Bent Wood Lamination

Once the glue dries the workpiece will hold it s new shape.
Bent wood lamination. Just a saw some wood some glue and a few time tested techniques. When used as a structural element such as a table leg they are actually stronger than if the piece were cut from a single block of wood. Actually there s no magic required. Bent lamination is a process of bending thin strips of wood using lots of glue and lots of clamps.
Once dry the resulting part will pretty much hold its shape forever. Commercially made laminate layers are not widely available. Bent laminations do more than give your project a graceful look. If your radii is tight you can use 1 16 wisa italian bending plywood.
Lamination is different than veneering. When making small curves it is best to laminate several many layers using thin strips of wood called veneers no steaming is required for small bends. These sheets come in 4 x 8. So the first order of business is to build the form followed by cutting the wood into lamination strips.
What you need to use for bent wood lamination is 1 8 bending poplar plywood that comes in either long or short grain. Learn how to make wood magically bend to your will. It s messy but rewarding to see a gracefully bent piece of wood emerge from a glue encrusted form. The process starts with ripping some thin strips of wood and applying glue to each strip.
The more seams you have the less chance for springback. Lamination is the process of bending many thin parts together and holding them in the desired shape until the glue between them dries. Woodworkers use bent wood laminations for everything from chair rockers to drawer handles. Steps in laminating wood.
In veneering the layers are oriented in an alternating fashion while in laminating the layers are oriented in the same direction. Bent lamination just introduces the element of curving the laminate. There are two basic ways to clamp the parts while the glue dries. Using clamps or a vacuum press and we will look at both methods.