In this article, David, the author of the YouTube channel Make Something, will tell you about a fairly simple way to bend plywood and hardwood using multiple bending cuts.
Materials
- sheet plywood
- Mirror
- Furniture hooks
- PVA glue
- Polyurethane adhesive
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- Edge.
Instruments, used by the author.
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- Orbital sander
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- Knife, iron, ruler, pencil.
Manufacturing process.
In this section of plywood, the master will make a series of cuts in order to obtain a flexible section that can easily be bent to the knee. First, he cuts the plywood sheet to the required size.
And then exposes the saw blade to a height almost in the middle of the top layer of plywood, in fact the blade fits already under the veneer. Here the principle is this: the deeper the cut, the deeper the bending is possible, but the weaker the surface. Here, as in any business, measure and common sense are important!
Almost all types of blades can be involved in the project. The author uses a combined drive.
He has plywood on a transverse movable carriage. To help the masters, the author also cites the following. This is an automatic calculation of cuts for individual bending angle of plywood or wood. The calculation takes into account the depth of cuts, the distance between them, depending on the desired radius of curvature.
In the case of the author, he needs to make a series of cuts with a distance from each other equal to the width of the saw blade. He makes so many cuts until he gets a bend of 90 degrees.
For control, the author puts a mark in pencil, which will each time measure the desired distance between the cuts.
So, it turned out 8 slots. Up to 90 degrees is not enough.
The author makes another 1-2 cuts. This plywood is ¾ inch thick and in order to achieve the tightest radius, the author made 9 cuts. A more gentle bend could be made, in which case the distance between the slots would be wider.
Now the master makes the next series of cuts at a certain distance from the first.
Next, to glue these areas with polyurethane adhesive. In contact with water, the glue foams and fills a space.
The master moistens the areas with slots with water, pours glue into them, evens them with a brush, and then twists the plywood to the desired shape and leaves to dry for an hour.You can use ordinary glue for woodwork, but polyurethane glue, foaming, very well fills all cavities.
To maintain the shape without clamps can not do.
The author splashes the second segment with water and leaves it as it is. Plywood bends under its own weight and freezes. In this form, it can still bend and spring.
You can see how the glue foamed and filled the voids.
In the slot, one could also pour enough polyurethane adhesive to fix the bend. But the author has a slightly different idea: plywood will be attached to the racks on the sides, which will add rigidity to the structure.
It will be a hanger. From the same plywood with cherry wood veneer, the master cuts the side racks.
It crushes them, fixing the welts with an iron. And cuts off the excess.
Racks are glued to the central surface and tightened with clamps.
Cuts a mirror of suitable sizes.
Next, the author cuts 4 planks with a bevel of 45 degrees and forms a frame for them under the mirror.
On the front side, drills holes through which the frame will be additionally fixed with screws on the back side.
Then he opens the product with linseed oil with the exception of the area on which the mirror will be mounted.
The latter sits on hot glue. In this case, the mirror can be removed and replaced if it bursts. On the reverse side screws are screwed into the frame.
After the hooks are screwed.
You saw the easiest and fastest way to bend wood and plywood. True, there is a small drawback - it is necessary to somehow hide the cuts, for example, by laminating or edging.
Another way to bend the wood David is talking about is to use thin sheets of veneer. Its essence is to bend a lot of thin layers and hold them in the desired shape with glue and fixation until the glue between them is completely dry. The disadvantage of this method is that the layers are pretty visible. In addition, for each type of bend, the master has to make a personal clamping device.
There is also a third method - steam bending. But not all types of wood can be bent, because with compression, wood fibers are compressed on the inside and, on the contrary, are stretched.
Thus, each method of bending wood has its advantages and disadvantages.
Slots can be masked with paper-based veneers and a mixture of putty and glue can be used. You can go across the fibers or along the fibers. In the second case, bending will be easier to produce.
The same technology can also be applied to hardwood, such as hazel.
Here's a shelf from the master. In the upper part, a small hiding place was obtained.
I thank the author for the simple but very useful technology for bending plywood!
All good mood, good luck, and interesting ideas!
Author video can be found here.