Bent Lamination

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Learn how to make wood magically bend to your will! Actually, there's no magic required. Just a saw, some wood, some glue, and a few time-tested techniques.

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[bluehoo]

This brings back memories of when I was a young apprentice. Laminating curved skirting boards, curved staircase strings. I remember we once made curved doors with raised and fielded panels. It’s been a long time since i did any of this so it brought back happy memories. Thanks for the video.

[jkreed]

Instead of using a compass to lay-out the 1.5" gap / cut line; cut a plywood or sheet-metal circle with a 1.5" radius, and use it to draw the cut line. This eliminates the need to keep the compass perpendicular to a curved line.

[SwitchAndLever]

There are benefits to either technique for sure. I've done a bit of steam bending, and if you want the resulting piece of wood to be homogeneous it's definitely an unbeatable method. Though, it does require a bit of overbending as the springback of the wood will make the form different from what you need if you're not careful. Nailing the correct form can require quite a bit of experimentation. With lamination the form you hold it while the glue dries is the form you get, so that's definitely a plus. 

Great video! Very comprehensive!

[Jason-vnxj]

5:30-6:15
Thank you so much for showing the other options. So many videos leave it to the novice to either figure out how to make do with their home set-up or bite it and invest in the tools. It can be discouraging when the whole point of searching for a video was to learn how to do something for yourself. Thanks for also not dragging on with endless exposition. Nice, crisp tutorial. Well done.

[mainewoods]

BRILLIANT ! On offsetting for the material . I am going to build some nets as Christmas presents , most net builders don’t seem to be thinking about this with sizing the culls. I will be steam bending but I dry clamp for am hour or so then glue up is easier as the pieces are well on their way to holding the new shape. I have learned SO MUCH from you over the years Mark. Big Thank you.

[danamoose]

How am I not already subscribed to this guy!?! Lets fix that right now!

[thiswoodwork]

Great video! Used to watch David Marks do this on Woodworks. Yet to get round to doing it myself, really want to!

[gahooa]

Excellent video Marc.  This opens the door to using my CNC router to make the bending fixtures quickly and accurately with only my imagination being the limit.  I appreciate the information!

[karlailin]

Thank you for making all that effort to make the wonderful video sessions and working at the same time. You're a legend mate. I would love to see a complete working on a Sam Maloof's chair or a rocker. But once again, thanks for your help.

[brendajett]

Thanks for the excellent tutorial Marc! Yes, steam bent wood and bent laminations are both wood working techs that I wish to learn more about. However, contrary to the characteristically thorough nature of your video content, GROWN FRAMES didn't even get an honorable mention. A wood forming technique that was once thought by the shipwrights of antiquity, yea! "the ancients", to be the only way to "bend" wood to a shape that should suit the will of it's master' . Of course, it takes a really long time do this. Like, WAY longer than a YouTube advertisement. Still, somebody, somewhere has got to be producing "Grown Frames".

[IAMPACIFIC]

Seriously, these videos are awesome and really help me out with my projects!

[colinzeta]

Man, your so young and you know so much imagine yourself in 30 years get into everything else if you can inlay, binding, carving(if your aren't already) you got the skills.

[SuperSkinnymoose]

Typically thorough and useful counsel. Great stuff!

[BitsOfEternity]

I like parchment paper for preventing glue sticking - I know it isn't always an option, but a nice thing about it is that it is reusable. It is also easy to remove if any of it does stick, though it doesn't stick often, in my experience. Always enjoy the learning, thanks!

[drstrip]

Great video. A small omission in the discussion of glues. Your coverage of the relative safety of the glues, but did not mention that of the glues you've shown, only the PVA is subject to creep. For a shallow bend like the rocker, this might not be a big issue, but for tighter bends, it can become a problem.

You can reduce the problem of gluing the workpiece to the cleats by coating the cleats with paste wax first. In fact, you can use paste wax instead of tape over the whole mold.

Finally, for sharper or more complex bends, you might want to use cleats on both faces of the form and on both pieces, so they interlock and keep the two form pieces aligned.

[DroweHP]

Great video! Have wanted to bend the wood at least one year, but did not know how. Many shows how to bend in steam. You show in an easy and understandable way. Thank you for sharing your skills.

[natestewart]

what do you do to get the sides cleaned up? The squeeze out will obviously need to be removed for beautification. I can think of a few methods: sander, planer, band saw, radius the sides. Is there a method you prefer to get your favorite finish?

[felixreali]

you are really great at explaining and showing techniques, Marc. hats off. thanks for sharing

[hishamhamdan]

I'm a fan from syria, , i have been following your advices for long time. keep it up curly hair

[davidbuchan]

As with all your vids - super clear, super helpful. Thank you.