Bent Lamination Techniques, etc...enjoyable maker

[Jim Becker]

Given I'm out of commision to actually work in my shop until my right wrist is back in shape, I've been watched quite a few videos lately including some by an Aussie named Darren Oates lately who does a lot of bent lamination for his furniture. If that's something you're interested in, you might also enjoy the YouTube channel. He really puts the time into developing his methods, fixtures and setups to do what he does very well and with consistency. Now he's been doing this for a long time which certainly accounts for the fixturing for the products he produces for his clientele...many of us would be more "quick and dirty" for one-offs for sure One thing that continually catches my eye is his resaw setup with a for purpose feeder and roller fence...it's seen early in the video shown below. What a great setup for consistent slices! This is not one of his more involved projects, so check out the set of videos, again, if this form of woodworking is of interest to you. He also has a nice one on how he set up his dedicated vacuum table that I found very interesting.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeeAhpH86EI

[Alan Lightstone]

Interesting video, Jim. Thanks for sharing it.

Yup, totally jealous of his dedicated Comatic resaw feeder and roller fence. Certainly makes resawing look easy.

Have to watch some of his other videos. Likely to be very interesting.

[Michael Burnside]

Thanks Jim. This is on my bucket list. I really want to do some rounded cabinets and legs at some point in my woodworking journey.

[Jeff Monson]

The domino placement jig is very cool. Nice table also.

[Larry Edgerton]

I've done a lot of large architectural ones, like curved rafters and round facias. Its kind of an art form to get it right, you get a feel for springback and how much to decrease the radius of the form to end up with the curve you want.

Thinner layers and you need less radius reduction. Also when reducing the radius you have to remember to go past a half circle so you end up with enough length.

Always make the layers longer by quite a bit because the ends of a bent lamination do not remain true. I figure on cutting 6" off each end, but I'm talking about 10-15' radius 8" deep.

Start at the center and work you way out to both ends.

Be prepared to clamp both ways, tension in the wood will make it want to slip as each piece of wood is different even if cut from on piece and kept in order. Always keep it in order if you want it to look like one board.

Do not rip you strips to finished dimension, you are going to have to trim both sides. I set up rollers and joint one side and then run through the planer, again with rollers as it will want to lay down.

Any specific questions feel free to ask, round work is a large part of what I do.

[Jim Becker]

The domino placement jig is very cool. Nice table also.
Yes, and even more kewel was that it incorporates the fixture he used to cut the curved legs to length for that design. That's very thoughtful planning when it comes to the fixtures. While his setup in the video is for cutting the mortises on the ends of the curved pieces, a similar arrangement could very well be helpful for straight, narrow workpieces, such as face frames.

I'm finding this whole bent lamination thing quite interesting and I think I'd like to try it this coming year once I'm able to get back into doing projects.

[Alan Lightstone]

Always make the layers longer by quite a bit because the ends of a bent lamination do not remain true. I figure on cutting 6" off each end, but I'm talking about 10-15' radius 8" deep.


Larry, what do you mean by the ends of a bent lamination do not remain true? I don't understand what that means. Please explain.

I always wanted to try bent lamination. I've done some steam bending, and the springback was always a variable issue.

[Jim Becker]

Alan, when you do a curved bent lamination, the layers closest to the form will be "longer" than the subsequent layers which get progressively "shorter" when you start with material that is the same length...you can actually see this in the video(s) that I mentioned. This is why you need a setup to trim them after the glue-up is complete and dry and why having fixtures (either permanent for things you make frequently or quick-and-dirty for one time use) to allow you to trim to length accurately as well as insure any "angle" on the ends is correct for the project. You will pretty much always do the lamination "longer" than the final for this reason.

There was another little detail in the video(s) that I also appreciated in that he not only was methodic in clamping things in the form but also using a clamp and a block to align the layers so that minimal trimming of the edges is required after the glue is set...just a run though the sander or jointer/thicknesser to shave things even. Some makers build the laminations extra wide and then have to do a lot of trimming to get parallel edges.

[Dan Barber]

Thanks for sharing that video Jim, Darren certainly makes some beautiful furniture. There's a fair bit of work that goes into making laminations like he does. Jigs are the secret, he's fortunate to have repeated uses of his jigs. As you mentioned, for most of us doing a single project it would be hard to justify the fabrication of such nice jigs.

[Phil Gaudio]

In a somewhat amazing coincidence, I just posted my first experience with bent laminating:

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?306584-Bowfront-Console-Table-Bent-Lamination

I chose an integral tenon on my project: only needed two of them so I modified a crosscut sled to make the end cuts, and used a tenon jig on the TS to make tenon cheek cuts. Rest of tenon was done by hand. The bending form is a project in itself, but I expect to get more use out of it on future projects. Layout of the joinery is aided greatly by a full scale drawing. I suggest starting with something easier than the table in the video: the bow front table I built is pretty straightforward.

[Jim Becker]

The chaise lounge project is interesting given the double bend.

[Larry Edgerton]

Larry, what do you mean by the ends of a bent lamination do not remain true? I don't understand what that means. Please explain.

I always wanted to try bent lamination. I've done some steam bending, and the springback was always a variable issue.

When you think about it the ends are in a different tension than in the middle of the bend, in the middle its pulling two ways at any given point, but at the end only one so the ends want to straighten out. Keep in mind these are big lamination but small one do the same. Besides that trying to manage a 20' long glueup alone is hectic, so its nice to have a little fudge room. The way I look at it I lse a foot, but not 20. Most of the big ones were old growth redwood as it last a long time and is very consistent as far as grain. Now I just do it with Azek.

[Alan Lightstone]

Out of curiosity, does keeping the lamination clamped for a longer period of time (e.g. days) reduce springback, or is it pretty set once the glue dries?

[Jim Becker]

Out of curiosity, does keeping the lamination clamped for a longer period of time (e.g. days) reduce springback, or is it pretty set once the glue dries?
Multiple factors apply...species, lamination thickness, number of laminations, type of glue, etc.

[lou Brava]

In a somewhat amazing coincidence, I just posted my first experience with bent laminating:

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?306584-Bowfront-Console-Table-Bent-Lamination

I chose an integral tenon on my project: only needed two of them so I modified a crosscut sled to make the end cuts, and used a tenon jig on the TS to make tenon cheek cuts. Rest of tenon was done by hand. The bending form is a project in itself, but I expect to get more use out of it on future projects. Layout of the joinery is aided greatly by a full scale drawing. I suggest starting with something easier than the table in the video: the bow front table I built is pretty straightforward.

Nice table ! You used uni bond 800 but I'm looking for glue that doesn't require 70 + ambient temp. Anyone have any suggestions ? I've done very little bent lamentations the last one I did I used TB 3 gluing up 4 pieces to make up a 3/4" thick radius shelf faces. It worked OK just kinda messy. I'm going to do some wider drawer fronts 4"-6" probably use 6 pieces to get 3/4".
Thanks

[Phil Gaudio]

Thanks! I have not used this for bent laminations, but I have used it for general purpose joinery: West System T-88 epoxy: very long open time and min. application temp of 35°


Nice table ! You used uni bond 800 but I'm looking for glue that doesn't require 70 + ambient temp. Anyone have any suggestions ? I've done very little bent lamentations the last one I did I used TB 3 gluing up 4 pieces to make up a 3/4" thick radius shelf faces. It worked OK just kinda messy. I'm going to do some wider drawer fronts 4"-6" probably use 6 pieces to get 3/4".
Thanks

[Keegan Shields]

Great channel Jim. Thanks for sharing.

Darren also has a cool jig to sharpen carbide bandsaw blades. Not as fast a Derek’s Dremel jig, but perhaps you’d get more resharpenings out of it.

https://youtu.be/OOyA_5QMBHQ