As to the steam generator, Rockler sells a great one. The company’s Steam Bending Kit is safe to use and has all the pieces you need to get started. You can make your own, but there’s the risk that it could explode — something to definitely avoid! The steam generator needs to be connected to the steaming chamber with a hose. The chambers themselves can be made from solid wood, CDX exterior plywood (our example on the opposite page) or PVC designed for very hot temperatures. (Some schedules of PVC will go limp when treated to steam.)

The chamber we made is much larger than we needed for these little hooks, so we added a movable chamber divider. Next time we may be making some long table legs or sled runners instead … who knows?

What About the Wood?

Air-dried wood is a must; the kiln-drying process hardens the lignum when it heats the wood. Green wood is your best bet — wood that has a moisture content of 20 to 30 percent bends most easily. While there are some conflicting opinions as to which species of wood is best for steam bending, most lists include white and red oak, ash, elm, hickory, beach and birch.

Sourcing green hardwood can be a bit of a challenge, but local saw mills will have a supply. Also, you can look up local woodturners who usually have sources for green lumber. If you are adventuresome and you own a band saw, you can harvest your own pieces from recently downed logs and limbs.

Avoiding a break when you bend is the goal. Your bending blanks should be wider than they are thick, and the bending face should be plainsawn. You’ll get the best results when the grain runs the entire length of the blank’s edge. If the grain runs off the edge, be sure to orient that toward the “inside” of the curve. Here are three tips that proved very useful for us: 1) Sand the blank smooth before you bend it; 2) Chamfer the edges with a block plane and 3) Soak the blank in water with Downy fabric softener. All of these steps reduce breakage.

Steam Bending Guidelines

• Presoak wood several hours in water/Downy liquid fabric softener.
• Convex and concave curves on one piece require a two-part form.
• Use air-dried lumber so its lignum is not hardened by heat.
• Lumber with 20 to 30 percent moisture content bends best.
• Lumber drier than 10 percent will not bend without breaking.
• Use plainsawn wood that’s wider than it is thick.
• Prepare blanks with vertical grain running the length of the edge.
• Choose straight surfaced wood without knots, rot or other flaws.
• Overly long workpieces helps with leverage when clamping.
• Steam one hour per inch of wood thickness.
• You may need to re-steam large bends (15 minutes per re-steaming).
• Once bent, allow to cool for one hour, then move to a drying form.
• Expect some springback once the wood dries, and plan for it.

Making the Bending Form and Hook Blanks

First, you need to make the bending forms. We used 3/4″ MDF, but Baltic birch plywood or solid wood will also work. We’re providing drawings of the hooks’ inside and outside curves and their ovoid shape on a free downloadable PDF.

Cut two pieces of 3/4″ stock 7″ wide by 11″ long, and transfer the two curved shapes for the bending mold onto the pieces. Take them to the band saw and cut as closely to the lines as you can. Then use a drum sander or stationary belt sander to refine the lines. Set the pieces flat on a worktop 3/8″ apart and see if their curved edges align well. If they do not, use a sander to adjust the profiles. These are your bending form templates.

Use the templates to create the mold pieces from six 3/4″ x 7″ x 11″ blanks. Make three of the concave and three of the convex pieces. Carefully align the curved faces for each form, gluing them together. We secured one of the forms to an additional piece of MDF for a base so that only one of the two curved forms would be able to move when clamping up steamed parts.

With that done, now it’s time to make the hook blanks. Ours are 3/8″ x 2″ x 11″ red elm, but the other hardwood species mentioned earlier would be just as good. We cut them from a section of a log, and it was admittedly a challenge to get pieces with the grain running correctly. We needed three pieces for the coatrack, so we made five blanks to allow for potential fractures.

Once roughed out, we planed and sanded the blanks smooth. Chamfer their edges, then soak them in water with a bit of Downy fabric softener. Experienced steam benders swear by Downy. It apparently softens the lignum. Who knew?

Turning Up the (Steamy) Heat!

Our steam chamber has grooves on the inside that allow us to insert adjustable slats that suspend the hardwood blanks in the middle of the chamber. We also installed a chamber divider to limit the steaming area inside. Plugging in the steam generator, we waited for about 15 minutes for it to start making a substantial amount of steam, then another 30 minutes to be certain the chamber was up the correct temperature and humidity. We put one hardwood blank into the chamber and set a timer. Steam the wood about one hour per inch of thickness. As these pieces are approximately a third of an inch thick, 20 to 25 minutes of steaming was required.

Before the piece is ready to bend, get three strong clamps ready to go. When the timer rings, carefully open the chamber door and stand back — that steam is hot! Unplug the steam generator. With gloves on, place the blank inside the bending forms and center it. Install a clamp in the center of the forms to start the bending process. You don’t need to move quickly, but don’t dawdle; the blank begins to cool immediately. Using the other two clamps, continue to squeeze the forms together until the blank is bent to its new shape.

The bent wood needs to stay in the forms for at least an hour. While it is in there, make a cooling form that matches just the concave side of the bending form. Once the piece has cooled for an hour, take it out and clamp it in the cooling form. Let it set at least overnight. When you unclamp it the next day, it might spring back a bit … that’s to be expected.

Complete the coat hook shaping process by tracing the ovoid shape found in the Drawing onto the face of the bent blank. Cut out the coat hook shapes on a band saw or scroll saw and sand them smooth. We chose a 1/2″ x 2″ x 24″ piece of wenge for a backboard. To mount the assembly to the wall, we drilled two holes 16″ apart.

Then we placed the hooks evenly along the 24″ board, avoiding the mounting holes. Attach the hooks with a spot of glue and two #8 x 1/2″ black washerhead screws. When the glue cures, apply a few coats of Watco oil finish, and fasten your new coatrack to the wall.

We hope that this simple steam bending process and project may entice you to try it out. It’s a great way to expand your woodworking horizons by adding more curves!

Click Here to Download the Full-Size Template.

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Building this shelf will definitely give your dado blade a workout, with lots of repetitive cutting. But ganging the parts together, and using Rockler’s Cross Lap Jig, will help to speed the process along and ensure accuracy.

Machining the Front Slat

Let’s get this project started by making blanks for all the parts you see in the Material List. You’ll need some 1″-thick stock for the two middle supports, 3/4″ stock for the front and back slats and end supports and 1/4″-thick strips for the eight filler slats.

Set up a 3/4″-wide dado blade in your table saw and raise it to 1/2″. With a step-off block clamped to your saw’s rip fence for safety, mill a 3/4″-wide notch into each bottom corner of the front slat, flipping the workpiece end-for-end to make these two cuts. Then reset the rip fence so you can cut two 1″-wide, 1/2″-deep dadoes in the front slat that eventually will house tongues on the front ends of the two middle supports.

Gang-Cutting with Painter’s Tape

As you can see in several photos here, we’ll be gang-cutting groups of similar parts. It’s a great way to speed the repetitive cuts along. Gather together the filler and back slats into one bundle, and group the middle and end supports for a second bundle. Align the part ends carefully for each grouping, and wrap tape over their top and front surfaces to secure them. I didn’t wrap tape all the way around the bundles in order to keep tape off the saw table and miter gauge fence — all the repetitive cuts will wear through it, leaving tape shreds that can gum up the saw table.

Notching the Filler and Back Slats

Carry out the same process for milling the filler and back slats as you did for the front slat, only this time raise the dado blade to 1-3/4″. Use the front slat as a guide to set the rip fence so you can cut a pair of 1″-wide dadoes in the bundle for the middle supports, flipping it end-for-end between cuts. Then reset the fence to cut a 3/4″-wide notch into this group on both ends. You’ll know you’ve tackled this cutting operation correctly if your filler/back slat bundle ends up looking the same as the front slat does, only with much deeper cuts at each location.

Cross-Lap Jig for Even Spacing

Next, we’ll cut a series of eight 1/4″-wide x 1/4″-deep dadoes into the top edges of the middle/end supports bundle to form the cross-lap connections for the filler slats. So change out your 3/4″-wide dado for one that’s 1/4″ wide, and set it 1/4″ high.

These dadoes need to be exactly 1/2″ apart, which is where Rockler’s Cross Lap Jig comes in handy: it has adjustable metal indexing pins that engage each dado you cut to set the spacing for the next dado perfectly. Go ahead and cut these dadoes, positioning them 1-1/4″ in from the part ends.

We still need to cut a 1/4″-deep, 3/4″-wide notch into the top back corner of this bundle to finish the cross-lap joint with the back slat, so install your 3/4″-wide dado blade again and clamp the step-off block to the rip fence to mill the notch.

Then, without moving the rip fence, crank up the blade height to 1-1/2″ to cut another 3/4″-wide notch on the other end of this bundle. It will leave a 1/2″-thick tongue on the bottoms of the middle and end supports that fits into the bottom openings of the front slat to wrap up those cross-lap joints.

Assembly: A Little Glue Will Do

At this point, you’ve got a lot of loose parts that are just begging to get put together! But don’t jump the gun here. Now is the time to carefully finish-sand them all up to 180-grit. While sanding, I made sure to not round over any edges, which could detract from the crisp, clean look of a well-made cross-lap joint When you’re done sanding, clamp and glue the front and back slats together with the middle and end supports to form your shelf’s frame. Apply just enough glue to avoid any glue squeeze-out. Now go ahead and insert the filler slats, applying dabs of glue to each cross-lap surface. As these slats fit into place, you’ll notice that the shelf will become more and more rigid. When all the filler slats were in place, I used long wooden handscrew clamps to press them down tightly to the cross supports.

Allow the assembly to dry overnight, then apply finish. I brushed on several coats of Watco® Natural finish, which really seemed to bring the cherry to life!

Installing Blind Shelf Supports

With the assembly process behind you, it’s time to hang your new shelf. I opted for Rockler’s I-Semble Heavy-Duty Blind Shelf Supports to mount mine to the wall. The hardware consists of two differently-sized steel rods that are each welded to a steel plate. The thinner rod component fits into a hole in the shelf and the thicker rod component goes into a hole in a wall stud. The steel plates screw together and fit into mortises in the shelf back to hide the hardware. These Blind Shelf Supports are rated to hold up to 125 lbs per two supports, when installed into stud locations no more than 32″ on center.

Before I routed out mortises in the shelf’s back slat, I used Rockler’s Blind Shelf Support Drilling Guide to bore 9/16″-diameter holes for the rods that go into the shelf. Start by marking a centerline on the back of the shelf and locating two marks that are 16″ on center and align with the centers of the middle supports. Drill the holes 5″ deep.

Once those holes are done, it’s time to mortise for the hardware plates. To do that, I created a slotted jig from a piece of 1/2″ plywood with a fence underneath to clamp against the shelf. I routed a 7/8″-wide x 4-1/2″-long slot through the jig’s top panel, centered on it.

With the jig clamped in place on the shelf’s back edge, a 5/16″ guide bushing and a 1/4″ straight bit in my router enabled me to cut a 3/4″-wide mortise for each of the two shelf supports. I milled these mortises 5/8″ deep.

To hang the shelf, I located two 16″ on-center wall studs and established a level line between them. Using the Blind Shelf Support Drilling Guide and a 21/64″ bit, I drilled 3″-deep holes for the support rods into my wall studs. I assembled and leveled the brackets with their included screws, then slid the shelf onto its rods to hang it.

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

Hard-to-Find Hardware:

I-Semble Heavy-Duty Blind Shelf Supports (1) #59434
21/64″ Black Oxide Drill Bit, 4-5/8″ length (1) #54702
14mm HSS Brad Point Drill Bit for Wood (1) #56029
Blind Shelf Support Drilling Guide (1) #62744

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Techniques: Turning Trays, Clamping, Finishing Pine

Tools: Beadlock Pro Jig Kit

Wood: Mesquite, Sheet Goods

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For further discussion on steam bending and instructions on how to build this project, download this article.

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WORX 20V Power Share 4-1/2″ WORXSAW Brushless Compact Circular Saw

Dremel Home Solutions Rechargeable Glue Pen

Rockler Doweling Jig Kits

Milwaukee M12 23 Gauge Pin Nailer

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These days, woodworkers and builders are posting memes offering to trade 2x4s for late-model Corvettes or, as Clint Miller, a sales representative for Automated Building Components in Chetek, Wisconsin, said, “I could take my wife out for a steak dinner with four 2x4s, 8 feet long … that’s 50 bucks. A year ago, they would have been $10 or $15.”

So, what’s up? Well, you may recall a worldwide pandemic that began in 2020. Lockdowns that spring meant people stayed home, and businesses — including those in the building and lumber industry — shut down for a while. Then, while many people sheltered at home, they decided to remodel. That’s the demand.

What about supply? The short answer is: there hasn’t been enough of it. Lumber mill shutdowns due to COVID-19 were a factor, according to the NAHB. Plus, there isn’t enough domestic supply. The National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association’s (NLBMDA) 2021 National Policy Agenda states that “as much as one-third of the framing lumber used in the U.S. comes from Canada each year.” And the U.S. charges tariffs on Canadian lumber.

Organizations such as NAHB and NLBMDA have been lobbying for reductions in tariffs. They’d also like to expand the domestic lumber supply through such methods as increasing logging from U.S. federal forests — through responsible management and in an environmentally sustainable manner, they’re careful to note in their advocacy documents.

Some other factors:

• Domestic producers are selling their lumber abroad.

• The 2008 economic downturn closed many sawmills.

• Remaining mills have limited kiln capacity and face labor shortages.

When Will This End?

What’s the solution? It seems we’ll have to wait it out. Until when? That answer is tougher to predict.

Clint Miller, whose company works with roof and floor trusses as well as other engineered wood products, thinks that we’re facing a “rubber band economy,” which will contract, then spring back with elasticity before leveling out at a certain point. For now, though, “Everything is such a mess that it’s going to take a while to get there,” Miller said.

For an expanded version of this article including helpful links to learn more about the lumber shortage, click here to download the PDF.

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