page_title: Steam bending
section_title: Steam Box
hierarchical_section_title: Steam bending / Steam Box
caption_attribution_description: English: en:Steam box oven at en:Port Lincoln, South Australia
context_page_description: Steam bending is a woodworking technique where wood is exposed to steam to make it pliable. Heat and moisture from steam can soften wood fibres enough so they can be bent and stretched, and when cooled down they will hold their new shape.
  In modern times, steam bending is usually done with a steam box to make it bend around a former. The moulding process is typically done by clamping wooden strips to a positive form, with the strips of wood often reinforced on the outside with a metal band to prevent blowout. The method has been used in the manufacturing of a diverse range of products, including wooden boat building where it is used in the shaping of hull's ribs and lap boards, the production of traditional wooden lacrosse sticks, musical instruments such as violins and in the manufacture of wooden furniture like the Windsor chair and much of Michael Thonet's work.
  Steam bending is a traditional process steeped in history. It was once a vital practice, paramount to the production of weapons, tools and water vessels, but with the advance of technology the practice has become less common. Steam bending is also a low energy, ecological and economical method of manipulating wood.
context_section_description: A steam box is a long, sealed container used to steam wooden planks for the purpose of making them pliable.  Once steamed and then fastened or clamped into the desired position and left to dry, the wood will hold the new shape.  Steam boxes allow for much more efficient use of wood.  Instead of cutting the desired shape away from a large and more expensive piece of wood and leaving much scrap to be discarded, steam boxes allow for a smaller piece to be bent in the general shape and leaving much less scrap.  Steam boxes also allow the wood to bend beyond its dry breaking point, which is useful in making extreme curves with the wood.  In many cases, the bent piece is stronger than an identical piece cut from larger stock.  Steam bending wood allows the wood grain to follow the bend, leaving it strong where a piece cut from larger stock would snap across crosscut grains or laminated joints.
  The largest steam boxes are used in boat building to bend the large planks for the frame and hull.  However, smaller ones are used in making a variety of consumer items, such as rocking chairs, musical instruments and walking canes.
caption: Steam box oven at historic Axel Stenross slipway, Port Lincoln, South Australia
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