11. Open Source Hardware - From Fibers to Fabric¶
Research & Ideation¶
Continuing with last week's theme where I tried to bend wood, I wanted to do the same but more efficiently so next in line was to make a steam box. The idea behind the steam box is to expose wood to heat and moisture in the form of steam which penetrates the fibres allowing them to be reshaped without breaking.
References & Inspiration¶
I took some inspiration from some youtube videos. I then combined the 2 to create a steam box with what I had locally.
Video by @WoodshopJunkies
Video by @Bourbonmoth
I then researched material replacements for the palstics and for the steam generator.
We then came up with a sketch of the design.
Now on to the hard work of making it...
Tools¶
- Fusion 360 for design work and toolpath/g-code generation
- CNC Machine (In my case a Forest Scientific router)
- CNC Control software (To send the toolpath/gcode to the CNC router)
- 3/4" Plywood
BoM¶
Materials¶
| Qty | Description | Price | Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 MTR | Horse pipe | 20 $ | locally sourced | |
| 1 | bondex | 30.00 $ | ||
| 4 | Tank connector | 30.00 $ | ||
| clips | 15.00 $ | |||
| wood inserts | 50. 00 $ | |||
| 500g | cotton wool | 50.00 $ | ||
| 1 | Silicone | 25.00 $ | ||
| 10 | Screws | 50 $ | ||
| 8 | Nails | 5 $ |
Process¶
Building the Boiler/Steam Generator¶
We used a generic immersion heating coil to heat the water and fabricated a cone to guide the steam from the container. A little bit of welding was needed.
The final steam box with no insulation was assembled
We then had to design the insulation box which was all done in Fusion 360
I then generated the toolpaths using Fusion CAM
We then did the final assembly, putting the stembox into it's insulation box.
We then added the insulation
We then had to fabricat the door, so attached the steambox door plate to the wood cover.
We then attached some springs to keep the door closed
We the tested the door spring mechanism
We then made an inclined stand for the box. We started with the side pieces.
Then created the holders
Then attached them to the stand, yes they are under there...
The stands looked like this before installation
and after installation
and we obviously tested...
Final full setup
Once that was done, the steam box was complete. Time for some more testing. and of course we did this by putting some bamboo in it.
and... RESULT!