Source for easily bendable wood...

[Howie]

A while back someone posted a thread on a source of wood that was treated somehow to make it easy to bend without steaming. The fella who posted the article said he would buy some of the wood and report back with his findings, but I don't recall hearing anything else about it. And I thought I had saved the url of the company but can't locate that either! Does this ring a bell with anyone? Anyone ever buy some of the stuff? Anyone remember the name of the company that markets the wood? As I recall the stuff was expensive...

 

[Howie]

Just found the company that makes/sells it. http://www.puretimber.com/cold-bend-hardwood-1/?sort=featured&page=1

 

[mccloud]

The guy who posted that he was going to buy some and give it a try was Steve Ambrose. I don't recall a follow-up post, but at Assembly I asked him how the pre-compressed wood worked, and he said Great! Although it is expensive, if you have a tough bend to make, like a recurved stem or bent rear seat in an ancient White, it seems to be a good way to go. Let us know when you've done your project. Tom McCloud

 

[Steve Ambrose]

Just bent another set of stems last night. Bends like rubber and very little spring-back. You don't want to plane it but otherwise it machines like normal wood. (We rip it in bypass mode on our moisture sensitive Sawstop just in case.) I've been getting 60" white oak planks that are 7/8" thick and ripping at 3/4" widths. Bends with no tendency to roll or twist. It is not cheap but with zero failure and no splitting I'm sold. Finishes like normal wood as well. It's easiest to bend when you first get it but if you keep it wrapped up to retain moisture you can set the drop on the shelf. The stuff I bent last night had been laying on the shelf for a few months.

If enough people are interested in this stuff I can look at ordering boards and cutting into stem blanks for those of us that don't need enough to make a whole board worthwhile.

Chris is very easy to work with and will cut/ship what you want. I've never asked for a 1"x2" so I don't know if is economically feasible to purchase it in smaller boards but it never hurts to ask.