What is Compressed Wood ?

[Denis Lecavalier]

I saw it mentioned in the most recent AAW magazine article.

 

[Donna Banfield]

It's wood that has been 'processed' in a way that makes it flexible enough to bend into remarkable shapes, and stay there when dry. Here's the website. www.puretimber.com/

Wood artists like Kristin LeVier, Tania Radda, and Jeanne Douphrate, whose work appears on the front cover or the current (April 2019) edition of the American Woodturner use this wood in their creations. Pure Timber's market is primarily architectural, as you'll see if you visit their website. They have a 'starter pack' of small pieces they will sell to someone curious. But prepare for sticker shock. I purchased their starter pack more than 5 years ago, and it cost $180. Shipping from Oregon to NH really killed me, as the wood is very heavy.

 

[john lucas]

Yes it is an interesting wood. Doesn't come in a lot of different species but it will bend tighter than regular wood. The wood has been crushed under heat and pressure. When they release the pressure the wood only expands to about 80 percent of it's original length so the cells overlap. This allows you to bend the wood much tighter. When I designed my "I carried you" goblets I tried all methods and lots of species trying to bend the wood as tight as I needed for the elbows. After this wood came out I was able to do it, although it doesn't come spalted so I had to paint and draw in my own spalting lines. Here is a photo of how tight it bends and another of of my goblets.

 

[n7bsn]

Donna, Washington actually (Gig Harbor), a not long drive from here.
Folk have dropped by to pickup sample packs and found them to be reasonably friendly folk. I know Dave Schweitzer has dropped by.

Ralph

 

[Bill Boehme]

What do you need to do to bend the wood (heat, steam, soak, just bend it, something else)? Once bent does it stay bent or does it require something to stabilize it?

 

[Donna Banfield]

Donna, Washington actually (Gig Harbor), a not long drive from here.
Folk have dropped by to pickup sample packs and found them to be reasonably friendly folk. I know Dave Schweitzer has dropped by.

Ralph

I stand corrected

 

[Donna Banfield]

What do you need to do to bend the wood (heat, steam, soak, just bend it, something else)? Once bent does it stay bent or does it require something to stabilize it?

My limited experience with the starter pack, you carve or work the piece while 'dry'. Then soak it in water for about an hour. Take it out, and bend/shape it using forms, clamps or anything you can find to keep it in that shape while drying. Once the wood is dry, it will retain that shape.

 

[Dean Center]

The wood has been crushed under heat and pressure. When they release the pressure the wood only expands to about 80 percent of it's original length so the cells overlap.

If I understand correctly, then, the compression is in line with the wood fibers, from top of the tree to the stump. This makes sense as the goal is to make an accordion of the fibers to allow for bending. It's also very interesting because the physical properties of wood supposedly mean it doesn't compress hardly at all in this direction. Do you know how much they are able to shorten the wood fibers under pressure? If it's a lot, I may need to go add a couple more posts to hold up the second floor of my garage

 

[Bill Boehme]

If I understand correctly, then, the compression is in line with the wood fibers, from top of the tree to the stump. This makes sense as the goal is to make an accordion of the fibers to allow for bending. It's also very interesting because the physical properties of wood supposedly mean it doesn't compress hardly at all in this direction. Do you know how much they are able to shorten the wood fibers under pressure? If it's a lot, I may need to go add a couple more posts to hold up the second floor of my garage

I noticed that Donna had a link and I found this.

 

[john lucas]

I'll try to answer all of the above. They compress it a lot and when they pull it out it expands to 80% of it's original length. Wood breaks when bending when the cells separate. It the Compressed wood the cells are overlapped when they pull it out and send it to you. So it will bend further before the cells come apart thanks to this overlapping cell structure. The wood will bend quite well along it's length. Not very good sideways. You can twist it however which is kind of cool. We do that in Blacksmithing. Take a square piece, heat it up and put one end in a vise and then twist it. I tried it with the compressed wood and it worked fairly well. I did have some separation inside the twists in places. It is also somewhat like steel in that it bends easier in the thin areas so if your trying to bend lets say an ornament finial it won't bend very well or at all in the thick areas and will bend too easily in the thin so you have to be careful. I find it much easier to work for the most part when it's dry and then re wet it and bend it. It retains it's shape pretty well but my mirror that had the vines wrapped around it has come unwound a little bit. So you get a little spring back when you remove it from a form and it might straighten even more later depending probably on how much moisture it picks up from the environment, but that's kind of a guess. They also call it cold bend wood because you don't have to heat or steam it. Just get it wet and bend it. Here is one mirror I made. Being able to pre bend the wood before I put in the clamps saved a huge amount of effort in making this style mirror. I could not find the photo of the vine mirror I did for an article in the AAW journal on bending wood. I'll have to look further.