How to bend plywood. How. Features of complex structures. Working with large sheets how to bend plywood at home how to bend plywood at home

Plywood is a natural veneer sheet glued together and is one of the most common lumber today. This popularity is due to its high strength, and, at the same time, ease of processing. Its use has found application in furniture production, construction, shipbuilding, design and other industries. One of the most important properties of plywood is its ability to change shape as a result of bending. This process only at first glance seems complicated, but how to bend plywood can be mastered by a non-specialist.

Advantages of plywood

The material is not afraid high humidity and changes in ambient temperature. In addition, it is distinguished the following features, speaking of undeniable advantages over natural wood in some cases:

high strength;
durability and wear resistance;
ease of processing and installation;
compatible with other building materials;
cracks, including through, are absent.

The main differences between lumber are related to the type of wood from which they are made, therefore, when purchasing material, it is necessary to take into account the subsequent scope of its application.

Classification

Speaking about the classification of such material as plywood, it should be noted that there are four grades of this lumber in total.

The first grade is the best. However, it is also the most expensive. It is distinguished by a minimum of flaws and deformations.
The product of the second grade allows for minor defects such as cracks and knots.
The third grade is distinguished by the presence of numerous defects, both in the wood itself and in the lumber itself, such as leakage of the adhesive layer and the presence of inserts.
Timber of the fourth grade is suitable only for the manufacture of packaging containers. However, it is also the cheapest, as it has nai large quantity all sorts of defects.

Flexibility of plywood

Plywood has a very high bending strength factor. For this reason, bending is one of the main methods of its processing. bent plywood widely used in products.

The ease of bending a plywood sheet directly depends on its thickness. Thin sheets are easier to bend, thick sheets are more difficult. In this case, the material bends better along the fibers than across, and the bending angle in this case is the largest. How to bend plywood in the production of various products, consider below. Currently, several methods of this technological process are known.

Method by heating or steaming

Before bending the sheet, it must be thoroughly heated using steam. For this it may be suitable steam iron or a tank of boiling water. If necessary, the sheet can be impregnated hot water. The processing time directly depends on the thickness of the material and the temperature of the steam or boiling water. However, too long steaming can lead to the destruction of the adhesive layer and delamination of plywood.

Having steamed the sheet, it is bent in the desired configuration, after which this position is fixed with any material at hand, for example, with a rope. The sheet is fixed up to complete drying and takes the given form.

Cutting and notching method

This method is used when the thickness of the plywood sheet does not exceed 22 mm. It consists in creating conical cuts on the surface of the material with a depth of no more than half of the thickness of the sheet. It is desirable to do them using milling machine, as a different method can lead to cracks and splits.

Having made the necessary cuts, we bend and fix the sheet, treat the surface with glue and apply a sheet of veneer. In this position, the product is left for 24 hours.

Gluing method

Before bending plywood in this way, a pattern is made. Next, the sheet bends along it, smeared with glue and applied new leaf plywood. In this case, the directions of the fibers must alternate. After gluing the layers, fix them with clamps and leave for about a day. After that, the workpiece is subject to the grinding process. This is done in order to remove glue residue and give the product a beautiful appearance.

It should be noted that after processing, the product should not be stored in damp rooms.

There are times when you can use a special thin (3-4 mm) plywood specially designed for bending. It is used in the manufacture of products such as arches in doorways.

How to bend plywood sheets without a machine

The usefulness of a material can be determined based on three basic components:

Minimum costs per installation, while taking into account the maximum overlapping area;
The price of the material itself;
The versatility of the material. This also includes the possibility of the full use of products, provided that they are given a non-standard, for example, bent shape.

Plywood meets all these parameters. In addition to the main purpose, the lining of horizontal surfaces, it can perfectly bend and be used in the construction of the so-called "inflated" or curvilinear forms. Here's how to do it in this guide.

Each layer has its own approach

In fact, of course, the solution to the question of how to bend plywood is not calculated up to the layer, but there is still a certain amount of truth in the title of the chapter. Let's explain: there are a number of difficulties in bending plywood, which are associated precisely with the structure of the material, as well as with technological features bending process.

Namely:

The thinner the plywood, the easier it is to work with. However, for the sake of objectivity, one must also take into account the fact that in order to construct, for example, arches, plywood must be at least 10 mm, that is, you already need to bend a fairly serious puff (see also the article);
Initially, the layers of veneer are located at different angles to each other precisely in order to increase the resistance of the material to bending;
In the conditions of workshops and special workshops, bending and the necessary curvature are achieved quite simply: the part is practically impregnated with steam and then falls under the influence of a kind of vise that bends it to the desired radius of curvature.

Interesting to know! At home, you can also steam impregnate a small piece of plywood. For these purposes, you can use boiling water that turns into steam in a saucepan or kettle. Some craftsmen solve the problem of how to bend plywood using steam irons.

All this is real, but there are two points that must be considered:

First, wood cools very quickly, and this applies equally to plywood;
Secondly, it is very difficult to achieve uniform heating of the entire part, so this type is suitable for small fragments with bends, most likely for the production of curved surfaces of furniture or other small products.

How to bend

So, how to bend plywood without any hassle?

There are two main technologies:

Ferry, (which has already been described);
In a bathroom with hot water.

The second technology is much simpler, it allows you to calmly put the necessary fragment in the bathroom, or another sufficiently large container and leave it in hot water for half an hour. The effect will be guaranteed, since the wood veneer softens under the influence of water and temperature, and the plywood part acquires the necessary elasticity.

Advice! Plywood, there is plywood, there is a very high probability of delamination of the material during prolonged contact with hot water. In this case, we suggest that you become an experimenter for a while.

Take a strip of plywood required thickness and soak it in the tub. Check the condition of the fragment every 5 minutes for bending, if after a certain time (within half an hour) the fragment bends normally, then this time is enough to soak the entire working fragment.

The softened part can be installed in a stationary place, attached with self-tapping screws and left to dry completely, this is if you are making a false column, a simple arch or other part that does not require additional complex structural inserts.

A few words about complex structures

Bending is a delicate matter.

The arch of the arch is different, as is the curvilinear design of another curvilinear design. Often, home craftsmen resort to complex, combined solutions using overlay ornaments and other decorative elements. In this case, the entire structure is assembled into a single ensemble, and only then it is mounted and strengthened in a stationary place.

Note! In this case, much depends on the angle of the fold. If this angle is very small, then in order to achieve it, you will have to make several approaches.

The material is soaked, bent as far as possible, then left to dry completely. Then everything is repeated again until the part acquires the intended curvature.

There are several basic technologies for securing blanks after soaking.

We will not repeat them all, we will focus only on the one that we consider the most acceptable for the following reasons:

If you do not immediately install the workpiece in a stationary place, then you need an accurate, even bend and a combined solution;
The most advantageous result can only be provided by a pre-prepared blank or template;
Fixing on the template is guaranteed to save you from having to redo or fix the part.

In this case, we are talking about fixing the fragment on the template until it dries completely. Making the template itself is quite simple, by the way, there are also a lot of manufacturing options.

Here is one of them:

Take wooden slats length equal to the length of the part;
Cut out several fragments from chipboard or wood (from 3 or more, depending on the length of the plywood sheet being bent) and fasten them to the slats;
Fasten the plywood puff onto the finished frame with self-tapping screws and leave to dry completely.

About working with large sheets

Sometimes it becomes necessary to bend a large sheet of plywood with your own hands. This happens when making an arched vault of considerable length or other similar shape.

In this case, the following is done:

A wood cutter cuts to the last layer, but without damaging this layer (otherwise, you will simply ruin the workpiece);
The number of cuts is determined by the radius of curvature, the smaller it is, the more cuts;
The sheet is placed on the template and fixed, while the voids are not filled, but glued, PVA glue is quite suitable (find out here).

Finally

It is quite simple to bend plywood, a little patience and skills - and everything will work out (read also the article). The video in this article is ready to present you its report on the topic.

What kind of plywood can be bent?

Thin layers of wood are glued together, located in different directions. As a result, the fibers of one layer have a direction of 45º, 60º, 90º with respect to the fibers of adjacent layers. This method of manufacturing plywood increases its resistance to bending, so it is easier to bend material with a small number of layers. In production, it is bent using special equipment, clamping in matrices. It is pre-treated with steam and thereby acquires sufficient elasticity.

During repairs or private construction, a bent plywood structure may be required. Then you have to do with improvised means. But even in this case, the work can be done with high quality, if you follow the technology.

Ways to heat plywood

Heating can be done in the following ways:

ferry,
in hot water.

Without heating, work can be done with epoxy glue.

Hot water should be poured into a tub or other suitable container. big size. The blank is immersed in it for about half an hour, as a result, the layers of wood are steamed. AT living conditions steam is created using a boiling kettle. Some experienced craftsmen heat plywood with an iron. The steam supply must be constant, otherwise the wood will cool quickly.

Workpiece clamping

Moistened plywood easily changes shape, but if the bend angle is large, the work is done in stages. The wood is bent to a small angle, dried, then the steps are repeated so many times until the desired shape is reached. If the fold angle is small, you can do it in one go. The next step is to fix the plywood, which can be done in 2 ways:

the load is installed at the place of the bend, the ends are pulled together with a rope and supports are installed under them;
fastening in the template is done with adhesive tape or rope.

In the second case, any curvilinear structure made of rigid material can act as a template. The most commonly used fiberboard. To make an arch, steamed wood can be fixed in the opening using self-tapping screws. Some nuances of steaming wood should be taken into account: in very hot water, it can exfoliate, so it is important not to overdo it. A thin layer can steam out in 5 minutes. You can use another option: iron the workpiece moistened with water with a hot iron. After that, immediately give the desired shape, repeat wetting and heating with an iron.

Video about bending by ready template see at the end of the article.

A metal template made of strong steel is also used to secure plywood, but it bends with it. This technique is preferable for large parts with a complex configuration. The steel strip is tied to the plywood until it is wet, then its shape is changed. The steel template is untied only after the wood has completely dried.

If a weight is used to fix the plywood, it is important that its width is equal to the width of the workpiece. If it is smaller, only that part of the wood that is equal to the width of the load will bend. Changing the shape of plywood is independently performed with its thickness up to 20 mm. It should be taken into account that different breeds woods have different ability to bend and unbend. Compression can be done by 30%, stretching by 2%. Nice results show walnut, beech, ash. It is difficult to change the shape of maple, oak, larch.

How to bend large sheets?

A very large sheet is not always possible to process with steam. In this case, so-called cuts are made. They are stripes that have the shape of a cone. A manual milling machine is used. Cuts must be made to the opposite layer, it is important not to hook it, otherwise the material will split. For wood with a thickness of 4 mm, the depth of cut is 2 mm.

The number of cuts is greater, the steeper the bending radius. Then the plywood should be clamped on the template, and a thin layer of veneer is glued to its outer side. The glue used is epoxy or PVA. Drying time: approximately 1 day. Thus, the workpiece is hollow at the bend, but withstanding heavy loads.

Wood-laminated board, better known to us as plywood, has found wide distribution, as in finishing works as well as in the furniture industry. And one of her the most unique properties is the ability to create almost any bend. This allows you to create unique aesthetic designs and use the material more efficiently.

In this article, we will look at how plywood bending occurs in industrial and domestic conditions.

General provisions

What is a wood-laminated board? This is a collection of thin sheets of wood, veneers glued together with a special composition. In this case, tree species such as birch, alder, beech or pine are most often used.

This feature of the structure gives this material the following advantages:

Increased moisture resistance. Compared to ordinary wood, hydrophobicity this material about two times lower. This allows it to be used indoors high humidity and even for finishing external facades.

Tip: for outdoor use, it is recommended to use special plywood with increased moisture resistance of the FSF brand.
The phenol-formaldehyde resin used in it for gluing veneers is much more resistant to dampness and temperature extremes.

No warping and less susceptibility to decay processes.
Attractive wood grain appearance.

Ease of do-it-yourself application. It is very easy to work with such a pliable material.
Resistance to ultraviolet radiation . Does not fade in the sun.
Affordable price . Significantly underpriced natural wood, while exceeding it in many technical indicators.
Ease of care. The instruction allows the application household chemicals to clean the surface of the material in question.

Ecological cleanliness. All ingredients are absolutely safe for human health. This allows you to place products from this material even in the children's room.

Abrasion resistance. Does not deteriorate in places of frequent contact with hands, feet or interior items.
Durability . Due to the combination of the above qualities, it has a long service life.
Ability to create smooth shapes and curves. This is exactly the unique quality that allows you to achieve the most original designs, and that is what we will be talking about next.

Bending methods

There are two ways to bend plywood, which we will analyze in detail.

Tip: When using either method, do not place top veneer fibers across the curve.
This can cause breakage.

Folding of layers during their gluing

This technique is most suitable for production and is as follows:

Special curvilinear molds are used, heated with steam and electric shock.
Veneer sheets glued with fan glue and bent into the required position are placed in them, the moisture content of which does not exceed twelve percent.
There they are until the glue dries enough to firmly hold new form material.

You won't find home necessary equipment and therefore can be limited to the following actions:

Glue with some wood glue.
With my own hands bend them to the angle you want.
Fix the edges with epoxy.

Expect complete freezing.

The method is quite good, but you need to remember that it requires both in the production case and in homemade the presence of precisely thin veneers. If you already have it ready, then proceed to the description of the next method.

Bending a sheet of plywood after gluing

A thick piece just won't bend. It needs to be given a special treatment to soften the material and make it more pliable. And only after that you can bend the plywood by placing it in a pre-prepared curvilinear template.

The following types of processing are possible:

The factory uses industrial steam plants for this purpose.
At home, you can use steam from a kettle for small parts or household steam generators.

Large sheets should be soaked in hot water to give them elasticity. It is very important at this point to ensure that the wood-laminated board does not exfoliate.
Here you can go two ways:
- Leave the product in hot tub for half an hour. Then mark it in a hard blank and leave it like that for a week.

Moisten the workpiece with a copious amount of H 2 O, bend a little and iron it with an iron. Wet again, bend and remove moisture. And so on until the plywood takes the proper shape.

You can also heat the product in the oven to a suitable state. But this method is fraught with the appearance of cracks in case of overheating.

You can bend the pliable material after the following ways:

Place the plywood into the frame template. It is very reliable and accurate, but it needs to be done first, which requires additional costs and effort. For fixing in this case, prepared spacers and a belt system are used.

Use steel strip. You tie it together with a wood-laminated board and bend it into any fancy shape. At the same time, the metal will reliably hold its shape. After that, leave the resulting structure until completely solidified.
With the help of cuts. This is particularly advantageous in the case of particularly thick products. Apply a series of incisions at the place of the bend, which makes it much easier to bend. Set the workpiece in the position you need and fill the resulting gaps with adhesive.

Reasons for using bending methods

The above methods can achieve any smooth shapes that will hold firmly after the workpiece dries. So you can create arches in doorways and rounded corners between walls. But especially wide application to date, the bending of plywood sheets has received in the production of furniture.

This allows:

Minimize the number of traumatic corners. This is especially true for rooms where children live. Since their restlessness often causes dangerous contact with corner surfaces ordinary furniture.
Increase the aesthetic value of the interior. Because it is much more pleasant for the eye to observe smooth, rather than sharp transitions. Sliding surfaces soothe and improve mood.
Give greater solidity to the object and get rid of sometimes huge amount fixing details. This significantly enhances the strength and reliability of the structure.

Conclusion

Wood-laminated board is an excellent finishing as well as furniture material. Lower cost and improved specifications make it a serious competitor to classic wood. And what is especially remarkable, and which in no case can boast of a tree, is its amazing ability to bend into the most unimaginable forms, endowing the interior with a special aesthetic.

The video in this article will be able to provide your attention additional information which are directly related to the considered materials.

Use materials and achievements of modern technologies!

How to bend plywood correctly, you need to calculate with an accuracy of each layer.

Features and types of work

The thinner the plywood, the easier it becomes to work with.
Initially, the layers of veneer are located under different angles in relation to each other, so that the resistance of the material to bending is increased;
At the level of conditions in workshops and special workshops, bends and the desired curvature can be achieved quite easily: the parts are almost impregnated with steam, after which they are subjected to a kind of vise, which contribute to bending it to the required radius.

Note! Impregnation of plywood parts can be carried out at home. This requires the use of a vessel with boiling water and steam.

There is another way to bend plywood sheets with an iron in steam mode. This takes into account the following details:

The tree can cool down quickly enough, it has direct relationship to plywood;
It is rather difficult to achieve even heating of the entire sheet, because of this, this type of bending is suitable only for small parts of the part, which can be useful in the production of a curved surface of furniture or other products. large sizes.

There is another way to bend plywood at home - in a hot water bath.

This technique is much simpler in execution, it helps to lay out the necessary fragments in a bathroom or other large container, leaving them in hot water for about half an hour. After such procedures, the effect is guaranteed, because wood veneer under the influence of water and high temperature able to soften without obstruction. This contributes to the acquisition of elasticity of the plywood part.

Important! The plywood sheet is prone to delamination of the material when exposed to hot water for a long time.

To avoid such consequences, you can carefully and closely monitor the effect of steam from hot water on the material. To do this, take a strip of plywood of the desired thickness and soak it in the bathroom. Then check the part every five minutes for the appearance of a bend. If half an hour after the start of the procedure, the fragment is able to bend well, then this particular period of time is enough to soak all the working material.

The part in a softened state is installed in a specific place and fastened with self-tapping screws, then it should be left to dry completely.

Complex design

If necessary, perform complex combinations There are a number of features to be taken into account in this procedure. In this case, many moments can depend on the bending angles. If the angle is quite small, you will have to do several processes.

The material must be soaked, bent as much as possible, and then left to dry completely. This procedure is repeated for as long as it takes to acquire an element of the required curvature.

There are several basic technologies for fixing blank elements after the soaking process. To do this, consider the following features:

If the blank products are not installed immediately on certain place, then you can not do without accurate calculation, even bending and a combined option;
The maximum suitable result may be to ensure, thanks to a pre-prepared blank or template;
Fixations on templates with a guarantee eliminate the need to rework or fix the element.

It will be specifically about fixing desired element on the template until completely dry. The template itself is made quite easily, and there are also enough options for its manufacture. One of them:

Take wooden slats so that the length is equal to the length of the element;
Cut out several pieces from chipboard or wooden parts, more often they are used in an amount of three or more pieces, it also depends on the size of the plywood sheet that is bent, then they are strengthened with battens;
Plywood puffs are fixed on the finished frame with the help of self-tapping screws and left until completely dry.

Large sheets of plywood

Large size plywood sheets are not always steamable. In this case, it is advised to make the so-called cuts in construction, which are presented in the form of cones consisting of strips. In this case, it is better to use a manual milling machine. These parts are usually made to the opposite layer without engaging it in without fail, because in this case there is a high probability of splitting the material. These tips will come in handy for those interested in how to bend 4mm plywood.

Note! For sheets 4 mm thick, the cuts should be about 2 mm deep.

Professionals advise to make more cuts, which contributes to the creation of a steeper radius when bending. After the plywood sheet is clamped on the template, the outer side is glued with a thin layer of veneer. Glue is better to use epoxy or PVA. It will take about a day to dry. In this way, a workpiece that is hollow in places of bends is obtained, which is able to withstand considerable loads.

How to bend plywood, a video for review is provided below.

To obtain the desired quality result of the work performed When bending plywood, experts recommend considering the following features:

Better save curved sheets in a room with low air humidity - no more than 10%;
The bending radius along is much larger in comparison with the transverse deflection;
The steamed and soaked part is advised to bend in a warm state.

Many people wonder how to bend thick plywood. The above methods are also applied to such dimensions of the elements, taking into account the features acting on the material. A simple solution in this matter, it can be considered an intricate procedure by gluing several thin sheets of plywood, which are already flexible, into one thick sheet.

For those who want to learn how to bend plywood at home, a video is provided.

For those who don't know how to bend 10mm plywood, below is one of the common ways. Here are his main actions:

Soak plywood sheets in water for about two hours. Or soak until the parts soften.
Pin soft sheets plywood in a bench vise.

Bend the parts with clamps or in another convenient way.
It is recommended to bend plywood sheets along the grain so that it is more durable and does not split.
Leave it to dry for about two hours.

Adhering to the above features of the plywood bending procedure, the workflow at home is not difficult.