Carpentry and Woodworking - How do you bend oak quarter round?

Hello All:

I need the help of you experts. I live in an old Victorian house, and somewhere over the past 109 years, the quarter round on the flooring has been removed. I need to replace it. There is a section around the base of the stairs where the quarter round needs to be bent. I have read online where you can use a "steam chamber" made of PVC pipe. Is there any other way? Can you use boiling water instead of steam? I am using 3/4" oak quarter round, and it needs to be bent for approximately a 3' diameter (1.5' radius). Any suggestions other than using steam?

Thanks!
David

it is really not as difficult as you may think to use steam. You might try a google search. You will find many sites and videos that use steam generators made from very simple sources.

btw; boiling water provides you with steam.

another option is to use glue laminations....1/4 round cut in strips and glued back together over a "form" if you have a router table and some average skills you make your own just from strips..or use it to clean up the glue squeese out.

I bend oak windsor chair backs all the time in a homemade steambox. Looks like a camping stove with 2 cheap teapots on top, with hoses going from the teapots spouts to holes in a piece of 4" PVC pipe. There are a couple of tricks. Get the wood up off the bottom of the pvc pipe by putting in a few horizontal dowels. Also drill a small 1/4" drip/vent hole in one end, and tip the pipe slightly in that direction so condensed steam and pressure have a place to go. Lastly, make sure that whatever oak you are trying to bend has very straight grain end to end. That way it won't snap when you try to bend it. Steam it for about 30-40 minutes, then when you pull it out you will have about 30 seconds to bend it around a form. I would suggest making your form first, then using a piece of oak 3-4 times the length you need. Bend it around the form and use a bungie or something to keep the ends together until it sets up. The next day, release it from the form and trim it to size. You also might want to make the form a little tighter than what you actually need, since it will open slightly when you release it.

Take a look at the info on Ask This Old House. They did the exact thing that you want to do.

Ask This Old House: Repairing a Severely Damaged Front Lawn/What Is It?/Making Your Own Curved Molding Recap - TV.com (http://www.tv.com/Ask+This+Old+House/Repairing+a+Severely+Damaged+Front+Lawn-What+Is+It%253F-Making+Your+Own+Curved+Molding/episode/1231958/recap.html)

Other than steam...... Put the piece in a 3" pipe with water in it for a couple of days. Remove it, bend it around a form, let it dry, sand it, install it.

I did this with some 13' 1x2's used for my aluminum boat's gunnals-sp. Left them in water for three days, at an angle as the pvc pipe slowly bent from the water's weight. Supported on one (elevated end) they slowly bent 1-1/2' in the middle. Worked slick.

Be safe, G

I will give water soaking a try. I was hoping that would work. I did in my mind, but was not sure. It is good to know that it worked for at least one person. I appreciate everyone's comments and feedback.

Thanks!
David