Bentwood is a woodworking process where wood is steamed, bent into shapes, and dried to harden. It’s commonly used in furniture making, especially for chairs and tables. The process requires practice and works best on thinner pieces of wood. Multi-density fiberboard is used to secure the wood into shape during drying. Bentwood rocking chairs are popular due to their ornate armrests and backs.
Bentwood is a type of woodworking in which pieces of wood are steamed, bent into shapes and curves, and then dried to harden into those shapes. The process is common in furniture making, and bentwood furniture can come in the form of chairs, tables, footstools, and other common household pieces. Bentwood rocking chairs are perhaps the most common types of furniture made through this process and the ornate armrests and backs of the chairs make them popular for enhancing the decor of living rooms or lounges. The process can be a little difficult for inexperienced carpenters and takes some practice to perfect.
The bentwood process works best on thinner pieces of wood that are porous enough to allow moisture from the steam to temporarily soften the wood. The wood is placed in a sort of enclosure, which is fed with steam created by a heat source. A do-it-yourselfer can use a kettle heated on a griddle or stove and can then connect the spout of the kettle with some sort of heat-resistant hose to the enclosure. When enough steam is generated, the wood will soften and the person will be able to bend it into the desired shape. This process should be done slowly to avoid cracking the wood.
Once the wood has been bent, it will need to be secured into that shape to prevent it from bending. Some woodworkers use multi-density fiberboard (MDF) to do this. The MDF is cut into the shape of the bent piece of wood, then cut so that two pieces of MDF exist. The wood is placed between the two pieces and clamped tightly with a set of clamps. The wood will dry in this position, thus preventing the wood from bending during the seasoning process. There are other methods as well, some more efficient than others, but the basic concept is the same: the wood must dry in place to preserve the curves and creases of the bentwood.
Chairs and tables are the most common constructions using bentwood. Rocking chairs are common because bent pieces of wood lend themselves well to creating curved rockers or legs that allow the rocking chair to move back and forth. Comfortable armrests and seat backs can also be made easily with the bentwood process, and the chair can be accented with other wooden curves to create a pleasing aesthetic.
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