Bending Wood for Link Wooden Shield
First of all, I hate balsa wood. For crafts I always go with basswood, because it is readily available in many sizes/thicknesses and it is much stronger than balsa.
A trick I learned in one of my architecture classes for making models could apply to this. If I wanted a peice of wood to bend, it was a five step process:
1. I would soak it in water overnight.
2. Then bend it to shape while it was still wet.
3. Find a way to fix it in that shape (Attach it to something curved with rubber bands or something similar)
4. Put it back in the water for several hours.
5. Take it out and let it dry (While still attached to the other curved abject)
If you are making a life sized shield, hopefully you have a spare bathtub or something to use. Also it may need longer soaking times depending on size.]
OR
1 Cut out your shield, and bend it over a shape with the curve you want.
2 Cover one side of the shield with 5min epoxy ($2.99)
3 Place another, thinner piece of wood, on the epoxy and clamp it down.
4 Let the epoxy dry, then remove the whole shield off the frame and trim the excess. It will stay in the curved shape, I’ve done it several times before with GREAT success. I once made a miniature surf board and tech deck using this method.
OR
Balsa wood is so light and soft that you should just laminate a block as thick as you need to achieve the radius you wand and just carve it out. If you are handy with and have a good (Porter Cable) belt sander & some 80 grit paper you could be done in an hour.
Otherwise you need to build a form of the radius you need that you can clamp the wood to and laminate it that way. Start out with according to radius and size you may be able to use 1/4″ thick strips but may have to go thinner.
Cut all the strips you need for the first layer then cut same amount same width for second layer, rip one in half for starter then glue all surfaces that touch and glue them together, By starting with the ripped one you will gwt a halflap effect giving you more strength.
Cover form with wax paper so glue doesn’t bond to mold.
You can also soak strips in a pvc tube with water and faberic softner to bend but I doubt it necessary.
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