I love using Cold-Bend Hardwood for the bent parts of my stick chairs. During the last 10 years I have basically a 0 percent failure rate with the stuff (the only failure was my fault – more on that in a bit).
When I steam-bend arms, I typically lose about one-third of my bends.
People think it’s expensive. I disagree. Each chair arm costs me about $100 in material. But there is almost no time involved in making the bends. Today I opened a new pack of Cold-Bend Hardwood, sliced it to size and bent three chair arms (by myself) in less than 45 minutes.
When I steam-bend an arm, I have to find and purchase some suitable material (that takes time). Rive it out (more time). Then slice it, steam it and bend it. And then 33.33 percent of the bends fail during the bend or during drying.
If you live in a forest and have the space and time, steam-bending is ideal. When you live in the city, have no land and every minute counts, Cold-Bend Hardwood is the way to go.
Now, before you buy some, you must do two things.
- Read every word of advice from the company on using the stuff. Take their advice seriously.
- Read my tips below.
My Tips Below
Before you even order the stuff, build your bending forms because you need to bend the stuff within a few days of its arrival. The packaging will get damaged in shipment. The plastic will get a tiny hole in it. And your stuff will dry out.
Do not let it sit around. Assume the plastic is letting out moisture.
Order stuff that is overlong by about 18” to 24”. You need the extra length to provide leverage as you make the bend. If you won’t do this, you’ll need to use a bending strap with a long handle to give you leverage.
That extra length is the difference between a cakewalk and a desperate slog.
Order stuff that is the correct thickness for your bend. You cannot joint and plane this stuff. It will explode in your machinery. You can’t rip it on the table saw (crosscuts are OK). Again, it will self-destruct.
There are only two ways to dimension the stuff when it’s wet: the band saw and abrasion. After it is dry you can machine it and shape it with hand tools. But until then: band saw and sanding only.
I fasten my bending forms to the end of my bench with holdfasts. The holdfasts pass through both the form and the benchtop. Simply clamping the form to the benchtop rarely goes well. The form comes loose during the bend.
Allow some extra length at the beginning of the bend. This extra length (cut away later) will allow you to screw a batten across the arm and remove it from the form to dry.
About My Failure
I had one arm crack during a bend when using Cold-Bend Hardwood. The reason was simple: I had waited too long to make the bend, and the stuff had dried out. The fresher the stuff is, the easier it is to bend. I cannot emphasize this enough.
If you are wondering how the stuff is made and how it works (it’s like magic), the company’s website has all that information. If you are wondering if other companies make the stuff, the answer is yes. There’s a place in Amish country in Ohio that makes its own, but they don’t sell to the public. They make the bends for you. I also knew a couple chairmakers in Middletown, Ohio, that made the stuff in their chair factory. They have disappeared. And there are companies in Europe that make it. Google “comp wood” or “compression hardwood” for more details.
— Christopher Schwarz
Neat stuff! Does it spring back much or any after it dries?
Each stick is a little different. But I do typically get a little springback when it comes off the forms. For chairs that’s not a problem. I just incorporate it into the personality of the chair.
Thanks Chris for the info. Stick chairs are in my future. Mentioning the 30% failure rate of regular steam bending was an important piece of information. Wouldn’t have known that and thought I was doing something wrong.
Hi Chris, thanks for sharing. I had never heard of this product before. After checking out the link, I was a bit shocked at the price. I priced one white oak piece at $80/bd ft. Can you share how you factor that into the pricing of your chair? Also curious about your cool bog oak chairs you made a while ago – I assume you steam bent those? Again, thanks for sharing!
Steambent chairs vs cold-bend chairs are the same price. Steambent is more labor; cold-bend is higher material cost. I consider the cold-bend stuff to be fairly priced for what I get.
The bog oak chairs are all cut from solid – no steambending.
Can I clean up the band sawn surface with a hand plane before it goes in the form and dries? Or does it have to be with abrasives only? I don’t have a drum/wide belt sander and using a hand-held to do this task seems like it would be time consuming as does cleaning up the sawn surface with hand tools after it’s been bent.
It does not plane or scrape well when it’s wet. I saw it, bend it then shape it when it’s dry.
Hi Chris,
Was wondering if you could clarify things. From what I read, you get in the thickness you need. What about the width? Do you get the standard widths they offer and then rip it to width on the bandsaw? Or, do you call them up and get it made to width you need?
Thanks,
Joe
Hi Joe,
I just pick a board from the “ready to ship” boards. For these bends I ordered a plank of white oak that was 1-1/8″ thick, 4″ wide and 72″ long. It was $300 shipped. I unwrapped it, set the fence on my band saw to 1-3/8″- and ripped it into three pieces. I bent each one around a form. Three perfect arms at $100 each.
Thanks Chris. I want to make a set of kitchen chairs to replace the crappy store bought ones. Will be out of cherry mostly as I have a thing for cherry, which they also sell for bending. Given a demanding, but enjoyable day job, young kid, volunteer work in my community, etc my time is limited. Quite happy to pay the premium. I almost always by my wood S3S for the same reason. Sure, I can get rough stock, S4S but it requires a lot of my time to do so.
It never ceases to amaze me what a wonderful material wood is. It’s just remarkable.
I’ve bought this once (more than 10 years ago) and really liked it. On the small scrap piece I had the grain wasn’t perfectly straight, but I needed a thin strip (1/4″ or so IIRC). I ripped one off and it failed across the grain. Ripped another two following the grain and they didn’t fail (one was used for the project and the backup I just tied into a knot and hung on my wall). The remaining sat for over 7 years, then I needed another thin piece. So I ripped a couple (wood was definitely dry by this point, even in the bag). I steamed the board (in a very less than ideal setup), and IIRC it bent super easily (which would make sense). The other one I simply dropped in water for a few days and let it soak, and was able to bend that one too (though I believe this was harder and more similar to what it was initially like). But it was a thin strip; not sure how viable soaking would be with a thicker piece (both from getting everything rehydrated, and the drying afterwards).
I have dried-out comp wood before with good results, too. Thanks for bringing that up!
I have not tried soaking it. Will do that next time I mess up and let it dry out.
Sorry Chris, one last question, how long does it typically take to dry once in the form?
Depends on the humidity. I let them dry a week. But I could release them sooner.