Custom-made furniture made of flexible MDF and plywood. Production of furniture from painted MDF. Frames and details of chairs made of bent plywood

If you are making furniture from plywood, or are just planning, sooner or later the question arises of how to make a “bent” element of your product from flat plywood. This article will be about this. I will tell and show, or rather, I will try to systematize the methods and secrets of making radius bent volumetric parts from flat plywood.

Let's start with something simple.

The first method of making bent plywood parts – simply cut out a “bent” part from the sheet. Or several. And arrange them in the right order. Like, for example, here:

As you can see, all the parts of the chair are flat, but the chair as a whole does not have a single plane. You can read more about this project

Or like this:

Here has smooth shapes, but still consists of absolutely flat parts.

A further development of the same method is to join the cut ones in a certain way. flat parts to obtain curvilinear volumetric shapes. This is how this plywood chair is constructed:

But there is no need to regard this method of manufacturing curved plywood surfaces as very simple and primitive. A further development of the method is gluing plywood parts into one solid mass and cutting out the required shape from it.

Here's an example.

From gluing together flat plywood parts like this

By this link There are detailed drawings and a description of the manufacture of such a plywood chair.

This is a seemingly simple way.

The second method of obtaining bent plywood. Actually, this sentence contains the whole essence of the method. There is no way to think about any actions on flat plywood. The essence of the method is gluing veneer into a plywood part a certain shape and "bending".

The idea is well shown in this video - Description of the process of producing bent-glued parts from plywood

Here it is very important to make a high-quality matrix on which the veneer will be glued into plywood.

To simplify the matrix manufacturing process, such a device was invented.

Examples of using this method:

A) Plywood chair

The main part of this chair is obtained by gluing veneer into plywood in this matrix

More details

b) Plywood chair

All parts of this chair are obtained by gluing veneer into plywood using special dies.

More details

c) All the details of this chair

made not from sheet plywood, but from plywood obtained independently by gluing veneer in matrices.

More details about this plywood chair -

One could go on and on about examples of the use of this method. Let's move on to the next method.

The third method of obtaining bent plywood surfaces – through cuts in plywood, which give it flexibility and at the same time do not deprive it required level strength.

The seat and back of this plywood chair are made from ordinary laminated plywood sheets.

Thanks to the “pattern” of through cuts, the plywood parts have acquired flexibility and exactly follow the contour of the guides along which they are curved.

More details about this plywood chair -

Or here's another example - again plywood rocking chair.

Thanks to these cuts in the plywood, the main plywood part of the rocking chair gained flexibility. And besides, there is also a springy “softness”.

More information about the rocking chair

The fourth method of producing bent plywood parts – not through cuts.

The essence of the method is well shown in this video

A certain number of parallel blind cuts on one side plywood sheet will allow this sheet to be bent along a certain radius. It is applied not only to plywood, but also to wood, MDF and chipboard.

Usage example this method on practice

Plywood chair.

Made using a CNC machine from sheet plywood. You can see more details . Eat good video illustrating the process of making a plywood chair.

One more example - baby rocking horse.

Unlike a chair, in this case To strengthen the structure, the grooves are filled with glue.

for a description of the manufacturing process

Here are the main ways I know of bending plywood. The numbering of methods is conditional.
On my website, all projects using “bent plywood” are marked with the appropriate tag - – you can easily browse and select a couple of ideas for bending plywood.
If anyone knows any other ways, please write and I’ll add them!

If you are making furniture from plywood, or are just planning, sooner or later the question arises of how to make a “bent” element of your product from flat plywood. This article will be about this. I will tell and show, or rather, I will try to systematize the methods and secrets of making radius bent volumetric parts from flat plywood.

Let's start with something simple.

The first method of making bent plywood parts – simply cut out a “bent” part from the sheet. Or several. And arrange them in the right order. Like, for example, here:

As you can see, all the parts of the chair are flat, but the chair as a whole does not have a single plane. You can read more about this project

Or like this:

Here has smooth shapes, but still consists of absolutely flat parts.

A further development of the same method is to join flat parts cut in a certain way to obtain curvilinear volumetric shapes. This is how this plywood chair is constructed:

But there is no need to regard this method of manufacturing curved plywood surfaces as very simple and primitive. A further development of the method is gluing plywood parts into one solid mass and cutting out the required shape from it.

Here's an example.

From gluing together flat plywood parts like this

By this link There are detailed drawings and a description of the manufacture of such a plywood chair.

This is a seemingly simple way.

The second method of obtaining bent plywood. Actually, this sentence contains the whole essence of the method. There is no way to think about any actions on flat plywood. The essence of the method is gluing veneer into a plywood piece of a certain shape and “bending”.

The idea is well shown in this video - Description of the process of producing bent-glued parts from plywood

Here it is very important to make a high-quality matrix on which the veneer will be glued into plywood.

To simplify the matrix manufacturing process, such a device was invented.

Examples of using this method:

A) Plywood chair

The main part of this chair is obtained by gluing veneer into plywood in this matrix

More details

b) Plywood chair

All parts of this chair are obtained by gluing veneer into plywood using special dies.

More details

c) All the details of this chair

made not from sheet plywood, but from plywood obtained independently by gluing veneer in matrices.

More details about this plywood chair -

One could go on and on about examples of the use of this method. Let's move on to the next method.

The third method of obtaining bent plywood surfaces – through cuts in plywood, which give it flexibility and at the same time do not deprive it of the required level of strength.

The seat and back of this plywood chair are made from ordinary laminated plywood sheets.

Thanks to the “pattern” of through cuts, the plywood parts have acquired flexibility and exactly follow the contour of the guides along which they are curved.

More details about this plywood chair -

Or here's another example - again plywood rocking chair.

Thanks to these cuts in the plywood, the main plywood part of the rocking chair gained flexibility. And besides, there is also a springy “softness”.

More information about the rocking chair

The fourth method of producing bent plywood parts – not through cuts.

The essence of the method is well shown in this video

A certain number of parallel blind cuts on one side of a plywood sheet will allow this sheet to be bent along a certain radius. It is applied not only to plywood, but also to wood, MDF and chipboard.

An example of using this method in practice

Plywood chair.

Made using a CNC machine from sheet plywood. You can see more details . There is a good video illustrating the process of making a plywood chair.

One more example - baby rocking horse.

Unlike a chair, in this case, to strengthen the structure, the grooves are filled with glue.

for a description of the manufacturing process

Here are the main ways I know of bending plywood. The numbering of methods is conditional.
On my website, all projects using “bent plywood” are marked with the appropriate tag - – you can easily browse and select a couple of ideas for bending plywood.
If anyone knows any other ways, please write and I’ll add them!

Despite the huge variety building materials, produced modern industry, their new modifications and varieties appear every year, distinguished by an excellent set of physical and technical parameters and unique specific properties.

One of them is flexible plywood, which has the advantages natural wood and characterized by extraordinary flexibility, not typical for other woodworking products. The reason for this flexibility lies in the raw materials used. This is wood tropical trees, the wood of which is characterized by low density.

These include:

• Ceiba. Area of ​​origin: Africa and the Middle East. Wood characteristics: light cream. It is light in weight, soft and durable. It tolerates gluing, painting, polishing, etc. well.
• Sumauma, Parika, Faveira. Area of ​​origin: Africa and South America. Wood characteristics: creamy white to light brown and pinkish. Its structure and composition resembles ceiba.
• Keruing. Area of ​​origin: Indochina and the countries of Asia Minor. Wood characteristics: red or red-brown. Very durable, resinous and hard, can be used in conditions of high humidity.

Recently, flexible plywood made from birch veneer has also become widespread. It owes its specific qualities to the special structure of the layers having a cross arrangement. The main advantage of this flexible type is its availability and more low cost compared to exotic counterparts.

Types of flexible wood:

Today on sale you can also find so-called bent or bent-glued plywood, made from thin veneer, the sheets of which are glued together during the production process according to sketches of the future product. in the manufacture of furniture. Thanks to its elasticity, strength and ease of processing, this material is very convenient for creating pieces of furniture of the most unimaginable and original shapes.

Bent-laminated plywood is made from peeled veneers of birch, larch, beech, pine and even MDF. Wood veneer is used to cover its surface. valuable species, such as walnut, mahogany or oak. Thanks to the use of such spectacular cladding, products made from bent plywood look very expensive and elegant.

The advantages of this material include:

• Wide variety of shapes.
• Homogeneous structure.
• Resistance to abrasion and mechanical stress.
• Spectacular appearance and decorativeness.

Production and technical specifications

In the process of manufacturing flexible transverse plywood, layers of wood (at least 3) are joined together with a special adhesive composition, after which the sheets are heated and pressed at a certain temperature. As a result of this processing, a unique and unusual material, with its high strength and lightness, it has excellent elasticity and resilience.

Technical parameters and properties of Asian plywood:

Technical parameters and properties of African plywood:

Thus, when evaluating flexible plywood on a five-point scale, it can be given “five” ratings in the categories of “practicality,” “external attractiveness,” and “reliability.” As for availability and price range, here is this finishing material deserves a “three” because of its high cost and “exoticism”. The exception is flexible plywood made in China, combining all of the above advantages and having an affordable price.

Applications and products

Bent plywood is most widely used in furniture production. In particular, sets for children's rooms are made from it. The main advantage of such products is their original appearance, high strength and the absence of sharp edges and corners that can injure a child. Such plywood is not suitable only for. For these purposes, special ones are used, such as, and others.

In addition, it is the basis for the production of so-called bent-glued elements and products, which include:

• Rocking chairs.
• Office chairs, furniture for cafes and restaurants.
• Elements upholstered furniture and facade elements of cabinet furniture.
• Flexible bed bases called “latoflexes” or “battens”.
• Decorative and structural components of mirrors, bedside tables, cabinets, etc.

Using the previously used five-point scale, bent plywood products can be awarded “five points” for functionality, decorativeness and ease of use. And for the cost and complexity of manufacturing, they fully deserve a “four” rating, which confirms their high quality, originality and uniqueness.

Press for the production of plywood products:

Bending plywood at home

You can bend plywood, giving it an original and unusual shape, at home. To do this, it must be placed in appropriate conditions, with a certain temperature and humidity.

The main methods used to create bent structures from this material:

• Steaming.
• Gluing.
• Creation of cuts.
• A combination of the above processing methods.

You can make plywood more elastic by doing the following:

• Immerse it in water heated to +95 ⁰С. In this case, water required temperature is poured into an open container of the appropriate size, after which sheets of plywood are lowered into it. Time spent in water: from 5 to 30 minutes. Then they begin to carefully bend the wood. First, a minimal bend is made, and the workpieces are again immersed in hot water, leaving it there for another half hour. After this, the manipulation is repeated until the part acquires the desired shape.
• Treat it with hot steam. For this purpose you can use regular kettle or an iron with a steam function. But the main difficulty this process is that the effect of steam on the material must be constant and long enough, and at home this is very problematic to achieve. In this situation, it is more convenient to work with an iron. The workpiece is wetted and ironed with a well-heated iron. Then the plywood is carefully bent to a small radius. These steps are repeated several times until the desired bend is obtained.
• Soak it in warm water. The most inconvenient method, due to its duration and low efficiency.

The above methods are good for self-made small plywood parts. To bend a sheet big size, it is necessary to make cone-shaped cuts in the form of strips, while acting as carefully as possible to prevent the appearance of cracks and chips.

It is better to use for cutting cuts electric jigsaw with a cutter. The depth of cuts – with a sheet thickness of 4-5 mm – is no more than 2 mm. Quantity - in accordance with the bending angle. After sawing, the plywood is clamped onto the template used and using epoxy glue. The drying time of the workpiece is about a day.

So that as a result of arching you get beautiful and original elements High Quality, the following points must be taken into account:

• The transverse radius of wood fibers should be much smaller than the longitudinal one.
• Manufactured parts must be stored at a humidity not exceeding 9-11%.
• Bending steamed or heated workpieces must be done before they have cooled down.

On the picture - original shelf bent plywood

DIY bent plywood

After passing preliminary preparation, plywood can be bent in accordance with specified patterns.

At home this can be done like this:

• A load is attached at the bend, and the edges of the sheet (supports are placed under them) are pulled together with a rope.
• The plywood is fixed with tape or rope.
• The function of a template can be performed by any structure that has the desired angle of curvature and sufficient strength. For example, fiberboard sheets, cut to the appropriate shape and size.

When producing large parts or non-standard shape better to use as a template steel sheet. In this case, bending of plywood must be done simultaneously with the workpiece, firmly fastening the sheets together. It will be possible to separate the template only after the structure has dried thoroughly.

You can also bend plywood by gluing its layers together. To do this, first a template is made, and thin layers of wood are laid on it, bending them along a given radius and coated with an adhesive composition (PVA or epoxy).

Each subsequent layer must be laid on the previous one, alternating the direction of the fibers. After drying, the edges of the part are processed grinder to remove unevenness and glue smudges.

The video will tell you how to bend plywood: