Best Woods For Bent Lamination

What is the best wood for steam bending.

Best woods for bent lamination.

Are all good choices for bent laminations. Epoxy is also a good choice for bent laminations but it costs almost twice as much as urea formaldehyde. Hardwoods usually bend better than softwoods but redwood yellow pine and cedar can be used in bending projects. Standard wood glue is not the best choice for bent laminations.

Layers laminates and lamination we re all familiar with laminates. It also cleans up easily with water. Of these four glues urea resin and resorcinol achieve the most rigid glue line when cured. But some woods bend easier to tight curves without breaking.

I recommend unibond 800. Consider using a urea resin glue by the name of unibond 800 which. It s a urea formaldehyde glue with three shades of powdered catalyst to better match the wood you re using. What is the best wood for lamination bending.

The gap filling properties of epoxy are of particular use when gluing bent lamination. A couple of glues that seem to be good choices for bent lamination are pro glue unibond 800. Any wood will bend if it s cut thin enough. If you ve ever glued two pieces of wood together face to face you ve essentially created a laminate.

Pva glues have a tendency to creep over time and wouldn t be my first choice for bent lamination. Epoxy and urea formaldehyde glue are much better for this application. David marks has a nice article on using urea formaldehyde glue. Among the commonly available hardwoods oak walnut mahogany and ash bend the best.

What you need to use for bent wood lamination is 1 8 bending poplar plywood that comes in either long or short grain. The process is surprisingly simple and once you ve made your first bent lamination you ll want to include curves in all your future projects. Additionally a really green kiln dried softwood might also work to be steam bent. It s just too easy for softwoods to snap and refuse to bend.

These sheets come in 4 x 8. The more seams you have the less chance for springback. If gluing epoxy or other wise use 30 thinner stock if bending hardwoods compared to softwood counter parts with the exception of the really dense softwood such as syp. While resorcinol has a type i rating a good choice for outdoor applications its color is very dark making it unsuitable for lighter woods like maple.