Steam Bending Laminated Wood

You can use kerfing and.

Steam bending laminated wood. I ve done it with up to about 5 8 thick wood. This will make the wood much easier to bend after steaming. Clamp the laminated strips in the bending form spacing the clamps every 3 dead center in the middle of each segment of the press. It was a 360 degree bend and the benefit you get from steaming is very short lived so i had to apply the steam directly to the wood strips while bending at first without glue in order to get them around some of the sharp corners.

Lamination is the process of bending many thin parts together and holding them in the desired shape until the glue between them. For more information or to plan your next bend please don t hesitate to get in touch. Soak the wood you want to bend in water for at least a day before steaming. As we all know the thinner the part the easier it will conform to a curve.

Disguise the kerfing by mixing glue and sawdust to fill the spaces that are found in bent wood. It is possible to bend wood even without applying heat or steam. Place the lumber you want to bend in a container full of water completely submerged and soak it overnight before you steam it. Using glued laminated wood.

I call it steam lam and do it all the time. Laminated from thin strips cold process no special equipment required strong bending form required lots of strips to cut and keep in order difficult to control final part thickness messy glue up strips want to slip sideways when bent dried glue squeeze out on part must be removed before further processing. Steam bending the 1 2 strips will take the spring back out of the wood. Steam bending is not suitable for all timber types.

Glue lines often visible cut from solid wood no form or. It s possible to steam bend wood without soaking it overnight if you aren t able to do so. Once steam bent close to final radius the two glued together 1 2 strips hold the final glue formed radius perfectly. It is much more precise than steam bending as well.

Keep in mind that air dried lumber. Apply a laminate or glue to the wood. A laminated wood component is a marvel of lightness and strength and it will conform to the required shape equally well to a similar bend made in a solid wood piece. The wood is heated briefly in low pressure steam to soften the lignin a glue like protein that holds the cellulose fibers.

In this edition we look at forming wood parts using thin laminates. Wait for the glue to harden completely before using it for any project. Called a steambox is usually built to immerse the wood in an environment with high temperature steam and humidity. We started this wood bending series exploring simple and kerf bending.

When most of us hear the words bending wood we think of steam bending.