Bent Plywood - such as Eames, etc.

[Bill Fleming]

I would like to make some chairs and stools using bent plywood such as Eames and others. Does anyone have such experience? Is it possible to do on a small scale in a smail shop?

Any practical books addressing the techniques of doing this type of work on a small scale?

Any thoughts appreciated.

Thx Bill

[Jamie Buxton]

Yes, it is possible in a small shop. A vacuum press is a key tool for this sort of thing. In short, the process works like this... You make a bending form for each bent component. You slather a stack of laminates with glue, bend them over the form, use the vacuum press to ensure they're touching, and wait for the glue to cure. After the component cures, you trim to shape. Some folks put the bending form inside the vacuum bag, so the bag does the bending as well as the laminating. Other folks put the bending form outside the bag. In this case, you use mechanical clamps to establish the shape, and the vacuum bag only to squeeze the laminates together. Non-creeping glue is good; urea-formaldehyde is what I use.

Depending on what tools you have and what you're doing, you can sometimes use bandsawn laminates. For other applications, you may want to use bending plywood. This is thin (.1" or so) plywood specifically intended for bending. My local vendors call it Italian bending poplar.
Bending poplar isn't particularly good-looking, so I generally use commercial sliced veneer to cover it. I find it much easier to first apply the show veneer to what will become the outside laminate, and then do the bent-lamination operation. It is possible to veneer a curved surface, but I find it is easier to remove the veneering tape when the laminate is still flat.