How to bend plywood at home: step by step instructions. How to bend a plywood sheet Bending a strip of thin plywood into a circle

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 saturated 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 the bathroom with hot water.

The second technology is much simpler, it allows you to calmly put the necessary fragment into 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 in terms of 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.

Ways

To bend plywood exists a large number of various ways. Some of them are especially effective. IN construction stores you can already find special plywood, which are sold in curved form.

But you can make the bend yourself, and for this you need the following methods:

Steaming;
notching method;
gluing;
a combination of the above methods.

If we talk in more detail about such a method as steaming, then it consists in shaping the plywood with the help of special installation. This is a fairly common option and is considered one of the most effective.

If you decide to use it at home, it will be enough just to put containers with hot water and ensure a constant supply of warm steam. Then bring a sheet of plywood and use steaming to give the desired bend.

Some experts in this field argue that the sheet can be lowered into water (for example, fill a bathroom and put plywood in it). In order to shape a material with a thickness of 10 mm, it will not take a lot of time.

It is worth noting that this method is not recommended for use at home, as the desired effect may not be achieved. This is due to the fact that when carrying out this method it is very difficult to maintain a constant temperature for a long time.

The gluing method implies the manufacture of a bend according to a specific pattern. Then, with each sheet, you need to do the work according to this sample, laying the sheets on top of each other (the direction of the fibers should alternate).

If you want to get high-quality and reliable work, then do not forget about a few tips.

The first thing to note is the direction of the bend. If you work with the material, giving it a shape not across, but along, the result can be achieved much faster and without much effort.

The sheet you are working with must be stored in a dry place without high humidity. This is very important, because with the receipt of moisture, the material can succumb to deformation.

If you have resorted to the steaming method or have boiled the wood, do not wait until it cools down. You should always start with material that has recently been heat treated.

We bend a tree (wood) and plywood:

Plywood sheets are widely used in decoration and construction. They have unique properties. With them, you can create almost any shape. This made it possible to create original designs and more efficient use of building materials.

Below we will write exactly how you can get bent plywood by hand and in production.

If you decide bend plywood by hand, then you can proceed as follows:

Glue several thin plywood sheets with wood glue.
Bend the sheets yourself into the desired position.
Fix the position along the edges of the sheets with epoxy mortar.
Wait for the sheets to dry.

The method is good, but do not forget that only thin veneer is used for it. Ready-made sheets of thick plywood in this case will not work for you.

How to bend plywood after it dries

Thin sheets of plywood bend just like that. But thicker sheets must first be pre-treated to become much softer and more flexible. Only then plywood sheet can be bent.

Processing of plywood sheets is of the following types:

After this processing, plywood can be bent as follows:

Using the above methods, you can give plywood sheets smooth shapes.

They will keep their position even after complete drying. Thanks to these methods, the production of arches for and rounded wall shapes has become very easy.

In construction and production bent plywood provides the following benefits:

Due to the solidity of the finished structure, you can get rid of the workload of fixation details. The strength and reliability of the finished structure is significantly increased.

Plywood is great construction material. Sheets are suitable both for finishing and for the production of products from bent plywood.

Their cost and high technical qualities made sheets worthy rivals to plain wood.

A distinctive feature is that plywood sheets have a high ability to bend in various forms than wood cannot boast of.

Due to this, your

You can make a lot of useful things from plywood: furniture, shelves, partitions, various coasters, and more. However, in order for all this to be complete and beautiful, it is desirable to give homemade products different shapes, including round ones. In this case, the question arises: is it possible to bend plywood on your own and how to do it? To answer it, you need to know the existing technologies and methods of this process.

Stages:

	Plywood bending options. Features and nuances of the implementation of various methods.
	Choice of materials. In specialized outlets, plywood of different quality, size and thickness is sold, so it is extremely important to choose the best option.
	Bending the material by heating or notching the workpiece.
	Bending plywood with a large thickness. Features, options.
	Tools for doing work.

How to bend plywood at home: features

To properly bend plywood, moisture and heat are needed. It is also possible to use a dry version of changing the shape of the tree. These methods are applicable to plywood of any thickness, however, it must be taken into account that the thicker the material, the more time is required to obtain the desired result. The scope of use of bent plywood is quite wide - from construction work (cladding spiral staircases, production of bases for arches, etc.) to the manufacture of bent furniture.

Choosing plywood for bending at home

Since this material is made by gluing thin layers of wood that are placed in different directions, the bending resistance increases. For this reason, thin plywood should be taken for work, as it has fewer layers. In the factory, its bending occurs on specialized equipment. The material is given the required elasticity by pre-treating it with steam.

At home, when repairing an apartment or a private house, structures that have a rounded shape are often needed (for example, when arranging an arch). They can be made with your own hands from bent plywood. Observing the technology, it is possible to obtain a high-quality product, despite the use of improvised means.

Plywood is sold at construction markets and at special points (specialty stores, supermarkets, etc.). When choosing, it is necessary to pay attention to the flexibility of the material, which is produced with a thickness of 3-4 mm. As a rule, it is used to create arches in doorways or when moving from room to room. After processing, a workpiece made of a similar material is fixed to the frame with screws.

IN Lately was visible on the market similar plywood Chinese production. It combines affordable cost and suitable quality. There are several ways that are used to create bent structures:

gluing;

cuts;

steaming;

various combinations of the above methods.

How to bend plywood at home (video): heating

This process can be done in the following ways:

immersing the workpiece in hot water (temperature - 60 ° C);

using superheated steam;

soaking in a warm liquid (rarely used, as it increases the time of the whole process).

If there are no conditions and the ability to bend the material using the above methods, epoxy glue can be used.

To apply the superheated steam technique, some experts create steam using a boiling kettle, less often an iron. But since the supply of steam must be constant, it is rather difficult to obtain steam in the required amount at home. For this reason, the first option is more popular for self-obtaining the required form of plywood.

Hot water should be poured into any open container - a bathtub is best, as its volume makes it possible to make bent products quite large sizes. The plywood blank is immersed in hot water for about 30 minutes. During this time, the wood will be able to crack down on the desired amount. A wet blank will easily change its shape, however, it should be borne in mind that if it is necessary to bend the plywood at a large angle, the whole process will need to be carried out in several stages:

first, bending should be performed at a small angle;

the material is again immersed in hot water;

after 30 minutes, the procedure is repeated, the bending angle increases;

the technology is repeated until the plywood acquires desired shape.

But you need to take into account the fact that when soaking the workpiece, it can exfoliate. In the event that the plywood thickness is too small, 4-6 minutes may be enough to bend it. In some cases, an iron is used. The wetted material is ironed with a heated iron and immediately it is given the necessary shape, after which it must again be moistened and ironed with a heated iron.

In order to process a large sheet of plywood with steam on your own, there are far from always suitable conditions. In this case, to obtain the desired result, cuts are made in the material according to the type of strips that have the shape of a cone. For such work, a hand-held electric tool with a cutter installed on it is used.

Such cuts must be made very carefully, otherwise chips may form on the material.

For a workpiece with a thickness of 4-5 mm, the depth of such cuts should not exceed 2 mm, and their number directly depends on the steepness of the desired bending radius. That is, the larger it is, the more cuts will be required.

After that, the material is clamped on the template. The outer layer is pasted over with a strip of veneer, for which epoxy glue or even PVA is used. Plywood dries for about a day. The result is a hollow blank that can withstand fairly large loads.

Workpiece fastening. Video

In order for the shape of plywood to be stable, it must be fixed. This work can be done in several ways:

Any heavy object is placed at the bend, the ends are pulled together with a rope and supports are mounted under them.

The workpiece is fixed in the template with a cord, rope or tape.

The first method is absolutely clear, however, it will be necessary to control the design, since the plywood may slightly deviate from the required angle during the cooling process. The second method involves the use of a template, which can be used for almost any design with the necessary bend angles for the future part. Very often, a do-it-yourself fiberboard template is used. If you need to make an arch, then the steamed blank can be installed directly in place by clamping it with screws in the opening.

Steel templates can be used to fasten plywood. They bend with the wood. This technique is used for the manufacture of large-sized parts with a complex shape. A strip of steel is attached to plywood before lowering into the bath. After that, it is folded together with the blank sheet. Detachment occurs only after the absolute drying of the workpiece.

When using a load to fix the material, you should be careful and try to make it equal in width to the workpiece sheet. If this is not the case, then only the part of the plywood that was equal to the width of the load will be bent. Similar options are used for wood with a thickness of not more than 2 cm. In addition, it should be borne in mind that different varieties trees can bend in different ways.

The maximum effect can be achieved if the plywood was made of ash, walnut or beech. Experts do not recommend using oak, maple or larch blank sheets for plywood bending. As a rule, for wood it is possible to carry out compression by 25-33%, and tension by 1.5-2.5%.

How to bend thick plywood at home: video

If it was necessary to make a bent product from plywood with a thickness of 1.5 to 2.2 cm, then, as a rule, the option of cutting its surface with a cutter is used. The depth of the cut should not exceed half the thickness of the material sheet. It can reach a layer with the opposite direction, but not go deep into it. Otherwise, the workpiece will split. There is no exact definition for slot width as it can vary. The effect is quite possible when the bending angle on one side of the material is greater than on the other. This method can be used to create the walls of the boat.

The plywood is bent to the desired angle and clamped into the mould. A strip of veneer is glued on top. Drying - 24 hours. The gluing procedure itself is possible both with cuts outward and inward - the level of rigidity of the part will not change from this. Just in the first case, voids are formed.

There is another option for obtaining products from thick plywood - gluing. In this case, a bent workpiece is cut with an allowance of 2-6 mm from a thin material. Simply put, a pattern is created, which is superimposed on the sheet in such a way that the plasticity and direction of the veneer alternate in the finished part to obtain the necessary rigidity. Plywood layers should be glued together using an epoxy composition, after which the workpiece is clamped with clamps for a day, which will give it the desired shape.

When the product is completely dry, it will need to be sanded and grind off all the irregularities around the edges.

To obtain a quality product, it is important to follow these recommendations:

for the safety of the received parts, the humidity level in the room should not exceed 9-11%;
the bend radius across the wood fiber should be smaller than along it;
materials that have been steamed or soaked in hot water must be bent while they are still warm.

In order to get a fairly complex bent structure, it is better to contact specialists with professional tools, experience and skills.

- this is the material without which in the construction and repair areas can not do. It is also used in the manufacture of furniture. But sometimes it becomes necessary to obtain a curved plywood sheet. Of course, you can contact a company where, with the help of special equipment and in a certain technology, a curved part will be made for you. This can be done independently. We offer several proven ways to help bend plywood at home.

Methods for obtaining plywood bend

There are some of the most proven ways to bend plywood material. However, when different options to obtain a bend, you need to consider some points. In the case when an arch is required, plywood is chosen with a thickness of at least 10 mm. And this is already a fairly thick puff. From this we can conclude that the thinner the material, the easier it is to act on it, and, as a result, plywood bends more easily.

To date, there are three main methods for bending a plywood sheet:

steaming;
incision;
gluing.

Each method is good and effective in its own way. But you can also use a combination, which will eventually get tougher bent structures. Let's try to analyze each of the three technologies first.

Steaming plywood

IN industrial production to obtain a plywood bend, the steaming method is often used. It consists in exposing the raw material to steam, after which the plywood is placed in an installation where a press is applied to it. Under the influence of a special vice, the material is bent to the desired radius of curvature.

At home, it will be more difficult to carry out the steaming procedure. This will require the presence of very large containers in which water must boil. In this case, plywood is simply fixed above the containers, and the steam itself will already do its job.

An alternative to steaming can be soaking the plywood sheet in water. You can use the bath for this. However, there are some nuances here as well.

Firstly, the duration of soaking will directly depend on the thickness of the material, as well as on the direction in which the bend is required.

Secondly, the process of soaking plywood in more warm water will go much faster. So, for example, at water temperatures up to 90-100 degrees, the soaking time can be 1.5-3 hours, at water temperatures up to 60 degrees almost twice as long, in cool water (15-30 degrees) even longer - 15- 20 times.

When the steaming or soaking time has been maintained for as long as necessary, the plywood can be bent, but only across the grain. To do this, the workpiece is attached to the template, fixed in the desired position and wait for the material to dry completely. It will be much more effective to combine both methods.

Plywood notching

This method also helps to achieve the desired curvature of the sheet. Moreover, the thickness of plywood can be from 15 to 20 mm. The bending method is as follows: in those places where the bend is planned, small cuts are made with a milling cutter. The notches should be a depth not exceeding half the thickness of the sheet, otherwise the material may simply break. It is also important that the cuts do not reach the key course in the opposite direction.

The width of the cuts on different sides of the plywood can be different. This allows you to get such a result - on the one hand, the bending angle is less, on the other - more. Using this technique, many people bend plywood to form the sides of a boat. And in order to fix the resulting shape, the plywood is clamped and a layer of veneer is glued on top.

The glue in this case is epoxy, although it is quite possible to get by with PVA glue.

Bonding parts

This method consists in taking a thin sheet of plywood and cutting it into separate parts. They make a pattern and use it to connect the elements to obtain the desired shape. To do this, epoxy glue is applied to the joints, the parts are glued together and fixed. Clamps can be used to clamp the bonding points. Dry ready product should take about a day, after which it can be used. So that the joints and irregularities are not visible on the workpiece, it is subjected to grinding.