Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi Folks,

I will be putting quarter-round trim on the joint between the ceiling ply and the walls on our Snuggle Inn (our name for the T) I am thinking of soaking it in Hot Water in the tub to get it to bend around the curve in the front. Trust me, without some way of making it 'bendable' it would break on the 19" curve. Will Soaking work to make it bendable and then nail/glue it in place?
Once the quarter round is in place, all weather caulk would seal the join on the roof side.

I would appreciate hearing from those who have done this or something like it and if there are better ways of doing this than I am proposing, PLEASE tell me!

Pax,

Jim

kayakrguy wrote:I will be putting quarter-round trim on the joint between the ceiling ply and the walls on our Snuggle Inn (our name for the T) I am thinking of soaking it in Hot Water in the tub to get it to bend around the curve in the front.

Do you have the materials already? I seem to recall some 1/4 round that's made from a plastic material that is *very* flexible. I don't know much about steaming wood though.

Oh, and the name 'Snuggle Inn' is the awesome!

I haven't tried this yet, but it sounded simple enough. I searched bending wood and found a sit to make a homemade steamer. It was just some pvc pipe and a few fittings and plugs. This was connected to a can on a camp stove. They used a NEW gas can and put water in it and connected it to the pvc pipe. Plugged the ends, provided a vent and heated the watter to make steam. The wood to be bent was put inside the pvc pipe and the end plugged. I think they steamed the wood about three hours, but I would think it would vary with the kind of wood to be bent. I think they used a gas can because it already had a spout and a vent.
Brwbier

There was a post here on this forum not to long ago about steaming wood for bending. I can't remember where it was but it was in the last week or two.

BrwBier wrote:I haven't tried this yet, but it sounded simple enough. I searched bending wood and found a sit to make a homemade steamer. It was just some pvc pipe and a few fittings and plugs. This was connected to a can on a camp stove. They used a NEW gas can and put water in it and connected it to the pvc pipe. Plugged the ends, provided a vent and heated the watter to make steam. The wood to be bent was put inside the pvc pipe and the end plugged. I think they steamed the wood about three hours, but I would think it would vary with the kind of wood to be bent. I think they used a gas can because it already had a spout and a vent.
Brwbier

Origional concept of "gas can" steamer was on "New Yankee Workshop" some years ago...

Dale

Here is the post, I think... Post

A 1/4 round should be quite easy...and there are a number of ways to do it....here are some suggestions:

Steam bend it with a homemade steamer
Use a heat gun and evenly (and gently, the wood will burn) heat the wood while you bend it in place. You can bend 1/4 oak in a 6 in radius with a simple heat gun.
Soak it in a tub overnight.

If you go with a wet or steam method, I would suggest that once you get it out of the bath, quickly (in minutes, in the case of steam bending) wrap it around a form and let it dry overnight. The form can be the outside of a tear, an old tire..anything that has the approximate shape of that 19" radius. You'll get some rebound once it has dried and you release it, but it will then bend easily into place. Hope that helps...Juneaudave

Not only did I soak it I had to cut releif cuts in the backside every 1/2" or so.

Despite what the little thingy under my name says, I havent yet built a tear. However, I am a woodworker and I do have some experience bending wood. What I use is a wallpaper steamer - it has an electric element and is just about as safe as using an electric kettle to boil water for tea.

This is the steamer I use: Wagner steamer I did not pay $114! I got it from a moving neighbors yard sale. To steam trim like you want to do, I tape the end of the hose to a chunk of PVC pipe and slide to trim in. Let it steam for 10 to 15 mins and take it out with a good pair of leather gloves. (Don't use the old pair with the hole in the thunb - trust me on this.) The trim WILL be hot! Bend as gently as possible, and unless it's real expensive trim, get a couple extra pieces to practice on and/or throw away if they break.

You can also use this steamer to bend your plywood - use the diffuser to hold the steam against the ply where you want the bend. Depending on the radius, you may not get it all at once. Bend as far as you can, clamp in place and let it dry a couple days, then do another session to get to where you want to go.

SkipperSue wrote:There was a post here on this forum not to long ago about steaming wood for bending. I can't remember where it was but it was in the last week or two.

Here's the link I think your talking about
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=11824
Juneaudave gave some real good advice on steaming and wood bending

There is also some immatation wood that you can get that is alot more bendable than real wood. The big box stores carry the stuff. It will break, but bends quite alot before it will break. I cannot think of what it is called right now.

I used the 1/4" quarter-round (pine) for my inside ceiling curve and didn't have any problems with it breaking. After staining it to match, I carefully bent it up into place and then just brad nailed it up.

You might try a piece of it dry first before going through the trouble of the steaming and all. If it breaks, your only out a couple bucks. It's cheap. If you want the bigger molding, then I would imagine that you would have to steam/soak it.

Wrap in a wet rag for a couple of hours, then heat it with a heat gun. Hold in place 'til cooled. This is the method I have used quite a lot for stubborn strips on kayak stems.

Thanks, everyone, for the good guides to steaming and bending 1/4 round.

I have seen the bendy plastic stuff--our local HD only has it in a faux oak finish. I need something darker like mahogany or walnut....does the stuff come in those fauxs? <g> If it had a decent appearance I might go for it...

Jim

Welcome Back Steve Wolverton

who is Steve Wolverton, and whats he have to do with bending trim?