question about wood coaster construction

this might sound like a dumb question,but how do they bend the wood,like on the top and bottom of hills and dips?

In the old days they would soak the wood in water. Today they have tools that do the work for them.

ya i think they soak the and then mold them but they mite have found a different way.

that must be time consuming.

They bend a tree as it is growing.That is why it takes so long to build a woodie.Thats how the beavers do it.

What are you talking about?

Most long planks of wood bend plenty without any serious effort. You can see that when you pull a piece out of a stack at any lumber yard. Now consider that the wood doesn't have that far to bend. The track itself is layered, not solid. It's easier to bend a stack of papers than it is a piece of solid wood the same thickness.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

...In fact, the layering is critical to getting the curves properly bent. The bolts that hold the planks together are used to hold the boards under tension to produce the curve. Note that if you pull the bolts and flatten the boards in a stack, the bolt holes won't line up...it's the offset hole positions that cause the bolts to hold the board to the proper curve...

--Dave Althoff, Jr., hoping that made sense...

thanks dave and jeff...now it makes more sense.

Was that a joke Logan...cuz I was laughing :)

Don't they use southern pine for the track layers?
Seems like pine would bend pretty easy. I would think bending the strap iron rail would be the hard part, mainly around the curves I am talking about.

Not saying you all haven't been very informative, but there's got to be a wood expert somewhere in this bunch. It seems like we've got a definitive source for everything else!

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Matt Lynch
Co-Webmaster, Kennywood Boulevard
http://kennywood.coasterbuzz.com

The beavers lied to me .Thats the last time I ask them a question.
I was haveing fun.HA HA.

lol at logan....but really,it must take forever to build a twisted section on a coaster.