Bob from Olympia, 28 GA build

[Todd j]

Coming along nicely.  It’s interesting that the thicker wood seemed to bend easier.  I like the roof runners.  Good idea

[Todd j]

Looking back at your photos it’s not super obvious to me how you clamped the initial roof layer to your form.  Is it just slightly larger than needed making room for screws than simply trimmed away ?

[Brian.Dixon]

I think the bending effort is going the best that it can and exactly as expected.  We all appreciate all the candor and shared experience.  It's looking really sweet

Brian

[Rbob]

Todd,
In the pic before and after the heat gun you can see I attached the 3mm skin 16" x 97" to the temp mount blocks with screws, made a mark on both ends the designed height and used a batten and my wife to mark a line about an inch higher in the middle and guessed on the sides and cut in place before bending.  Mount blocks are attached with double sided tape.

[Todd j]

I see, that tape must be hell of sticky, I was referring more to the first layer of roof skin to the mold. 

[Rbob]

I am a retard, first layer was clamped at the outer edges and screwed thru the slats into the 1/4" plywood, I had my wife on top  while I put the screws in from the bottom.  In hindsight I would have run the 1/4" athwartship as the seams would have been easier to finish.

I attached a pic, if you make the roof a littler bigger you can crew right down thru the 1/4" around the perimeter and put the rest in the field.  You will see tiny blocks under the slats, only reason for that I did not have the correct length screws so I made about 150 tiny blocks and drilled holes in them.

I see, that tape must be hell of sticky, I was referring more to the first layer of roof skin to the mold.

sticky tape for sure, a lot of the time removing it pulls wood fibers:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07L6BS2KX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Rbob]

I found some bending plywood, you can get it to bend the long way or the short way.  Its only $28 a sheet so needless to say I am taking a 30 mile drive and getting some.

This link is 3/8"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c30fwtSCvuA   

https://www.awi-wa.com/products/specialty-sheet-products/benderboard/

[Todd j]

What you did in the perimeter is mostly what I imagined.  Did you screw the field from under without shining through what would be the top inside of the sandwich?

[Rbob]

What you did in the perimeter is mostly what I imagined.  Did you screw the field from under without shining through what would be the top inside of the sandwich?

Correct, screw length was taken up by the spacers I added, you could possibly find correct length screw. Page 43 has good pics, foam and top skin was glued down with contact cement.

[Todd j]

Crystal.  Thx

[Rbob]

I picked up the bender board plywood, I have not cut it or used yet but it is very flexible.  You buy it 4x8 or 8x4 and it either will make a 8' long tube or a 4' long tube.

I made a rear spoiler if you will, sawed up some thin strips of cedar and glued on top of the roof form.  Not very efficient use of a board, i/8" - 3/16 strips with 1/8" of sawdust between every cut.  makes for a lot of sawdust.  Spent the evening cleaning up stuff.

Pics:
 

[json]

What are you going to use the bendy ply for? You already nailed the curves of the visor, is there something else that has tight bends on the roof that I am missing? BTW, looking fantastic as usual...

[Brian.Dixon]

What kind of wood is the bender board made from?

[Rbob]

The 1/8" is made from Italian Poplar.

https://www.awi-wa.com/products/specialty-sheet-products/benderboard/

The reason for the bendy ply is I do not have confidence that the second layer will go on without cracking again.  By the time I make a steam box and bend 2 outside corners and put a piece in the middle the bendy stuff sounds really appealing.

I will either put one layer over the top of what I have or go with 2 layers of bendy ply.

[Brian.Dixon]

Looks like they have 9mm (just less than 3/8th inches) in Meranti too.  Looks like cool stuff .. I wonder, other than aligning grain, how they make it so bendable?