Any Ideas?



Submitted by John Viveiros
http://www.jayveesinc.com

Wedges and relief cuts on the bottom of the boards. I did a curve like this once in an old beach home. We did it with wedges and relief cuts. I will see if I can dig up some pictures of it.

The fact that all of that wood is long is no accident. Getting 2-1/4 to bend that much is not all that difficult. In fact, I bet you could call a mill and ask them to lay out a pallet of bowed wood and they bundle that much in one day without charging extra to do it.

Ken, if that were 1.5 inch, that would make the hall 30 inches across. Count the rows.

Geez, you're right Chuck. I counted them and thought, okay 33" that will work. Had it confused with a doorway. Love to see them kls

This post made me think of a Dan Schultz question. Why are badly bowed boards almost always bowed with the concave on the tongue side? It is rare to have to struggle with a bad gap in the middle of a board. It almost universally the other way around. It is the ends that pooch so hard. Deys gotsta be a reason.

My guess remains the same. They simply laid out bowed wood in anticipation of that job.

When Unfinished, why can’t they just do it the way boat builders do and just steam in the bends.

They could but it would be time consuming and expensive. Chuck's reply makes the most sense. Call any mill and ask to buy long, warped boards. They'll have plenty and they'll sell them at no extra charge. One simply get's that first row started and then you got something to bang the curved boards up against. Makes sense to me.

I don't want to be a butt-crack, but I have to admit to getting quite a chuckle out of the notion of steam bending hardwood flooring. Can you imagine the moisture issues involved in that scenario? Granted, one could steam bend each and every piece and clamp it to a jig and then wait for it to dry out, but come on now. Really!

I have been waiting for someone to ask the 64 dollar question. How did they straighten it back out as they transitioned from hall to room? I suppose I would, scratch out a template and cut a lens shaped piece from wider stock. Is there an easier way? Then again, perhaps the whole house is shaped like a donut. That would be quite a rare situation, though. Just imagine laying out the foundation, let alone framing it..

I told you how I've seen curves done; I look at those boards, and I think I see the ripped strips. Am I full of it?

Yes, Stevo. You most assuredly are.

I have seen curves done in the older victorians in SF using 5/16" oak strip. They would rip it into 1/4" widths and bend it aound and then face nail it. It looked to me, well, kinda stupid as it didn't match the 2" widths at all. When I'm asked to go around a radiused bottom step with a border, I'll take wide stock and cut curves to the width of the flooring I'm using, typically 2&1/4"
And I don't think this hallway is inside a round house. Just a curved hallway. Framing is quite simple actually as the foundation isn't round or anything unusual. Once the plywood subfloor (or slab) is done, one simply uses a string and a nail to make a large arc and then shorten the string by the width of the hallway (4 ft) and you have the layout for the hallway walls. The 64 dollar question answer. You can either head it of in a doorway OR stair step back the joints as they tie into the straight pieces. Doesn't sound like it would be difficult. Envision a circle with the numbers of a clock in postion. 1,2,3,4,etc. If you drew your arc and had it terminate at any 1/4 mark, you would be able to come of the mark with a straight line. Basically a large 90 degree angle with a radiused inside curve. That's how I see it.
NOTE* This is where Chuck will use complex terminology and advanced algebra to to explain a simple geometric idea.

PHOTO SHOP and a grown who knows everything about computers!!!!

Just kidding ... great work ... I wanna know about walking behind my sander around corners ... careful careful ...

I was just looking around and stumbled onto this. Like someone posted above you start with a slightly wider board than the rest of the boards and you rip them. The tighter the radius the thinner the rips need to be, we form them around a template and reglue them together, trim the ends and you have curved flooring.justin

Gary and one other are right you can rip and keep grain in order. But my opinion as well as the guy who taught me would agree he would know better than I since he done many a San Fran home back in the 60s when he started there . He says take a real good look at the curve of the hall it not really that extreme at all and all these guys did was anchor the end of the first board drive there l pullup into the floor bend as far as you wish or could and nail it . In some cases the curve was extreme and one could stiill bend a 2 1/4 pretty far and with a combo of lengths , as I beleive chuck said , and having a leaf spring off a car filed on one end to a tip to be driven into the sub floor as your pull up this could easily be laid . Mostly due to the fact that the radius is not all that extreme . Hope that made sence its early I dont do morning ............... he said they beat the S---T into place and nailed the crap out of it . The mallet weighed something back the before these dam cheap ....................... . But I think he has a point length of board and radius desired easily achived without alot of effort here . Have a good one all