Hot Pipe Wood Bending

There are multiple ways to produce curved wood for a woodworking project. The most common way is to use a bandsaw, which is versatile and allows you to make a curved cut in your stock. Another approach is to rip thin strips, apply glue, and clamp them to a form until the glue dries. Both of these approaches are helpful, but wouldn’t it be nice if you could take a single piece of glue, bend it to a desired shape, and have it stay that way? This is, in fact, possible when you apply some heat and water to a thin piece of wood. With the right approach, you can bend wood into a new shape using a hot pipe, and it will remain that shape permanently after it cools down and re-stabilizes.

Some of the key considerations for bending wood with a hot pipe that are covered in the video include:

Wood selection. It is important to understand the characteristics that are most suitable for steam bending; air dried vs. kiln dried, straight grained vs wavy, hardwoods vs. softwoods, thick vs. thin. By starting with the right wood selection you will give your steam bending project the best chance for success.

Hot pipe setup. You will need an appropriate pipe for wood bending, a fixture to hold the pipe in the appropriate position to heat the pipe.

Soak the wood. The wood will need to be soaked for an appropriate time to make it as bendable as possible before heating.

Lock in the shape. Once the wood is hot it will be pliable, and you will want to take measures to lock it into position as it cools off and dries.

Hot pipe bending is a creative approach to bending wood. If you want to explore other ways to shape wood into curves, the bandsaw is another great option. Check out this project that uses the bandsaw to produce several curves to form a beautiful Barrel box.