Last Updated on July 23, 2022 by James Walton

Bend Wood

We are living in an age where everything looks so amazing and creative. Lots of beautiful creatures made by bend wood made our life more comfortable. It is not easy to bend wood with water from straight wood all of a sudden.

Whatever we see around us making with bent wood, was not bent in before. There are numerous processes by which a straight wood can be turned in to bentwood.

However, in this article, we are trying to focus on how to bend wood with water. Undoubtedly it will be helpful for you while constructing something in future by bent wood.

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There are some common advantages for which bent wood considerate as appealing and uncommon.

  • If one wants to get the perfect wooden structure quickly then bending wood with water can give them the result.
  • As bending wood with water thus it becomes more durable and sturdy which is very good to give any structure.

However, now we are heading to see how to bend wood with water chronologically.

# Step 1

At the beginning of the process, we should select a particular type of wood what we actually want to bend. Depends on the hardness or softness of the wood, we can identify the thickness of the wood. By which we can have the better result in the bending process. It is obvious if the wood is less thick then it will give the better result. Thus better to take any wood which is less than 20 mm.

# Step 2

Next step is to select a tank or any big container which can be fit for the wood beam for bending. Then the tank should be filled with water. But before that, we just need to make sure that the water must be hot. It is because hot water raises the temperature of the container.  And which is very much efficient to bend the woods easily.

# Step 3

Then we just need to place the timber in the hot water container what we need to bend. And then let it allow soaking for some time. Since we mentioned it before that relatively hot water is preferable than the cold water for a better result. One more thing we should take a note that how much time we need to soak that wood, it totally depends on the type of wood we take. It actually can vary by couples of minutes to a few hours.

# Step 4

In this step, when we notice that the wood gets absorbed by the water totally then we should go for bending. We should keep bending till we get the desired shape of bending. We should do this when the wood is wet fully, otherwise, it will not give the perfect result. After bending, we should let it leave drying. If the wood relatively thick than other wood then we can apply direct heat to get it dried.  When wood gets dried, then we should make sure that the bentwood may not get the chances to be straight again.

# Step 5

In this step, we need a sharp knife to make this bent wood in various shape or design. We should apply the sharp knife when the bentwood gets wet. We should bear in mind we need to create a lot of scores in the wood which are uniformly spaced through the wood.

It is also to be noted that we should create some scores inside of the curve as well. To create the scores uniformly in the best way, we should use the tape measure for marking the points.

# Step 6

We need to have suitable glue after making the uniform spaces in the curve. This glue can be used in the wood strips and then let it bent till the desired shape is not being achieved. After getting the perfect shape as per your wish, place the wood in a dry place where it can dry more. We can use a set of clamps to assist to maintain the shape of the dry wood.

We should keep in mind that the perfect bending will be possible if we follow the step chronologically. Bigger and smoother curves come from easier bending so it is important to make perfect unique scores in the curve.

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Author

James Walton is an active woodworker & maker who is passionate about all things woodworking. He loves to play with power tools and machines.

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