Bending Wood For Hobbyistschemical

Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service NREM-5052
Bending Wood for Hobbyists

Salim Hiziroglu
Professor, Wood Products

Bending wood is one of the ancient arts enjoyed by the
wood working hobbyist. Furniture pieces, frames, snowshoes
are some of the oldest examples of bent wood. This fact sheet
presents some of the techniques for wood bending related to
properties of different wood species for hobbyist.
Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Fact Sheets

are also available on our website at:
http://osufacts.okstate.edu
Why to Bend Wood

Wood consists of tubular type structures called cells which
are connected to each other end to end running through the
length of a tree. Each cell has hollow area called lumen and
cell wall having three major chemicals, cellulose, lignin, and
hemicellulose in addition to some extractive materials such as
resin, oils, minerals and wax. Moisture also exists in two forms
in wood cell, free water located in the lumen and bound water
in the cell wall. If you want to soften wood to bend three main
methods can be used to achieve this. Wood can be heated so
that water is turned to steam. In the second method steam is
produced and forced into wood to make it more flexible. The
third one involves with boiling water to make the wood softer
so that it can be bent. Size of the sample, its moisture content,
and species are three important parameters which influence
overall bending quality and to select which technique will
bend the wood most effectively. Microwave bending is also
used for thinner and smaller pieces. Microwave bending is
much faster as compared to a typical steam bending. Wood
usually is wrapped with wet fabric or wet towel and placed
in microwave for 30 seconds as a typical starting time span.
Similar to other conventional methods processing time will
depend on species and sample size.

Any visco-elastic materials including wood has properties of both elastic and plastic body. Plastic materials can be
permanently damaged under an applied load while elastic
material can be stretched but it returns to its original shape
as soon as the force is released. Visco-elesticity of wood
plays an important role on overall bending quality. One of the
advantages of bending of wood is to consume less material so
that resource can be used more efficiently. Also when wood
is bent its grain orientation is adjusted based on curving axis
so that better strength properties are yielded. When wood is
bent compression and tension forces are developed along
the curvature as shown in Figure 1. Once these forces are
balanced without applying too much force wood can be bent
successfully without any breakage or splits.

Alkali softening of wood using chemicals such as natrium
hydroxide, custic potash is also another way to bend wood.
The wood piece is soaked in a 5 to 20 percent concentration
of these chemicals, diluted with water. The main function of the
Figure 1. Development of stresses in wood during the

bending.
chemical is to causing slacking of the wood cell structure so it
can be bent easily. One of the disadvantages of this technique
is the color change to the wood due to the chemicals.

Kerf cutting can also be used to bend wood, this can be
achieved by simply cutting thin slots in the wood ranging from
30 to 60 percent of its total thickness and bend it with a radius.
Removed material from the kerf will give more flexibility to the
material which can bent easily.

The most popular and easiest way to bend wood is steam
bending, which is generally done in a steam box. A sketch of a
typical steam box is illustrated in Figure 2. Steam is introduced
into the airtight steam chamber or box having constant flow
of steam for a certain period of time to allow for a successful
process. Steel boiler with a capacity of 10 to 20 gallons with a
propane heat source would be ideal to create sufficient heat
British Thermal Unit (BTU- it is defined as amount of heat
required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by 1
F at a constant pressure of one atmosphere). Overall steaming process and time varies based on species, for example
softwood species are not ideal for the steaming bend process.
However, hardwoods can be bent with very few problems using this method. Ash, elm, white oak, and beech are some of
the hardwood species that can be steamed and bent easily.
Steam bending can be quite a time consuming process. Typical steaming time is around 1 hour for every 1-inch thickness
airdry which is 12 percent moisture content wood and 1.5 to
2.0 hours for green wood with a moisture content well above
fiber saturation point (fsp is 28 to 30 percent.) Of course there
is a great variation among species regarding steaming time.
If wood has not been steamed long enough to plasticize it
Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Oklahoma State University
Figure 2. Steam box to bend wood.

may break during bending along the grain orientation. When
wood is steamed and ready for bending, it needs to be bent
within seconds to achieve the shape, clamped for 24 to 28
hours and left to cool completely. Any extended delay from
steambox to clamping process can cause cracking or splitting of the wood during the bending. As soon as clamps are
released, the wood can spring back depending of species
and grain orientation. Therefore it is important to makes sure
the material is dried at high temperature without taking it from
the molder or shaper. Drying temperature can vary 45 F to
50 F for approximately for 10 to 12 hours.
Further reading on bending of wood can be

found in following literature
Hoadley, B. 2000. Understanding wood, A craftsmans guide
to wood technology. The Taunton Press.
Wood Handbook, Wood as an Engineering Material. 1999.
USDA, Forest Service. Report FPL, GTR-113, Forest
Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin
Jackson,A., Day.D., Jenning,S. 1997.The complete manual
of woodworking. Alfred A Knopp, New York.
Feirer,J. 1980.Wood:Technology and Processes.Glenco
Publishing Inc. Mission Hill, California.
Oklahoma State University, in compliance with Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order 11246 as amended, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Americans
with Disabilities Act of 1990, and other federal laws and regulations, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, age, religion, disability, or status as a veteran in
any of its policies, practices, or procedures. This includes but is not limited to admissions, employment, financial aid, and educational services.
Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Robert E. Whitson, Director of Cooperative Extension Service, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma. This publication is printed and issued by Oklahoma State University as authorized by the Vice President, Dean, and Director of
the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and has been prepared and distributed at a cost of 20 cents per copy. 0911 GH
NREM-5052-2

Bending Wood For Hobbyistschemical

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Bending Wood For Hobbyistschemical

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Bending Wood For Hobbyistschemical

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service NREM-5052

Bending Wood for Hobbyists

Professor, Wood Products

Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Fact Sheets

Why to Bend Wood

Figure 1. Development of stresses in wood during the

Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

Oklahoma State University

Figure 2. Steam box to bend wood.

Further reading on bending of wood can be

You might also like