Hammaka Bow Arch Clone?

[JayS]

That is indeed a pleasant looking stand. For what it's worth, I have some (long ago) experience laminating wood from when I owned a sailboat. Thought I would tell what I know in case it's helpful.

Whole boats have been made by laminating thin strips of wood. Beautiful curved wooden pieces out of contrasting wood have also been made. In making things for boats, an added advantage is that with really thin wood, the wood itself is protected when the glue soaks into it. Anyway, the leading method when I was into it was called the WEST system (Wood Epoxy Shipbuilding Technique or something like that). See http://www.westsystem.com/webpages/u.../composite.htm for some background. The technique was used not just to build boats but items for boats, like tillers and boom cradles.

To make a laminated object is easy but a bit time consuming. Basically you start with a sheet of plywood and make a form of it by drawing the curves you want and then attaching blocks of wood along the curves. Next you cover the form with plastic (think thick drop cloth) to keep the glue from sticking to the form. Then you take a thin strip of wood, even as small as veneer, soak it in the glue or "paint" it thickly with glue and lay it on it's side in the form along the curve. Continue doing this until the form is full and then put shims between the form's wood blocks and the plastic to press the glue soaked wood strips firmly together. Alternatively, use clamps such as pipe clamps. Let it dry thoroughly (several days?) and take the piece out of the clamp. Shape by planing and sanding.

Entire boats have been constructed this way - the frames were the form, screws were used to hold each successive layer in place and the strips were laid at angles to the previous layer. This essentially built a single piece of waterproof plywood in the shape of a boat. You can also see large wooden beams constructed this way in buildings like churches, civic centers, and some indoor pool rooms. In an item like the hammock stand, you would need multiple pieces but you could use some great wood to create a stunning piece of furniture.

All that said, there is a learning curve which would best be done on smaller items. Look for old sailing or wooden boat magazines articles to get ideas and see if this is something you want to attempt.

[warbonnetguy]

a friend of mine in knoxville makes stick sculptures. the ones i have seen have been in the form of small simple structures. they are really elegant looking, but they are just made of various sized branches lashed together and they're incredibly strong. when the wood is live, it is very bendable. you could probably make something like the arch stand with a few good sized limbs or many thin ones lashed together.

for that matter, maybe the largest size of easton tent poles will work, you would want it to be pretty big tubing, i'm thinking 1" diameter maybe. if it's too big you might have a problem bending it, too small and it won't be stable.