Steam Bending

Unlike most wood, oak becomes semi-plastic when subjected to heat in the presence of moisture — usually accomplished by steaming or boiling. Since most of the material we use was bent into shape while being manufactured into its first afterlife, why not bend it again as it passes into the second? This desirable characteristic of oak offers almost limitless possibilities to reshape oak casks and barrels into desired forms, including making the cask staves flat again.

By holding the oak to shape after bending in custom drying jigs and subsequently kiln drying and cooling it, the wood ‘sets’ almost exactly to the curved shape imposed on it by bending.

Examples of steam bent wood are found in many of our pieces including the Bow Arm and Morris Chairs, our Dining Tables, and our Prairie Settles.

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