My first frivolous and bendy project

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I only ever make things that are useful, and necessary, and usually would be expensive to buy. This is different. It all came about because some friends sent me a hammock with stand so I could assemble it and put it in their holiday home. Unfortunately, I looked at it and realised that it is made of 6 sticks and 8 bolts. My inner Jeremy Clarkson started asking, "How hard could it be?" and, "What could possibly go wrong?", and worst of all: "Could I make The Best Hammock Stand....In The World!"

Did I mention that all 6 sticks are nicely curved? A lot. Never tried laminating and bending wood before...

Given that I had the original to hand, I diligently made a rod (i.e. drew the outline of the two different sizes on a piece of cardboard, with carefull attention to placement of holes - my first ever), and then made myself a form to bend the sticks around.

First attempt is a proof of concept, because I have never done anything like this before. It works on YouTube, so almost certainly doesn't work in real life.

20200727_191200_copy_2656x1494.jpg


It worked! Pints of glue, and 24 hours later release the clamps, and the wood stays in the shape it has been forced into. How weird is that! So that was a short piece (X2 for the feet) that I happened to have lying about left over from the window repairs, then off to the wood shop to spend €18 on an unplaned 150 mm x 50mm 3.8 metre length of "Swedish pine", which usually comes from Finland. Cut it in half, rip it down the middle, and I now have 4 lengths to make the longer curves for the frame. Bang it through the thicknesser and I have some suitable bits of wood, which I then slice into 10mm thick pieces (as per the original, bought example). I now have 6 thin bits of wood to smear with glue, and then wrestle into place for each curve. One a day, for another 4 days, and the glue is going off so fast I don't have time to clean up the squeeze out before it starts setting. I have learned the meaning of "a stressful glup-up"

20200730_090440_copy_2656x1494.jpg


Notice I learned that putting the clamps the other way around is much easier on the knuckles - less blood this time.

The last piece causes me a bit of consternation, because I ran out of pva glue. One litre used so far, but to finish off I have some D4 foaming polyurethane, which I have never used before. A lot of firsts in this project. First time covering me, the wife, the wife's dress, the cat and everything else in completely waterproof crusty mess. Oops. No pictures of that because of the mess.

Another first was putting curved wood through the thicknesser. Interesting. I only did the flat sides, but cleaned up the other two surfaces with a belt sander. Then a few holes in almost the right places, and put it all together.

Then take it apart, sand it and sand it and sand it some more, and stain it and varnish it, and now I can show you the finished result:

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Not the best product placement, but who doesn't like a view with their hammock? The only issue is that I don't need a hammock stand, or a hammock for that matter. Even if I did need a hammock, I have 400 trees.

The next problem is that now I have learned to bend wood, I am eyeing up this:
th


I don't need one of these, either.
 

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=D> =D> =D>

I look at things the opposite way, I decide I can do it, but then convince myself theres no point because I dont have a use for it.
And of course, I'm about 40 clamps shy of being able to do that. 8)
See if you can find a supply of Titebond 111 glue. If all else fails get visitors to bring you large bottles as it stays wet a LOT longer than the usual giving you time to move stuff around.
 
sunnybob":11684z4g said:
=D> =D> =D>

I look at things the opposite way, I decide I can do it, but then convince myself theres no point because I dont have a use for it.
And of course, I'm about 40 clamps shy of being able to do that. 8)
See if you can find a supply of Titebond 111 glue. If all else fails get visitors to bring you large bottles as it stays wet a LOT longer than the usual giving you time to move stuff around.

I did the gluing every afternoon, when it was hottest. Possibly not the brightest choice, as I get up at 6:00am every day to avoid the 35 degree heat. But frivolous woodwork gets done after important work, so afternoons it is. I used every clamp I own, except the one I broke - 21 I believe. If I make a habit of this I will make some kind of clamping system using threaded rod as part of the form, but that is for when I go into mass production.
 
If you used a wider base board, you could put blocks on both sides of the work, then knock in suitable sized wedges to tighten up against the blocks. I think olive wood is ideal for this...
Nice result, but there was no need to Photoshop that background in just to make us jealous ... ;)
 
where are u....?
I like the hammock stand.....if u have the room, kids love em.....
I have a few usless project I want to build just for the hell of it.....
I'm a new member living in the west of Crete, load's a probs with PVA, going off to fast but then D4 is a bit slow or am I doing that wrong.....?
never used it before........
be nice to get some decent soft wood at reasonable prices tho......
have accsess to some nice olive wood stumps /trunks for turning, just need to get the new workshop built tho.....
 
frank horton":2phomuyv said:
where are u....?
I like the hammock stand.....if u have the room, kids love em.....
I have a few usless project I want to build just for the hell of it.....
I'm a new member living in the west of Crete, load's a probs with PVA, going off to fast but then D4 is a bit slow or am I doing that wrong.....?
never used it before........
be nice to get some decent soft wood at reasonable prices tho......
have accsess to some nice olive wood stumps /trunks for turning, just need to get the new workshop built tho.....

Like I told the bendy man, Search out a supply of titebond 111. I'm in Cyprus, and normal glue (is it D3?) acts like superglue over 30c. You can slow it down a bit with a fine mist spray of water, but that only gives you another 30 seconds at best. Titebond 111 is still runny after 5 minutes, and will still let you make minor adjustments after 10.
 
where are u....?
I like the hammock stand.....if u have the room, kids love em.....
I have a few usless project I want to build just for the hell of it.....
I'm a new member living in the west of Crete, load's a probs with PVA, going off to fast but then D4 is a bit slow or am I doing that wrong.....?
never used it before........
be nice to get some decent soft wood at reasonable prices tho......
have accsess to some nice olive wood stumps /trunks for turning, just need to get the new workshop built tho.....
Sorry - the new look website has cause me a few issues, so only just found your post. I am in the
Peloponnese. Probably not as hot as where you live. If you like turning olive wood, have you found this chap? Kostas Annikas Deftereos
 

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