{"id":3139,"date":"2022-07-16T08:09:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-16T05:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodiswood.com\/?p=3139"},"modified":"2022-07-07T16:21:20","modified_gmt":"2022-07-07T13:21:20","slug":"3-ways-to-bend-wood-into-a-circle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodiswood.com\/3-ways-to-bend-wood-into-a-circle\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Ways to Bend Wood Into a Circle"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cutting wood into a bend or into a circle means you are wasting a precious resource. That’s because if the cut-out parts are too small to use, they will mostly go to waste. Instead, woodworkers usually bend wood for this purpose. However, bending wood into a complete circle is something most woodworkers don’t commonly do. If you have no clue how to bend wood into a circle, you are in luck. In this article, we will tell you 3 ways to bend wood into a circle instead of just one. So read through the whole guide to find a way that is more suitable for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first method of bending wood into a circle is by using steam bending. The second method requires you to use kerf bending, one of the more common ways to bend wood. The third way is by using the cold lamination method for bending wood<\/a> into a circle. For steam bending, it is best to use wood that is air-dried. Also, not all species of wood give good results in this technique. For cold lamination bending, you need to use thin strips of wood. So you are limited by the thickness of wood that you can turn into a circle. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bending wood has been a common practice amongst woodworkers for a long time now. In the old days, people used to boil wood in water to bend it. These days you don’t have to boil wood but can use a steam box for the purpose of introducing heat. The only issue with steam bending is the limited number of species that react positively to it. You can bend other woods with steam too but they will have their own set of problems. Kerf bending is pretty easy and most people consider it the standard method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making a Jig for Turning Wood into a Circle<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since we are going to be making a circle by bending wood in all three methods, they will be utilising one jig. To design this jig you just need a wooden wheel, on which the wood can bend around. It needs to be hollow in between which will be used to clamp the wood that needs bending. To make a wooden wheel you just need to cut it out from either a solid stock. You can also stack multiple sheets of plywood that can be stuck together and then cut a wheel out of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will also need multiple jigs that will be used to hold the wood in a circle around the jig. The jig needs to be solid, you will also need to put it on a heavy workbench that does not move when you bend wood into a circle around it. Also, the heavier the wooden piece is the harder it will be to turn it into a circle in a homemade jig. You will need something industrial almost to turn a thick piece of wood into a circle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 Ways to Bend Wood Into a Circle – With Pros and Cons<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Steam Bending Method<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The steam method is said to be the best method of softening and then bending wood. It requires you to heat air-dried lumber using steam, so the wood will be heated around approx 100-Centigrade or 212-Fahrenheit. It takes about an hour per inch of thickness of the wood for it to soften properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this method to really work you need to have a steam box. You can buy a steamer from your local hardware store. However, you need to build a steam box yourself from scratch. Building a steam box is not that difficult, you just need to build a box big enough to house the lumber you want to bend. It is not different from building any other ordinary box. Just needs dowels to hold wood so that it steams from all directions. You also need to make a hole in the back for the steam pipe and a hole in the front for steam release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lid will need to have a gasket to seal it when it is closed so it does not allow all of the steam to escape. But the hole is necessary since you don’t want to build a lot of pressure inside it. When your air-dried lumber from the species we mentioned earlier is fully softened, you need to hook it up to the circular jig, and then clamp it tightly. You have around 3-5 minutes before the wood starts to harden again, so time is of the essence. Later on, you can either use glue or any other method to stick both the ends of the wood together into a circle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pros<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n