Jonathan Benson is a professional furniture maker who specializes in contemporary curved pieces with extensive veneer figures. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, he has won numerous prestigious design awards and is the author of Wood Art Today. He lives in Des Moines, Iowa.
"I'm sure we've all looked at the gentle curve of a chair leg or
the severe bends of a violin's sides and wondered how it was done.
This book by Jonathan Benson takes the mystery out of wood bending
and reveals to the woodworker how it was accomplished.""This isn't
a book on furniture making or a collection of projects utilizing
formed or bent wood elements. Rather, it focuses primarily on the
mechanics of bending wood. Whether it be for the curved leg of a
table, the side of a guitar or violin, the spring of a bow, the
oval of a Shaker box and more, this book probably describes how it
was done.""Strictly speaking, it isn't a project book because,
although Benson does include plans for things like a Shaker box and
a willow wood chair, other projects focus only on the bent elements
of larger items like the sides of a guitar or the legs of a chair.
The real strength of this volume lies in its excellent overview of
the whole topic of bending and forming wood. As such, the author
covers the physics and mechanics of bending wood, the problems one
might encounter when bending, when to bend, the options available
(bending around a form, vacuum bending, microwaving, etc), the uses
of steam, water and heat, the bending characteristics of 82 wood
species. the equipment and tools one would need, panels,
laminations and adhesives and demonstration projects.""The book
relies heavily on color photos and they are excellent. In fact, the
text is there primarily to support the photos; a picture is
definitely worth a thousand words and there are plenty here.
However, like many facets of woodworking, there is no substitute
for experience. My own experience is limited to bending the thin
woods for the sides of musical instruments. I have found that even
within a species, each piece of wood is different when it comes to
bending and developing a feel for the both the wood and the process
is critical. Only through experience can you develop a feel for how
much pressure can be appl
"I’m sure we’ve all looked at the gentle curve of a chair leg or
the severe bends of a violin’s sides and wondered how it was done.
This book by Jonathan Benson takes the mystery out of wood bending
and reveals to the woodworker how it was accomplished." "This isn’t
a book on furniture making or a collection of projects utilizing
formed or bent wood elements. Rather, it focuses primarily on the
mechanics of bending wood. Whether it be for the curved leg of a
table, the side of a guitar or violin, the spring of a bow, the
oval of a Shaker box and more, this book probably describes how it
was done." "Strictly speaking, it isn’t a project book because,
although Benson does include plans for things like a Shaker box and
a willow wood chair, other projects focus only on the bent elements
of larger items like the sides of a guitar or the legs of a chair.
The real strength of this volume lies in its excellent overview of
the whole topic of bending and
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