Volo in Legno (Wooden Flight)

[SwissGuy]

Great to have you back in the saddle again.. The artistic creativity of your builds are always off the charts. I hope you are able to keep rolling on this one to completion. Some people say we need more cowbell, but I think we need more bikewhorder!

Let's say I got the cowbell part covered

 

[bikewhorder]

So I was hoping to make some progress this week but no such luck. These build off's always coincide with the busiest part of my work year. Everybody wants their boat for the fourth of july and it's always a mad dash to get it done. My work always has to take a backseat to the rich people's boats. I got the toe rail on at least.

A friend sent me a link to this guy's sculptural work and I have to say my mind is blown. I thought I was aiming high! There's always somebody that takes it to some level that's not even from this planet.

 

[bikewhorder]

I got all four molds all cut out, I just need to glue them together. There's a chance I could have some laminations glued up by tomorrow if everything goes smoothly.

 

[bikewhorder]

So I bought these boards locally about a year ago so that I could redo my original wooden bike. It looks like I'll have enough to make this whole other bike out of it. It's always nice to get it out of one tree. It's a pretty big step, it's a bit stressful because once you cut it It's hard to put it back together.

 

[bikewhorder]

I made a little crumb of progress this week. I managed to get one board sliced up into layers. I actually have just enough wood to make this work so I need to be incredibly efficient and a little bit lucky. Because i'm book matching the pieces I need to get six layers out of each board. It's pretty tricky to get six quarter inch layers out of a board that's two inches thick. I tested them on my forms and discovered that I will still need to steam them even though i've reduced the radiuss from the previous attempt considerably. I was hoping I could just bend them without steaming but that's not going to be possible.

 

[bikewhorder]

I stayed late after work and got a bit of work done on the lathe. I'm sort of reinventing the wheel a little bit with the head tube/headset. It's basically going to work more like a door hinge with bushings. I could explain why but you'll just have to stay tuned.

 

[SkyknightJohn]

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Really interested in seeing where this is going!

 

[bikewhorder]

I had to put away the lathe for a bit. I spent the entire evening resawing lumber.

 

[SkyknightJohn]

Impressed by your wood working skills. Hanging on for further developements…

 

[bikewhorder]

A little bit more progress. I made a taper jig and I made a steambox set up and bent my first piece. I was really hoping to avoid having to steam them but the bends are just a little too tight And I didn't want to make it out of 1/16 veneers.

 

[bikewhorder]

I made a little more progress. It's amazing how much of that wood I milled up wasn't even usable. I kept running into worm holes and other defects, there were even nails in there. This is what's left.

 

[Brian macumber]

The pot and hose going to the wood box is how you steam your wood? Does that work good and how long does it take to steam the wood?

 

[bikewhorder]

Yes that's my steambox set up. It really doesn't take very long but you gotta make sure you have steam all around. And you have to move fast because it only works while it's hot.

 

[bikewhorder]

Sanding all the layers into tapers is pretty tedious but it's coming along.

 

[OddJob]

Sanding all the layers into tapers is pretty tedious but it's coming along. View attachment 235878

I missed the description of the type of wood you are using, is it pine or cedar? It looks very 'close grained'. And how thick are your strips?

 

[bikewhorder]

I missed the description of the type of wood you are using, is it pine or cedar? It looks very 'close grained'. And how thick are your strips?

It's possible I forgot to mention that. It's actually ash. tapering from a quarter inch to an eigth inch.

 

[hbn]

I stayed late after work and got a bit of work done on the lathe. I'm sort of reinventing the wheel a little bit with the head tube/headset. It's basically going to work more like a door hinge with bushings. I could explain why but you'll just have to stay tuned.View attachment 233961View attachment 233962View attachment 233963

This is next level stuff

 

[bikewhorder]

So still creeping along. I have four molds. Each mold will be used to make a right and a left side. I got one side of one mold steam bent tonight. Seven more to go...

 

[bikewhorder]

I got a second section steam bent tonight.