I am wondering if anyone has any tips on bending masonite around a tight corner on my fasica? I am trying to wrap a tight corner. Has anyone tried wetting or heating it to bend it without breaking it? Thanks!
Thayne.
Your best bet is to put kerf cuts. A kerf cut is simply cuts in the back of the board, the spacing of the cuts depends on the radius you are trying to bend. As a rule of thumb the cuts should be no deeper than half the thickness of the stock (board). Example- if you are using 1/4 Masonite your cut depth should be 1/8, if you are using 1/8 Masonite your cut depth should be 1/16.
As far as heat or steam it does not work to good with Masonite. It is better suited towards a plywood product.
What do you consider a tight corner? Too tight may not be doable.
A kerf cut probably won’t work on the Masonite as it’s probably too thin to get enough kerf to work and still hold together - just my thoughts.
ratled
It may be too tight to make the bend, maybe I will try some thin plywood? Was just wondering if anyone had success with a idea that I have not tried. I will try the kerf idea on a piece of scrap. Thanks!
Thayne.
True tempered masonite, especially1/8" can bend down to a reasonable radius. Just how tight a bend are you trying to do? I also feel that kerfing masonite will have it fail or snap as you try to make such a tight bend. If you do use plywood, do run the ply so that the outer veneer graining is vertical. Plywood bends much easier done this way. If 1/4" luan won’t make the bend, (even kerfed) ,then you should be looking into FRP (firerglass or a vinyl product)
I bent 1/8" masonite into a room corner (to cove the back drop corners). I don’t know what the radius is but I have a 5" space between the back of the masonite and the room’s actual corner. Would that be enough curvature? No wetting/steaming was needed. I agree that kerfing a 1/8" thick piece of masonite would be very tough to pull off without it cracking. You could always laminate “door skin” veneers into a thicker, home built plywood sheet and bend each thin layer as you glue it to the previous layer.
Hope that helps. You can experiment by bending until you just hear cracking starting without it board actually splitting. It’ll give you a quick and dirty idea of how far you can go.
JIm
I am trying to bend a couple of corners on the entrance to my layout on the edge of my benchwork just to give it a clean nice look, am guessing it about a 6" radius 4" wide. Maybe the thin plywood suggestion would work better. I will try that when I get home from work today. Thanks Guys!
Thayne.
What about using styrene sheet which will bend easily even around tight corners?
Rich
Styrene is a great suggestion is nothing else seems to work.
If you plan to go w/ the ply, I have a suggestion for the cutting of the ply. Since you will be cutting 4" strips and against (crosscutting) the outer vereer, unless you have an extremely sharp carbide plywood blade you can save/ eliminate some of the splintering by this hint. Scribe the plywood w/ a utility knife and make the rip just a hair past the scribe line. This method will allow you to get a fine cut even using a skillsaw over the table saw. For an absolute perfect cut, place blue painter’s tape, scribe, peel off excess side and then cut. I use this method regularly for trimming all my factory finished cabinet panels for kitchen cabinetry jobs. Hand or belt sand to perfection.
Nothing worse than massivly splintered plywood that even after sanding will need to be spackled. THis happens less on hardwood ply, however for the ease of bending , door skin or luan may be your be
I have 1/8" Masonite bent to 15" radius without any problems. During installation it felt like I could have bent it to a much tighter radius if I wanted. Pictures here and here.
Since you’re talking VERY tight radii, I’d strongly consider something like styrene. A few laminations of heavy styrene like .060" or .080" can make a durable fascia that will resist cracking, and can be blended into adjacent hardboard/Masonite. A 4’X8’ sheet of styrene can be had from a commercial plastic supplier for about the same price as a sheet of Masonite.
1/8" Masonite can be easily bent down to at least an 8" radius, as shown below:
…and wider ones, obviously, are also possible:
Don’t waste money on the “Tempered” version for this purpose, either: the temper refers to the hardness of the surface, not its flexibility. To make the tighter radii, clamp or fasten the material in place on one side before where the curve is to be, then apply pressure progressively throughout the area of the curve.
Wayne
If masonite will not bend tight enough and you can’t find styrene sheets big enough, you could try sheet metal. Most lumber yards carry aluminum flashing in various widths, usually up to 2’. Often can buy it by the foot if you don’t need a 25’ roll. Some of it comes prepainted (usualy white) which makes a good undercoat. Have thought about using it for my backdrop, but haven’t gotten that far yet.
Good luck,
Richard
I would use 1/16" birch plywood and glue and laminate them on the layout. Let the first sheet dry and then glue the second sheet. I have done this making round top chests (pirate chest) and it works extremely well and is very strong. You can get small sheets at Hobby Lobby and Michaels although it is a little $$$. If you arent’ doing a large area this would work OK cost wise. Also, you may have to shim the ends if the thicknes doesn’ t match your masonite exactly but that is an easy fix.
Before any of this, I would try to bend the 1/8" masonite to see if it won’t work without cracking or breaking.
-Bob
The other option is to go to local kitchen and bath they carry 4 x 8 sheets of the plastic wall coverings for showers and tub surrounds works great and will bend to very small radii without breaking. jim.
dont rule out the use of sheet florring @ HD ect ,use the back side out and paint it .Joe Fugate uses it with great success… look in to it…Jerry
1/8" tempered hardboard can bend to a fairly tight radius. I have part of my backdrop bent to about an 8" radius in one corner. But if you’re dealing with fascia, which doesn’t have to be a smooth curve, consider cutting it off as a 45-degree corner rather than bending it round. Or if you’ve got the aisle space, use a square corner and use the extra space for scenery.
Bending masonite?
I cut the size pieces I need and then fill up bathtub with hot water and soak them for about an hour. They bend quite easily. The heat from the water softens the bonding agent making them fairly pliable.
Then while it’s still pliable, I secure it in the position I want it in. As it cools and drys, it retains shape.
Easy.
I agree with Steve’s suggestions. A 45 degree corner can look really good with a nice piece of molding down the edge. Masonite ( hardboard ) can be bent to a very small radius, just bend very slowly as you get down to a small radius.
In the pic below the walkway is 2’ wide. I have an 8’ long piece of Masonite facia I have walk into this space with to have an inside curve on. It went down to a 12" radius without any complaints at all. I also have backdrops that are about an 8" radius.
Bend slowly and evenly. Good luck.
Brent[C):-)]
Thanks for all the idea’s guys! Here is what I am doing as a test. I glued the masonite to the benchwork on one end with a big Jorgensen clamp, After the glue dries I am going to try to bend it around the corner very slowly with a few big clamps If it breaks I will try something different, I will let you know if it works??
Thayne.