips that might make things easier in the future. Main thing is heating the area you're bending, but keeping it saturated with water/steam. Instead of heating the wood directly with the iron, soak the wood, letting it sit for at least a few minutes, add a bit more water, then cover the surface with aluminum foil before using the iron. This will help keep the moisture from escaping. I'd try to add heat for at least a few minutes before bending. This will really soften the lignin and let the fibers slip past one another while bending. It's important to let the water soak and penetrate, and also not evaporate from the wood. It's not the water itself that matters, but its ability to transfer heat deeper into the wood. As soon as the water is gone, the heat is only superficial, so you want it to stay as deep in the wood as possible. Second tip is to use some sort of flexible metal to assist the bend on the outer side. Best material is thin shim stock/spring steel because it wont kink, but any thin and flexible metal like flashing will do. Just make sure it's always in contact with the area being bent. This supports the outer fibers, greatly reducing their ability to fray/split or otherwise come loose. Watch some violin/guitar side bending videos to get a good look at what I mean and it will make sense. Hope this helps! As soon as my new shop is done, I'll be making some of these. I was just sitting out there contemplating what kind of shelving I want to do. This video made the decision for me!
One suggestion to help with the cracking issue. Guitar builders have to deal with this a lot, as we bend wood all the time. One thing we frequently do is to use a piece of aluminum flashing that is bigger than the bend we are doing and hold that against the wood, supporting it for the bend. We are usually doing that against a hot pipe of some kind, but I don't see why it wouldn't work here, too. You would need to clamp the work piece to the bench, but then use the flashing against the outside part of the bend and use IT instead of just bending the wood by itself. It backs up the fibers in the wood and helps prevent cracking. I hope I explained that well enough to make sense. Nice project, it came out well. But definitely use Titebond I for light woods. In fact, I use it for almost everything. III has issues on some woods and in some situations. I is just about perfect unless you need waterproofing.
@@Tibyon I tend to only use I, though for some things I use III. The thing that I read about years ago, and I can't verify that this is true, is that II has a bit of an issue with creep when used in an under pressure situation. As musical instruments are always under pressure, that is an issue. I don't know for a fact that this is an actual issue, but I do know a lot of instrument builders who won't use II for that very reason. I gives plenty of strength, it's pretty well accepted that it will provide a joint stronger than the wood itself, so that is not an issue. Plus, instruments tend to have to be repaired, and using a moisture resistant glue for such cases is NOT a good idea. III would be a total disaster in that situation, and that is why a LOT of luthiers still use hot hide glue for instruments like violins. The instrument is designed to be taken apart and repaired, and it's expected that it WILL be taken a part at some time. Using a waterproof glue in this case would be HORRIBLE and cause your name to be cured for generations. Choosing your glue properly is really important in some situations. Choosing the wrong one can be seriously detrimental.
I have made about a hundred mountain dulcimers, which requires careful bending of the instrument sides to fit into a form. My mentor started me out with soaking the sides in water and ironing while bending. It worked and I did this for over a year on dozens of instruments but I invariably ended up with water stains on the wood. On lighter color hardwoods it could be unsightly. For over a decade I have been using a bending iron and forms, no water, and I have found that to be highly preferable. You still need to be careful not to burn the wood, but you can skip the whole soaking step and water management and I rarely get cracks. I will try this out on a floating shelf in the next couple of months, it’s a lovely project. Thank you!
Got a good chuckle after you gave very specific instructions on the first bit and then proceeded to throw it in the trash. Your work looks great also. Very clean and neat.
I agree! My one recommendation to JAR would be to … s l o w d o w n … your speech a bit. I get that making a RUclips video is exciting, but I did find the rushed delivery a bit distracting. Other than that, NICE WORK! 👍
- It's possible to make router bit experience less load by making partial depth straight kerfs with a table saw just to remove extra material. - You could use a wet rag to make steaming with an iron more efficient. - A single wrap of glass fiber cloth with epoxy on the outside can make it much stronger.
Nice looking results! Thanks for sharing the technique, it's a big improvement over the table saw kerfs. I think saw kerf bending assumes you are going to veneer the face, this gives you the option to do it without have to cover up the ugly kerfs.
Man, I’ve been a woodworker for over 25 years, and so I rarely see anything new. I’ve never seen anybody use a bit like that for this purpose, but it worked brilliantly! I’m definitely going to get one of those. Anyways, thanks for sharing! I really enjoyed your video, and so I have liked, subscribed, and hit the notification bell! Take care! ☮️&♥️ from an old fart in rural Oklahoma
sitting here in my living room, looking at my foredom dremel style tool as it hangs from the stand I made out of mirror polished stainless 1x3 tubing... it has a bend that was kerf bent. made it look like a snake, just for the hell of it. I like the way you have hidden the cuts. this looks way better than my tool stand.
Good job man. I am very impressed. I'm going to pass this on to some people I used to work for when I was doing staircases sometimes they would put a bullnose Step at the very bottom of the staircase and would have to bend a solid piece of pine or Oak depending on the material of the riser. Thanks for sharing your project I think I'm going to make one of those shelves as well they lookfantastic very sharp but what about if you use a scarf joint instead of a butt joint. Just a suggestion. Keep up the good work man God bless
I had the same idea but do scarf joints need to be put together by sliding them horizontally? I actually don't know, I'm sure there's something that would work.
I’ve seen lots of different techniques and the best techniques include that router bit. I got a cat and im making cat shelves for her with this technique. Thanks for sharing.
Great technique, brilliant to make v-kerfs this way, and yes those are some great looking shelves. I plan to use this on for a detail on a "vintage" cabinet design I've been working on. You could calculate the number of cuts by dividing 180 (or whatever number of degrees for the angle you are trying to make) by the angle of your router bit - or the reverse, determine the angle of the router bit for the number of kerfs you want. With that 3.6 degree bit you would have to make 20 cuts in order to bend 180°. Alternatively to the router technique, set your saw to the required cut angle and cut from each side to make a v-kerf. It’s trickier and you’d need a rather precise jig to line up the cuts though. I will be trying this.
Nice result! I'm wondering what it would look like if you made straight cuts, then inserted a wedge strip into each one before bending. Seems like it would be easier to cut, and you might be able to do some interesting things using a different wood for the wedge.
Theoretically that would work, but trying to get a perfect wedge (one saw kerf wide at the bottom where a straight kerf is too wide, and tapering up to zero at the top) would be damn near impossible, especially since you'd have to cut the wedges ACROSS the board if you wanted the grain in them to match the bent piece.
Wow! That's awesome man! Ive watched so many "tips for woodworking" videos to which the creators should learn some tips on not wasting people's time. This tip was quite tiptacular!
Pro: No gap. Cons: The narrower tapered kerf means a sharper bend that shows up on the outside. You can clearly see the edges produced. A wider gap means the wood will bend naturally and produce a smoother bend.
Cant, you just do a bit of sanding and make it a smooth bend, and not have the visual side cuts? or even better use a bit half that size and make twice as many cuts
But because there are no gaps the wood glue creates a strong bond. The piece is effectively solid wood in this case. This should mean you can aggressively sand that outer layer once it’s cured to make it perfectly smooth. That’s something you can’t do if you have gaps because the outer layer is what holds it all together. It’s similar to how they turn bowls.
I have a couple questions - please forgive my ignorance: How deep are you making those cuts? Looks like you leave about 1/16th" of material to bend? How do you determine the number of cuts? Is it simply a math problem based on the angle (6.2 degrees taper / degrees of arc)? Or was it trial and error? I think both of those questions may be related - Deeper cuts = More bend? Other things I'm thinking - cuts wider apart or closer together? How does that change things? (I guess I SHOULD have paid more attention in Geometry)
All good questions, I left about 1/16 of material left With 1 cut I was getting about 13°-14° bend so I just had to divided 180 by 13 or 14 to figure out how many cuts to make. I tried both on scrap plywood and found out 13 cuts works for a 180° bend I did try spacing them @ different measurements and what I found out that if you space them farther and closer together the only thing that will change is how big your bend (curve) is. (ALSO THE BIGGER THE SPACING THE MORE NOTICIABLE THE KERFS ARE ON THE WOOD) If you space them 1/4" apart you end up with about a 2" bend from top to the bottom of the outside of the wood. if you space them out 1" apart you end up with about a 10" bend. same thing from the top to the bottom of the outside of the wood I did record all this and planed on putting it in the video but it didn't make the cut because people lose interest way to fast for stuff like this haha. Let me know if I missed anything
I'm about to put up a shelving system with fourteen curved 90° bends, and I'd been apprehensive about using a kerf because of the gaps. This bit is making me reconsider the option.
Why don't we have a set of dedicated kerf router bits with clear instructions on how to get whatever curve we want available to consumers yet? WHY AREN'T WE FUNDING THIS?! Kits like this should have been on the market years ago. It makes too much sense.
I learned about kerfing and steaming and ammonias affect while apprenticing lutherie at JP Guitar in Puyallup Wa, like a decade ago. Just to throw my experience into perspective.
Did you determine the required taper using a particular formula or trial and error? If there is a formula which determines the required taper based on the board thickness and the dimensions of the curve what is it? Thanks.
Thank you! I've been thinking this should be experimented with for years and found nothing. One potential addition to make it safer, especially on deeper cuts, would be to use a different router bit or a table saw/miter saw/track saw set at the correct angle and cut twice to hog out most of the kerf, then the little carving bit to just finish off the very bottom for that nice sharp point to the kerf.
Nice job, man. I like that you can see the kerf lines on the edge of the finished piece. Makes it look like real wood and not some manufactured piece with edge banding.
Beautiful! Do you have a formula or guideline on depth of cut and spacing? I’m guessing it’s not so much about the thickness of the wood but more so on how much is left that allows it to bend easily.
Thank you for sharing this video. And Yes, this is the most beautiful I have seen so far. I really live the technique you used to make this floating shelves and I am planning on using it to built a charging station for the family. I have on simple question : Why didn't you use another poplar slice to fill the gap in the poplar shelf ?
Brilliant! I came looking for walnut-level hardness wood bending tips, and finally found a method i can potentially do on my apartment porch with hand tools. That router profile isnt much different from a dove nail pin but narrower and more acute, i can likely accomplish that with titanic effort and a couple of hand saws, plus I've got multiple steam cleaners and an iron. I want to bend solid walnut for a William Tell GE C522G style stereo console but with sides that taper inwards towards the bottom slightly with curved corners and deeply chamfered front facing faces. Also pivoting speaker ends with a stretching fabric front face, backlighting on the front decor plate, a record player and an automated full home music distribution and amplification system, with an eye towards leaving room for a short throw laser projector system.
I love it. I have a huge passion for woodworking and it’s not too often I come across a new trick I didn’t already know. But this is genius. Idk why I never thought about using a cone shaped router bit for Kerf cutting wood, it’s such a genius idea!
The "unintentional" walnut strip probably saved this project in a couple of ways. If not inserted you end up gluing end grain to end grain - a notoriously difficult joint to keep stable. I understand that all that glue on the kerfs do more to maintain this piece's shape but since the insert allows for long grain to end grain interface it actually makes that joint and the whole piece much more stable. I'm probably over-thinking this as there really won't be enough load put on this shelf to threaten it's stability anyhow. Thanks for a very entertaining video.
@@JARMade We can agree to disagree. The very reason finger joints, dovetails and splines, etc. were developed was to allow for more gluing surface in end grain joinery.
@@jameswalsh4056 Modern glues obviated the need for reinforcements like that, bro. The wood fibers fail before PVA glues in any joint. Also the lignin binding the long grain fibers fails before the wood fiber itself which means edge glued pieces are inherently weaker due to the isotropic nature of wood. So disagree all you like, doesn’t mean you’re right.
Nice job Bro. And I like what you did with your small errors. Being a wood guy for decades. We all make those types of mistakes. And like in life, it is how you react to them that will determine if you succeed or fail. And you succeeded. Again, nice work and they look great.
Such good comments on bending wood here. You should do another video that makes use of all these good suggestions for a better, safer bending process and you'd have the definitive kerf bent wood video. ;-) Well done! This is the first kerf bent wood video I've watched that looks strong enough to consider using. I'm impressed.
could a table saw blade be 'sharpened' to have the wedge profile, just a thought. Loved the technique. Some time ago I made a hammock stand using bent lamination but it was a real faf I wonder whether this technique could have been used. Another thought how did you calculate how many kerfs to cut and at what spacing?
Nice shelves. You should have cut a groove at the join in the walnut shelf, and filled it with a strip of poplar wood to balance the joints on both shelves.
When we bend wood for boat building we have a box or pipe with a removable end and two wallpaper strippers hoses pushed into it and steam the wood makes for easy and effortless bending
You can now buy the Floating Shelves here!!
www.etsy.com/listing/1458833985/oval-floating-shelves-o-bent-wood
Next time you go to bend the material… have a template set up and fastened down, that you can clamp to. This will allow you to keep one hand free to hold your iron.
BTW… drape a wet rag over your miter cut area and keep the iron over them as you bend.. keeps the wood from drying and infuses the grain with steam.
I do this every day… I build cabinets for private jets.
uhh, that flex! ;)
@@Macks_Mustermann uhh, that pun! ;)
Must be some big cabinets or very tiny jets
Ummm…. The jets are big, cabinets are big. Principle applies to all wood bending. No matter the size.
Large hardwood(without miter/cerf cuts) gets the steam chamber.
I would love to see some of your stuff.
I bought an 18 degree router bit to do this very thing. (5 cuts = 90 degrees) I decided I preferred an odd number of cuts because that allows me to use a cut as the center. I also did the math to figure out the bend radius in order to account for the gain in material length. Glad to see someone beat me to proof of concept!
Just wondering how do you do the calculation for accounting for material length due to the curve?
@@wolfslayer44 Picture a circle inside a box. The box touches the circle at the mid point on each part of the box. Measure from the mid point to the edge of the box. Figure out the circumference of the circle, 1/4 of the circle, 90 degrees, should give you the length of the curve. Subtract that length from the value of measuring the mid points to the edge of the box. If this is completely unclear, which it probably is, because I'm no math teacher, let me know and I'll see if I can do a better job of explaining the process. Also, there may be an easier way, but, this is what I came up with.
@@thisoldguywithagun9043 idk about anyone else. But that was crystal clear thank you so much!! I went from not understanding how to now i have the step by step logic to determine for future projects. You are awesome!
@@wolfslayer44 You are more than welcome and thank you for the kind reply.
This is why I love reading the comments on good woodworking videos, there are always people sharing tips and solutions. I wish I could save youtube comments!
Gorgeous! I’ve never seen anyone use that bit to do kerf bending, but it makes perfect sense. You need so much less wood fill than using a circular saw. I think maybe you could make it a little safer by just plunging one quarter inch of the router per pass and doing each kerf over 3 passes. I worry that the skinny CNC bit is more prone to break with high friction. Overall you’re a boss and I loved this video and subbed
Yes, the tapered bit is excellent
The bottom of the curve is small and easily fill
Compared with a straight curve
Gotta say this is the first time I've seen someone attempt to do kerf bending on solid hardwood instead of plywood. Your solution is nothing short of brilliant, giving a nice clean and even result. The kerfs are nearly invisible, compared to the traditional methods, and if you wanted to, you could get rid of the remaining faceting inside and out with a bit of sanding. Nicely done and you've got a new subscriber. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed!
Awesome video and awesome results! As a luthier who deals with bending wood on the daily, I have some tips that might make things easier in the future.
Main thing is heating the area you're bending, but keeping it saturated with water/steam. Instead of heating the wood directly with the iron, soak the wood, letting it sit for at least a few minutes, add a bit more water, then cover the surface with aluminum foil before using the iron. This will help keep the moisture from escaping. I'd try to add heat for at least a few minutes before bending. This will really soften the lignin and let the fibers slip past one another while bending. It's important to let the water soak and penetrate, and also not evaporate from the wood. It's not the water itself that matters, but its ability to transfer heat deeper into the wood. As soon as the water is gone, the heat is only superficial, so you want it to stay as deep in the wood as possible.
Second tip is to use some sort of flexible metal to assist the bend on the outer side. Best material is thin shim stock/spring steel because it wont kink, but any thin and flexible metal like flashing will do. Just make sure it's always in contact with the area being bent. This supports the outer fibers, greatly reducing their ability to fray/split or otherwise come loose. Watch some violin/guitar side bending videos to get a good look at what I mean and it will make sense.
Hope this helps! As soon as my new shop is done, I'll be making some of these. I was just sitting out there contemplating what kind of shelving I want to do. This video made the decision for me!
One suggestion to help with the cracking issue. Guitar builders have to deal with this a lot, as we bend wood all the time. One thing we frequently do is to use a piece of aluminum flashing that is bigger than the bend we are doing and hold that against the wood, supporting it for the bend. We are usually doing that against a hot pipe of some kind, but I don't see why it wouldn't work here, too. You would need to clamp the work piece to the bench, but then use the flashing against the outside part of the bend and use IT instead of just bending the wood by itself. It backs up the fibers in the wood and helps prevent cracking. I hope I explained that well enough to make sense.
Nice project, it came out well. But definitely use Titebond I for light woods. In fact, I use it for almost everything. III has issues on some woods and in some situations. I is just about perfect unless you need waterproofing.
well said
@@alexnovik6223 Thanks. Glad it made enough sense. It's easy enough to understand when you see it, but a bit difficult to explain.
@@willmorrison1022 you explained it just perfectly !!!
Titebond II is stronger than I or III. Only reason to not use it is the ugly color, if you absolutely can't avoid squeeze out
@@Tibyon I tend to only use I, though for some things I use III. The thing that I read about years ago, and I can't verify that this is true, is that II has a bit of an issue with creep when used in an under pressure situation. As musical instruments are always under pressure, that is an issue. I don't know for a fact that this is an actual issue, but I do know a lot of instrument builders who won't use II for that very reason.
I gives plenty of strength, it's pretty well accepted that it will provide a joint stronger than the wood itself, so that is not an issue. Plus, instruments tend to have to be repaired, and using a moisture resistant glue for such cases is NOT a good idea. III would be a total disaster in that situation, and that is why a LOT of luthiers still use hot hide glue for instruments like violins. The instrument is designed to be taken apart and repaired, and it's expected that it WILL be taken a part at some time. Using a waterproof glue in this case would be HORRIBLE and cause your name to be cured for generations.
Choosing your glue properly is really important in some situations. Choosing the wrong one can be seriously detrimental.
Dude, I freaking love these! I also audibly gasped when I heard the walnut crack 😂. Glad they both turned out well.
Haha man my heart stopped when I heard that lol 😆 and thank you!
I have made about a hundred mountain dulcimers, which requires careful bending of the instrument sides to fit into a form.
My mentor started me out with soaking the sides in water and ironing while bending. It worked and I did this for over a year on dozens of instruments but I invariably ended up with water stains on the wood. On lighter color hardwoods it could be unsightly.
For over a decade I have been using a bending iron and forms, no water, and I have found that to be highly preferable. You still need to be careful not to burn the wood, but you can skip the whole soaking step and water management and I rarely get cracks.
I will try this out on a floating shelf in the next couple of months, it’s a lovely project. Thank you!
Great job, for some reason I can't stop thinking of those as a custom home surround sound system. I think it would loom really awesome and modern.
Got a good chuckle after you gave very specific instructions on the first bit and then proceeded to throw it in the trash. Your work looks great also. Very clean and neat.
Thank you! Haha I had to make a good situation out of that mistake lol 😆
"Please do not try this at home. Link in the description."
😂😂😂😂
I appreciate that you share your mistakes along the way. Hopefully it helps others from making the same mistakes. Keep up the good work.
Editing, pace, script, concept, execution: all top notch. Well done!
Thank you!! Definitely felt better while making this one lol
I agree! My one recommendation to JAR would be to … s l o w d o w n … your speech a bit. I get that making a RUclips video is exciting, but I did find the rushed delivery a bit distracting. Other than that, NICE WORK! 👍
Thank you! Yeah as a Spanish speaker I speak fast haha 😄
You did well with bending the wood. The idea of thinking outside the box applies here. Thank you for the video.
Excellent project, great result, and I love the fact that you show the potential mistakes to help viewers avoid disasters. Well done!
Fantastic idea. I would consider routing the edges with a rounding over bit too, but this looks great!
- It's possible to make router bit experience less load by making partial depth straight kerfs with a table saw just to remove extra material.
- You could use a wet rag to make steaming with an iron more efficient.
- A single wrap of glass fiber cloth with epoxy on the outside can make it much stronger.
Absolute best video I've seen on kerf-bending solid wood I've seen yet! Thanks for sharing!
Nice looking results! Thanks for sharing the technique, it's a big improvement over the table saw kerfs. I think saw kerf bending assumes you are going to veneer the face, this gives you the option to do it without have to cover up the ugly kerfs.
exactly what i was trying to accomplish lol
This is the best wood/ bending kerf video on YT ! Thanks for the tips and the substitution of using a router
Hey this is a great method! Thanks for sharing.
Nice shelves. I'm thinking they would also make a good speaker box project.
3:26 was perfectly timed!
Wha- no way this is the first time someone decided to use v-bits for kerf bends. This is a gamechanger
Dude, this turned out awesome!! Great story and love how the final project doesn't have those ugly gaps.
Keep bending wood! (And making videos)
Thank you Jake! And I definitely will!
Man, I’ve been a woodworker for over 25 years, and so I rarely see anything new. I’ve never seen anybody use a bit like that for this purpose, but it worked brilliantly! I’m definitely going to get one of those. Anyways, thanks for sharing! I really enjoyed your video, and so I have liked, subscribed, and hit the notification bell! Take care! ☮️&♥️ from an old fart in rural Oklahoma
Amazing!!! I was sure that walnut was going to fail on you but you adjusted and made it work!!! Thanks for the video.
I was shaking when I was doing the walnut lol 😆
Wow, those floating shelves are truly mind-blowing! Can't wait to try bending wood like this at home 🌟
Really cool experiment with kerf bending. It paid off for sure. These shelves are unique and look awesome!
sitting here in my living room, looking at my foredom dremel style tool as it hangs from the stand I made out of mirror polished stainless 1x3 tubing... it has a bend that was kerf bent. made it look like a snake, just for the hell of it.
I like the way you have hidden the cuts. this looks way better than my tool stand.
Good job man. I am very impressed. I'm going to pass this on to some people I used to work for when I was doing staircases sometimes they would put a bullnose Step at the very bottom of the staircase and would have to bend a solid piece of pine or Oak depending on the material of the riser. Thanks for sharing your project I think I'm going to make one of those shelves as well they lookfantastic very sharp but what about if you use a scarf joint instead of a butt joint. Just a suggestion. Keep up the good work man God bless
I had the same idea but do scarf joints need to be put together by sliding them horizontally? I actually don't know, I'm sure there's something that would work.
I’ve seen lots of different techniques and the best techniques include that router bit. I got a cat and im making cat shelves for her with this technique. Thanks for sharing.
That’s really impressive, man
Thank you!! I'm so happy with the results
Great technique, brilliant to make v-kerfs this way, and yes those are some great looking shelves. I plan to use this on for a detail on a "vintage" cabinet design I've been working on.
You could calculate the number of cuts by dividing 180 (or whatever number of degrees for the angle you are trying to make) by the angle of your router bit - or the reverse, determine the angle of the router bit for the number of kerfs you want. With that 3.6 degree bit you would have to make 20 cuts in order to bend 180°. Alternatively to the router technique, set your saw to the required cut angle and cut from each side to make a v-kerf. It’s trickier and you’d need a rather precise jig to line up the cuts though. I will be trying this.
Good luck! Tag me when you do make something using this !
@@JARMade absolutely!
Nice result! I'm wondering what it would look like if you made straight cuts, then inserted a wedge strip into each one before bending. Seems like it would be easier to cut, and you might be able to do some interesting things using a different wood for the wedge.
Brass wedges might be interesting. Perhaps only partial though as you'd want a good bond with the wood and the glue.
Theoretically that would work, but trying to get a perfect wedge (one saw kerf wide at the bottom where a straight kerf is too wide, and tapering up to zero at the top) would be damn near impossible, especially since you'd have to cut the wedges ACROSS the board if you wanted the grain in them to match the bent piece.
Wow! That's awesome man! Ive watched so many "tips for woodworking" videos to which the creators should learn some tips on not wasting people's time. This tip was quite tiptacular!
Thank you!
here from reddit, great video! the chamfer looks really nice, I bet a roundover would look amazing too
and I just noticed the person directly below me who suggested the same thing :D
Haha yeah a new people have suggested a round over lol 😆 maybe on the next ones
Nice work on this one! Lots of views incoming
Thanks Jon!
Pro: No gap. Cons: The narrower tapered kerf means a sharper bend that shows up on the outside. You can clearly see the edges produced. A wider gap means the wood will bend naturally and produce a smoother bend.
Cant, you just do a bit of sanding and make it a smooth bend, and not have the visual side cuts? or even better use a bit half that size and make twice as many cuts
@@TMD4343 I would love to see a shelf like this but twice as large. It would fit alot more things better, and be more seamless.
I think the edges produced look nice for this sort of high-modern application but I see what u mean
But because there are no gaps the wood glue creates a strong bond. The piece is effectively solid wood in this case. This should mean you can aggressively sand that outer layer once it’s cured to make it perfectly smooth. That’s something you can’t do if you have gaps because the outer layer is what holds it all together. It’s similar to how they turn bowls.
Using the router for things it's not made to be used? Yup, I'll try this one for sure! 😊😊Great work! Very enjoyable video!
I have a couple questions - please forgive my ignorance:
How deep are you making those cuts? Looks like you leave about 1/16th" of material to bend?
How do you determine the number of cuts? Is it simply a math problem based on the angle (6.2 degrees taper / degrees of arc)? Or was it trial and error?
I think both of those questions may be related - Deeper cuts = More bend?
Other things I'm thinking - cuts wider apart or closer together? How does that change things?
(I guess I SHOULD have paid more attention in Geometry)
All good questions. I’d like to know the answer to them, too.
All good questions,
I left about 1/16 of material left
With 1 cut I was getting about 13°-14° bend so I just had to divided 180 by 13 or 14 to figure out how many cuts to make. I tried both on scrap plywood and found out 13 cuts works for a 180° bend
I did try spacing them @ different measurements and what I found out that if you space them farther and closer together the only thing that will change is how big your bend (curve) is. (ALSO THE BIGGER THE SPACING THE MORE NOTICIABLE THE KERFS ARE ON THE WOOD)
If you space them 1/4" apart you end up with about a 2" bend from top to the bottom of the outside of the wood.
if you space them out 1" apart you end up with about a 10" bend. same thing from the top to the bottom of the outside of the wood
I did record all this and planed on putting it in the video but it didn't make the cut because people lose interest way to fast for stuff like this haha. Let me know if I missed anything
@@JARMade Excellent explanation - thank you!
@@JARMade thanks for the added notes, very helpful.
I would like to see how you figured it out. it may be a time-consuming video, but important information in doing a project of this type
Your accent and voice is like the Hollywood actor Edward Norton.
A very simple but beautiful shelf , a lot can be done with this type of bending .
Great video! I enjoyed the technique.
Thank You! Glad you enjoyed it!
I'm about to put up a shelving system with fourteen curved 90° bends, and I'd been apprehensive about using a kerf because of the gaps. This bit is making me reconsider the option.
Dude! Awesome job. Thanks for the info!
Glad it was helpful!
Great project, and I really appreciate your extremely dry humor!
Why don't we have a set of dedicated kerf router bits with clear instructions on how to get whatever curve we want available to consumers yet? WHY AREN'T WE FUNDING THIS?! Kits like this should have been on the market years ago. It makes too much sense.
There are calculators online and the router bits angle would depend on your spacing and how much of a radius you're wanting.
They actually added a tapered cut to the online calculator now lol
@@JARMade yeah they're super handy.
@@JARMade Well, know that one person will always know that you did it first.
Now I want to give you a Wiki page to make it official.
Such an innovative way to make floating shelves!👏 Love the idea of bending wood for a jaw-dropping result. Can't wait to try it out myself!
I think the subtle lines that the router bit add make it look better than if it was milled from one continuous piece
Help support the channel:
www.buymeacoffee.com/JARMade
Thank you!
Very nice. How thick is the wood and how deep are the kerf cuts?
Boards are 3/4" and left about 1/16th at the bottom of the cut
@@JARMade Thanks for the extra detail. I'm going to give a try
Of course! I spend a bunch of time figuring stuff out haha so I might as well share it!
The split at the ends of the walnut board could have been a good place for a long skarf also.
This looks incredible. Best kerf bends I’ve seen. You’ve changed the game!
Thank you!
Check out the NEW Merch that just dropped!
jarmade.myspreadshop.com/
Ammonia helps for making wood grain flex without breaking the grain structure
I learned about kerfing and steaming and ammonias affect while apprenticing lutherie at JP Guitar in Puyallup Wa, like a decade ago. Just to throw my experience into perspective.
I'm surprised you didn't use a handheld clothes steamer
@@Kam1kaz3dreamer
Hello from Spanaway Washington
Did you determine the required taper using a particular formula or trial and error? If there is a formula which determines the required taper based on the board thickness and the dimensions of the curve what is it? Thanks.
Why have I not seen this channel before!
Ayyy finally found the comment from the video haha 😄
I think the pieces are Beautiful!! You have taken wood bending to the next level..
Thank you! I've been thinking this should be experimented with for years and found nothing. One potential addition to make it safer, especially on deeper cuts, would be to use a different router bit or a table saw/miter saw/track saw set at the correct angle and cut twice to hog out most of the kerf, then the little carving bit to just finish off the very bottom for that nice sharp point to the kerf.
You actually found a bit and did something I have thought of many times. Very cool bit and the results are stunning.
Nice job, man. I like that you can see the kerf lines on the edge of the finished piece. Makes it look like real wood and not some manufactured piece with edge banding.
Thank you!!! Still one of my favorite project I've ever done
fantastic, the Office cameo was tops, thanks for posting.
This is impressive. I can’t believe you made this happen
Great job never seen anyone use this bit to do this going to have to give this a try. Thanks for sharing
The Brad nails joke was 10/10! You just got another subscriber here! 😂
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
fun to watch. appreciate showing the “oops” parts 😂
That is so cool... makes me want to pick up that bit and give it a try.
Just be careful lol. but if you do tag me in it, i would love to see what you come up with
Beautiful! Do you have a formula or guideline on depth of cut and spacing? I’m guessing it’s not so much about the thickness of the wood but more so on how much is left that allows it to bend easily.
www.blocklayer.com/kerf-spacingeng.aspx
I especially liked the part about how to choose the correct router bit to throw away.
First time viewer; I really like that you share your mistakes.
Thanks for sharing this.
No disagreement here! Those are amazing
That looks amazing!! Great idea to use a tapered bit in a router for this. Definitely want to give it a try
Thank you for sharing this video. And Yes, this is the most beautiful I have seen so far.
I really live the technique you used to make this floating shelves and I am planning on using it to built a charging station for the family.
I have on simple question : Why didn't you use another poplar slice to fill the gap in the poplar shelf ?
Brilliant! I came looking for walnut-level hardness wood bending tips, and finally found a method i can potentially do on my apartment porch with hand tools. That router profile isnt much different from a dove nail pin but narrower and more acute, i can likely accomplish that with titanic effort and a couple of hand saws, plus I've got multiple steam cleaners and an iron. I want to bend solid walnut for a William Tell GE C522G style stereo console but with sides that taper inwards towards the bottom slightly with curved corners and deeply chamfered front facing faces. Also pivoting speaker ends with a stretching fabric front face, backlighting on the front decor plate, a record player and an automated full home music distribution and amplification system, with an eye towards leaving room for a short throw laser projector system.
this is really cool, really!!! I thought you were an avatar who could do wood bending.
Maybe I am 🤫
Wow, looks amazing. 10/10
I love it. I have a huge passion for woodworking and it’s not too often I come across a new trick I didn’t already know. But this is genius. Idk why I never thought about using a cone shaped router bit for Kerf cutting wood, it’s such a genius idea!
It opens up a few new ideas
That looks so clean!
Thank you!
The "unintentional" walnut strip probably saved this project in a couple of ways. If not inserted you end up gluing end grain to end grain - a notoriously difficult joint to keep stable. I understand that all that glue on the kerfs do more to maintain this piece's shape but since the insert allows for long grain to end grain interface it actually makes that joint and the whole piece much more stable. I'm probably over-thinking this as there really won't be enough load put on this shelf to threaten it's stability anyhow. Thanks for a very entertaining video.
End grain to end grain glue up are actually stronger than edge grain glue ups
@@JARMade We can agree to disagree. The very reason finger joints, dovetails and splines, etc. were developed was to allow for more gluing surface in end grain joinery.
@@jameswalsh4056 Modern glues obviated the need for reinforcements like that, bro. The wood fibers fail before PVA glues in any joint. Also the lignin binding the long grain fibers fails before the wood fiber itself which means edge glued pieces are inherently weaker due to the isotropic nature of wood. So disagree all you like, doesn’t mean you’re right.
Nice job Bro. And I like what you did with your small errors. Being a wood guy for decades. We all make those types of mistakes. And like in life, it is how you react to them that will determine if you succeed or fail. And you succeeded. Again, nice work and they look great.
Thank you so much!!
Awesome job Jesus! Everything turned out looking awesome
Thank you Nelson!
its great seeing a new youtuber. you are a bit awkward but 99% of us are at first. I love this idea.
Definitely need more practice infront of the camera lol 😆
@@JARMade :D You will get there! Don't let anyone make you feel like you can't.
Such good comments on bending wood here. You should do another video that makes use of all these good suggestions for a better, safer bending process and you'd have the definitive kerf bent wood video. ;-)
Well done! This is the first kerf bent wood video I've watched that looks strong enough to consider using. I'm impressed.
Thank you!!
could a table saw blade be 'sharpened' to have the wedge profile, just a thought. Loved the technique. Some time ago I made a hammock stand using bent lamination but it was a real faf I wonder whether this technique could have been used. Another thought how did you calculate how many kerfs to cut and at what spacing?
Two words...frikkin' awesome!
Got me with the office meme
Great video, very detailed anf entertaining
Definitely going to make something with this method
Looks great! I would have added a similar poplar strip on the walnut as well to make them a pair. It’s on my list to try!!!
Good luck! Tag me on Instagram If you do!
I had this literal thought while watching a video about a Lathe Hammer and drywall that included the same cuts and bending.
I never vocalized this thought, and yet YT still found this video for me.
That's crazy 😬😱
The chamfer was a really nice touch
Those are baller. Simple, elegant. Great job!
Thank you!
Why have I never seen this channel before? Glad the Algorithm finally showed it to me.
HAHA welcome, hope you enjoy your stay 😁
beautiful work.. How do you think the little cut outs could be better hidden? have you learned anything new since the time you made them?
You got there!! I like them very much. For mine I would want the kerf cuts to disappear but that’s choice …yes?
Bob
England
It is a very nice craft to make a sound bar out of it. beautiful and well done
Great bend! You really did make a better kerf bend, and the shelf looks fantastic!
Nice shelves. You should have cut a groove at the join in the walnut shelf, and filled it with a strip of poplar wood to balance the joints on both shelves.
You got to love when they do full tutorials and then say don't do this at home
Got to give the people what they love
Great look forward to trying it out Ian in the Uk
When we bend wood for boat building we have a box or pipe with a removable end and two wallpaper strippers hoses pushed into it and steam the wood makes for easy and effortless bending
Looks far better than the more common way! Well done!
Thank you!
I love this technique. The router bit with the taper and the defined flat point at the end is fantastic.
Awesome 🤩 video
I was just planning on making some for my sons room!
Thanks 🙏
Love this so much. Am going to try this for sure. Was it as dangerous as you made it seem with the “ don’t try this at home?
I still say it's dangerous, but if you do try it do it with precautions, and safety equipment. I feel more confident now that I've done it
Super nice job, I just tried some merging but with ply and a table saw so I have the obvious gaps. I will give this a go for sure. Thanks. Andy UK
Danish guy here :) Funny thing; I have never ever heard of anything called “Danish oil” before ^^