Bending Plywood

[nathan_burley]

Hi GFolk,

I’m hoping my Glowforge is going to ship at the end of this month and high on the list of stuff I want to do is to use the forge to cut shapes from thin ply and then soak these sheets then mould them to a former. Has anyone tried doing this with the Forge yet and if so… any tips?

[timtsuga]

Have not done it with the Forge but I have molded laminations of both thin and thick wood, select your wood thickness based on how much you have to bend / mold it.

I have never found it necessary to wet it, just clamp and glue. There is a formula for “spring back” if you are really into perfection of the final form after unclamping!

[nathan_burley]

Thanks @timtsuga, did you start with thin ply or just veneer?

[erin]

It’s on my list of things to do, but it’s a long list and I haven’t done it yet. I’ll be looking forward to your experiments and what you can come up with if you decide to share

[timtsuga]

I usually use thin strips ripped on a table saw to make laminations. Think laminated boat stems and laminated chair parts, a little thicker wood than veneer or existing plywood.

Here is an example of a mold glue up.

Laminations being prepared for glue up, clamped to mold.

Clamp and GlueUp