woodworking
How would you go about bending stair rails in order to get something like what is pictured below?
I'm asking out of curiosity, not because I plan to try this myself. My house, built circa 1900, has rails similar to this, as well as some other fancy curved woodwork, and I'm wondering how they made the wood curvy. The only information I can find about bending wood involves doing it with laminate strips and glue, but there is no sign that my house's woodwork was done that way.
In my area, we have a place called Northern Hardwood Supply that stocks many types of woods used for furniture, custom trim, etc. I'm sure there are similar suppliers in your area. If your local lumber yard does not stock thicker woods, ask them if there is a specialty house in your area.
The second item worth mentioning, is that I recommend using a hardwood for you doors. A good choice would be poplar wood. It is the least expensive hardwood, easy to work with and finishes nicely, especially if you plan to prime and paint. Soft woods like pine tend to warp or wain and check easily and aren't the best for framing long narrow stiles etc.
As far as the tools and techniques for sizing custom stock, a table saw and planner are the best. The term "resawing" refers to cutting the thickness of narrower stock, say less than 4" with a table saw. One would set up using a feather board and a 80 tooth or hollow ground planner blade. This often gives a decent sandable cut, but not a real furniture grade finish. A planner is your best bet for a decent initial smooth finish that can be sanded to a good finish. The combination of using both is often required for custom sizing. Usually one side of your stock will have a good factory finish ready to sand, so do your DIY cutting all on one side of the stock that will not be as visible in the finished product.
A router with a straight bit or a table saw with a dado stack are the two best options for this task.
A dado stack will be more versatile if you have multiple widths of plywood that you want to work with:
A straight router bit isn't adjustable in width, but it will produce a cleaner bottomed cut. They're often available in sets for different sizes of plywood:
If you'd rather not spend the money on either of those, you can always use a table saw with a regular 1/8" kerf blade and make several passes. Then you can clean up the bottom of the groove with a chisel. I wouldn't recommend trying this with a circular saw, but if you do, you'll definitely need to make a straight cutting jig for it.
Best Answer
They use a steam box and pre shaped forms. The wood is inserted into the box and sealed. Then steam is applied to one end of the box and allowed to escape from the other end. After removing, the lumber is worked around the form and clamped. Once set the finishing and shaping can start. It's a very old technique and saw large scale use in shipbuilding. I've seen guys do it in the field with a small steam box. It's pretty easy to work with. Some woods are better suited than others.