Boat Building Forum

Find advice on all aspects of building your own kayak, canoe or any lightweight boats

Tools: Bending ply for profiles *PIC*
By:John Abercrombie
Date: 3/19/2012, 11:59 pm

I wanted to get some cross-sections from one of my boats, and thought of a (fairly) quick and accurate way using bending plywood. This technique has been described for making forms and cauls in guitar-making.

(A good plywood dealer shold be able to get you bending plywood; it's useful and not too expensive. The stuff I had in my scrap pile was about 4.5 mm aka 3/16". NB- You can buy 4x8' sheets that bend either across the width or length- specify which you want if you have a large project.)

Bending ply bends easily but makes a stiff lamination with only two layers.

I cut a pile of strips about 1/2" wide, and laminated right on the hull, using woodworking glue.

(It's a good idea to use lots of decent-quality masking tape on the hull, for protection....especially if the boat belongs to SWMBO. ;-) )

Messages In This Thread

Tools: Bending ply for profiles *PIC*
John Abercrombie -- 3/19/2012, 11:59 pm
Re: Tools: Bending ply for profiles *PIC*
John Abercrombie -- 3/20/2012, 12:00 am
Re: Tools: Bending ply for profiles *PIC*
John Abercrombie -- 3/20/2012, 12:02 am
Re: Tools: Bending ply for profiles
Etienne Muller -- 3/20/2012, 8:12 am
Bending ply profile ideas
mick allen -- 3/20/2012, 3:08 pm
Re: Bending ply profile ideas
John Abercrombie -- 3/20/2012, 5:47 pm
Re: Bending ply profile ideas
Matthias -- 3/21/2012, 3:18 am
Re: Tools: Bending ply for profiles
ancient kayaker -- 3/23/2012, 3:43 pm
Re: Tools: Bending ply for profiles
John Abercrombie -- 3/23/2012, 4:44 pm