Bending Wood with a Blow Torch

*********DISCLAIMER - I really should do a more scientific test on this to see if the blow torch is actually heating up the water in the wood and in turn making the wood more pliable. What I can say is that while I was making these the wood felt stiffer before I put the blow torch to it. It felt like if I kept trying to bend it, it would snap. But once I hit it with the blow torch it had less resistance. I'm not saying this is better than a steam box but it might be an alternative.

I've been wanting to make a cool stand for the Tanto I made a few months ago. I knew that I wanted something with curves and that was different than the usual knife and sword holders out there. I came up with this idea while watching someone make steam bent rails for a toboggan. I did a quick test of this process and it worked. I tried to recreate that test for this video. As you probably already saw I had a couple of issues. The first piece broke, I think this happened because I didn't let it soak long enough in the water and I applied the torch for too long. I also think this happened to the walnut piece because I didn't let it soak long enough. Luckily I was able to salvage some those pieces and use them in the two builds.

So this process kind of works but its not ideal. I'm sure there several ways to accomplish the same task, this just happens to be what I came up with. I hope you found the video helpful and or at least entertaining. Thanks for watching.