Bent lamination hammock stand

[Krysstel]

Perhaps foolishly I've agreed to make a hammock stand as a 50th birthday present for a friend.
Not wanting to reinvent the wheel I've decided to go for this design http://www.woodmagazine.com/blogs/woodworking-blog/2012/06/05/happy-hammock-stand/.

The problem I have is what material to use.
I have enough western red cedar left over from another project but have it already allocated for something else.
Pressure treated pine is cheap and easy to get hold of but it's also always very wet and I don't have enough time to dry it. My deadline is mid August.
I could maybe use oak but the stand would end up very heavy.
What I've landed on is Siberian Larch. Cheap and plentiful locally but I've heard it's difficult to glue and since the success or failure of this project relies totally on glue I'm a little nervous :? Should I be ? Even if I use epoxy ?

Any other suggestions would be gratefully received.
Chears.

Mark

PS - A WIP may well follow in a few weeks time :wink:

 

[rafezetter]

Would it be possible for you to make up the laminations with all but 2 skins, then put countersunk screws / bolts through them, then glue on the 2 outer skim laminations so the fixings are hidden? I'm not sure it would be required if you used flibreglassing epoxy - but it can't hurt either to make sure.

I've used fibreglassing epoxy (without using any fibreglass matting) with woodworking and it's nigh on impossible once something is stuck to remove it - just make sure you hit each surface with a strong degreaser - like cellulose thinners - to remove any surface oils or other contaminants and waiting only long enough for it to flash off before applying the epoxy resin "glue" - plus wearing nitrile gloves (which have no powders and won't get eaten by the epoxy).

For weight reduction you might actually try adding a few laminations of fibreglass instead of wood extra slats; 2 layers a few mm thick set evenly spaced would help rigidized it all considerably - possibly colouring the matting to give a contrast stripe for effect?

hth

 

[Beau]

Used some Siberian larch for our doors and windows. Can't say I noticed any problems with glueing but it's not under the strain of a laminated curve. I thought many window manufacturers in mainland Europe used engineered larch so there must be ways to safely glue it. There is not much you can't glue with West System epoxy with the right preparation. If in doubt maybe make up a quick test sample and abuse it.

 

[Krysstel]

Thanks for the tips ann suggestions.
Have decided to go for the larch and epoxy plan.
Havn't got time to start this before mid June but will report back then with progress.

Mark

 

[rafezetter]

Just as a heads up I read the other day if you steam laminations to help the bend, glue failure potential becomes very high - something to do with the fibres changing so they won't take any glue, so doing it dry may be better and make sure you refinish the glue surfaces (hit them with sandpaper) before you do the laminations; wood surfaces oxidise and this also reduces grip with glue so sand them again with 120grit right before the laminating process. I also read that when laminating it's possible to squeeze out too much glue and cause something called glue starvation where too little glue is left to give a bond, so don't go mental with the clamping pressure.