Wood bending is intriguing to the vast majority of woodworkers, but until now most have not had access to the information they need to add it to their repertoire. This highly visual book and DVD changes that. It features step-by-step instruction on some of the most common techniques. Expert Lon Schleining explains and demonstrates both steam bending (where steam relaxes wood fibers so they can be shaped when clamped to a bending form) and bent lamination (where thin strips of wood are glued together, then clamped to a bending form). Schleining shows just how easy it can be to master these techniques, even using relatively low-tech equipment.

About the Author
Lon Schleining is also the author of Treasure Chests, The Workbench, and The Complete Manual of Wood Bending. He has written extensively on tool and shop-related subjects for Fine Woodworking and Fine Homebuilding. A licensed contractor, he builds custom staircases.

Chapter 1: Bending forms
Start with a drawing
Female vs. male forms
Make a pattern
Drawing the forms
Making a pattern with a router
Making a pattern by hand
Making the layers
Assemblying the form
Male form with female clamp blocks

Chapter 2: Cutting laminates
Test a sample piece
Determine number of layers
Cutting laminates on the tablesaw
Using the bandsaw to cut laminates
Planning thin strips
Using pre-sliced veneers for bending
Cutting laminates

Chapter 3: Dry clamping and choosing glue
Dry clamping
Prepare to glue
Springback
Glue creep, a.k.a cold creep
Varieties of glue
Mixing plastic resin glue
Preparing the glue

Chapter 4: Gluing-up and clamping
Spread the glue
Getting the bend started
Alignment
Setting the bend
Gluing up the laminations
Bending and clamping the glued part

Chapter 5: Milling the glued piece
Removing the clamps
Removing the glue
Belt-sand the edges
Planing the part
Clean the glue off the face
Milling the bent lamination

Chapter 6: Steam bending
Steam bending setup
Making a steam box
Selecting the right boiler
Steam bending forms
Trial bending
Bending around a form
Building a steam box
Trial bending
Bending around a form

Chapter 7: Compression bending
How compression works
What is a compression strap?
The stronger the strap, the better
Components of a compression strap
Commercially available compression straps
Bending a chair back
Bending with a compression strap
Building a compression strap

Chapter 8: Bending with heat
How heat bending works
Making a hot pipe
Test the pipe's heat
Bending with a hot pipe
Bending with a silicone heating blanket
Bending with a hot pipe
Bending with a heating blanket

Resources
Index