steam bending 25.4 mm dowel

[iainworgan]

hi just registered to see if anyone could help sorry to intrude i am just wondering if anyone out there could steam bend me a set of handle bars out of 25.4mm dowel in maple or oak or both

● Clamp: 25.4 mm
● Width: 730mm / 28.7”
● rise 84mm / 3.3”
● Backsweep: 10°
● Upsweep: 4°

this sort of spec and look like this?

as i cant post images just google

NS Bikes Proof Bars 2011
or just riser bars for the type of shape


if anyone can make and sell me a jig so i could do this my self or if someone could make me a few sets of them and sell me then it would be very much appreciated sorry if this is impossible it was just an idea i came up with and i of course dont no much about wood working

any information let me know

thanks all

take care!

 

[Dibs-h]

hi just registered to see if anyone could help sorry to intrude i am just wondering if anyone out there could steam bend me a set of handle bars out of 25.4mm dowel in maple or oak or both

● Clamp: 25.4 mm
● Width: 730mm / 28.7”
● rise 84mm / 3.3”
● Backsweep: 10°
● Upsweep: 4°

this sort of spec and look like this?

as i cant post images just google

NS Bikes Proof Bars 2011
or just riser bars for the type of shape


if anyone can make and sell me a jig so i could do this my self or if someone could make me a few sets of them and sell me then it would be very much appreciated sorry if this is impossible it was just an idea i came up with and i of course dont no much about wood working

any information let me know

thanks all

take care!

1" dowel & oak and bend - I'd like to see that as well! :mrgreen:

 

[woodbloke]

Having just done some Googlisationing for your bars, anyone making them to such a tight spec (if that can be feasibly done in timber) would certainly charge a lot more for making the jig (I know I would) than it would cost to just buy the handlebars themselves.
Steam bending the timber is quite doable, but the timber needs a serious amount of time in a steam chest before bending in the jig, and even then, 'spring back' won't guarantee that you get the same shape each time - Rob

 

[iainworgan]

right so i could be doable? i just want a few sets of bars in different woods as i said i know nothing about woodworking so just asking some advice and if anyone could do it for me and at cost? as the jig seems to be out of the question?

ive also heard about an hour of steaming an inch would be enough?

cheers for the info mate

 

[Noel]

Iain, welcome.

Yes you can post images, simply upload from your HD. You are of course restricted from posting links to an image hosting site.
Although with the Google search that may not now be necessary:

 

[iainworgan]

here are some existing handlebars but in the wrong shape as these are mustache handlebars cheer Noel didn't realise lol

 

[woodbloke]

right so i could be doable? i just want a few sets of bars in different woods as i said i know nothing about woodworking so just asking some advice and if anyone could do it for me and at cost? as the jig seems to be out of the question?

ive also heard about an hour of steaming an inch would be enough?

As I said earlier, doing this sort of thing 'at cost' would be prohibitively expensive, if you wanted the bars steam bent. It would be cheaper to buy a few pairs in metal than to get someone to make them for you cheaply...and why should they? Designing and making a jig to bend the wood as required would take a huge amount of time and effort and wouldn't be cheap, which seems to me to be what you're after.
If you've had any experience of steam bending timber (and clearly you haven't) you'd also realize that this process of steam bending timber is fraught with difficulty (as well as being dangerous) and isn't something to be undertaken lightly...do so at your peril!
The bars shown in the last post are laminated, not steam bent...big difference - Rob

 

[iainworgan]

"at cost" is fine never said anything about them being cheap alternatives .........
i would like steam bent wooden bars because i love the look of wood and believe they would be a nice addition to my bike that is why. it was just an idea i had and as i have already stated i have no knowledge i thought i would ask people who do is there any alternative ways of making wooden riser bars while keeping the strength of the wood?

 

[Racers]

Hi, iainworgan

You where going to use the on a bike!
Wouldn't recommend steam bent ones even it you rived them to get the strongest bit of wood.
Laminating would be stronger but I would be concerned that they would compress and work loose in the clamp.

Pete

 

[iainworgan]

ok then well if laminating would i have to cut the strips of a square piece of wood then sand it round? or could i cut the strips off dowel? (might sound stupid but i obvs dont know)

 

[studders]

Hi, don't wish to p on yer bonfire but...
I'd be very uncomfortable using wooden bars, for the same reason steering wheels are rarely made in wood these days, namely, they turn into spears, often with little impact/shock/warning.

 

[Paul Chapman]

it was just an idea i came up with and i of course dont no much about wood working

Frankly, this sounds like a daft idea to me. If the handlebar was to break or come loose you would, in all likelihood, have a very nasty accident.

I'd forget about it and just buy a proper handlebar.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Dibs-h]

it was just an idea i came up with and i of course dont no much about wood working

Frankly, this sounds like a daft idea to me. If the handlebar was to break or come loose you would, in all likelihood, have a very nasty accident.

I'd forget about it and just buy a proper handlebar.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

For the same reason carbon fibre can shatter and leave lethal shards. I'd get some metal handlebars.

 

[DOOGYREV]

I have been experimenting with this lately, as I am designing and making a laminated bow, this is a very rough model, not even a prototype yet.

As mentioned previously it would be very costly to have even a jig made for you, but there are a lot of you tube videos out there on this subject, look into ‘Laminated Bow Making’ I think you will find what you need. Here’s one to get you started

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY7-Q4j1 ... re=related

If your serious PM me and I will give you an estimate, but I would have to state that they not suitable for use as handlebars on any bike that is to be ridden, and would only provide them to you for display purposes only :-$

 

[Furtree]

... I seem to recall that steam bending is fairly easy to do with a length of cast iron drain pipe with a source of steam blowing up it... Beech steams well, but... like the others said, pretty hazardous on a bike, where yr life depends on the handlebars! (also, beech isn't really an 'outdoor' sorta wood?) ... But then you have to sort out the formers (jig) et al.

If I really *REALLY* had to make such, I would laminate, but maybe incorporate some kind of steel inner core into the design.

Idea: How about *rings* of wood, onto an inner core of solid steel, (which would look a bit like the leather handles on our lovely Estwing hammers and axes)...

Price for the job? Oh, dirt cheap, -- maybe in the region of >gulp!< £900?

So I can only wish you "Bon voyage!" in this venture!