Frames and details of chairs made of bent plywood. Radius products - the latest solution in furniture production

Wood-laminated boards, which we know simply as plywood, have found their use in finishing and furniture production. They have one of the most unique properties with their help you can create almost any bend. Due to this, it becomes possible to create unique aesthetic designs and effective use material.

Now let's talk about how exactly you can make bent plywood in industrial plywood production and independently at home.

Advantages of bent plywood

What exactly is a plywood sheet? These are thin sheets of wood (veneer) connected to each other using special staff. The veneers usually used are birch, alder, pine or beech.

Due to these features, the material has the following advantages:

High level of moisture resistance. Compared with a simple tree The hydrophobicity of plywood is approximately half as high. This makes it possible to use moisture-resistant plywood in rooms with high levels of moisture and when decorating exterior building facades.

There is no warping, and the material is least susceptible to rotting.

Beautiful appearance with wood texture.

Very easy to use by yourself. With such pliable material, work becomes easy.

Resistant to ultraviolet rays, so the material does not fade in the sun.

Low cost. Much better for the price natural wood, and also has the best technical indicators.

Easy to care for. It is possible to use detergents to clean plywood surfaces.

Environmental friendliness. All materials used to make plywood are safe for human health. This makes it possible to position a product made of of this material even in a child's room.

Abrasion resistance. In constant contact with various furniture, hands or feet do not wear out.

Long service life. Due to all the above qualities, it has a long service life.

You can create smooth shapes and curves. This quality is great for creating unique and interesting designs, which is what we will talk about next.

Methods for bending plywood

You can bend plywood using two methods, which we will talk about now. Here it is worth giving a little advice: when using each of the methods, you should not position the top veneer in such a way that the fibers are across the bend, as this may cause a kink.

Bending of layers during gluing

This technique is usually used in production conditions and its meaning is as follows: The use of molds for curved veneer, which are preheated using steam or electric current. Next, plywood sheets glued and bent into the required shape are placed there, the humidity level of which reaches no more than twenty percent. They are placed in them until the glue dries to such an extent that it can perfectly hold the material of the new shape.

It is impossible to find the necessary equipment at home, but you can do it completely differently:

Glue several thin plywood sheets using wood glue.

Bend it with your own hands to the required position.

Secure around the edges with epoxy mortar.

Wait until completely dry.

The method is quite good, but do not forget that thin veneer should be used for it. If you have a ready-made sheet of plywood at your disposal large thickness, then another option should be used.

Bending plywood after gluing it

It is difficult to simply bend a thick sheet. It must first undergo special treatment to become softer and more pliable. Only then can the sheet be bent. But first it should be placed in prepared curved veneer.

The following types of processing can be applied:

In factories, special industrial steam installations are used for such cases.

As for home conditions, you can use steam from a kettle for small parts or a household steam generator.

You can also steam it with a kettle.

If the plywood is large in size, then it should be placed in hot water in order to give the sheet greater elasticity. IN in this case It is important to prevent the sheet from delaminating.

Here it is better to use three methods: Leave the plywood in water for half an hour, and then move it into a hard piece and leave it in that position for a week. Wet the workpiece generously with water, bend it a little and iron it with an iron. Then wet it again, bend it and remove all the water. And do this until the required form is achieved. You can also heat it to the required state in an oven, but when using this method, cracks may appear on the material.

After processing is completed, the plywood can be bent using the following methods:

Place it in the frame template. This should be done very carefully and reliably, but, first of all, the frame should be made, which will require spending a little more time and effort. In order to secure the product, it is better to use spacers and a belt system.

Use steel strip. You should tie it to a sheet of plywood and bend it into the required shape. At the same time, the metal will perfectly hold its shape and will not allow it to be lost. Next, you just need to leave the finished structure until it hardens completely.

Using a cut. This will be especially useful when using a thick product. Several cuts should be made at the site of the intended bend, which will make it possible to make the bend more easily. Then the workpiece is installed in the required position, and the resulting cracks are clogged with adhesive.

Why are these bending methods used?

Using the above methods, you can give smoothness to the shapes. They will maintain their position even after the material dries. Thus, making arches for doors and rounded wall shapes became very easy. But especially widely bent plywood used in the production of furniture.

This makes it possible:

Minimize the number of angles that could cause injury. This is especially true for those rooms where children are constantly present. Because their restlessness very often leads to contact with corners.

Make the interior more aesthetically pleasing and meaningful. Because it is more interesting for the eyes to look at smooth lines of transitions, rather than their sharpness. This design move helps to calm down and improve the overall mood.

Making it more solid finished design and getting rid of a very busy workload of fixing parts. This allows you to greatly enhance the strength and reliability of the finished structure.

Plywood sheets are truly an excellent material, suitable for both finishing and making furniture. Its comparative cheapness and improved technical properties made it a worthy rival to simple wood. What is especially noteworthy is that plywood has an excellent ability to bend into a variety of shapes, which wood cannot boast of. Thanks to this, the interior is filled with special aesthetics.

And not only in him. - a new word in general in woodworking (architecture, design, construction and other areas).

IN Lately There was a pronounced tendency towards rounded shapes, as artistically more attractive. In addition, more and more attention is being paid to safety. Therefore, smoothing out sharp corners of furniture in a children’s room and in residential interior design in general is very important.

Finally, the production of products from radius parts cheaper because, unlike straight lines, they do not require multiple individual parts and accessories. While from several panels of bent-glued MDF, you can create any radius object by joining.

Technologies

As you understand, whole piece bending wood is quite problematic. Only certain types of wood lend themselves to this process, and the workpiece should not be very thick. With invention sawdust-free method industrial production veneer(thin sheets from logs or timber), and then plywood from several sheets of veneer, was made big step towards obtaining radius parts.

The thing is that the principle of manufacturing bent-glued parts is based precisely on the mutual displacement of individual sheets of glued, but not yet hardened MDF with a thickness of 16-20 mm. The result is a unified element with a bend radius from 400 to 600 mm, which is subsequently used to create bent structures of any type. By the way, the numbers were not taken out of thin air, but were determined based on analysis modern trends in design, and also by iterating various options combining radius parts.

Bent-glued blanks are created using conventional, as well as facing presses using hot or cold methods, on which, depending on the chosen technology, special molds (wooden or metal) are installed. In the process of manufacturing radius elements, it is important to consider in what capacity they will then be used. If only in decorative designs(without load), then attention should be paid only to the physical and mechanical properties of the glue. Because after 10 days the radius can increase by an average of 4%. If you intend to use bent part V load-bearing structure, then in addition to the adhesive binding layer, the bending of the part is fixed with special embedded elements for rigidity.

Over the few years that various woodworking industries have been producing bent-laminated products, the technology has been improved by an order of magnitude. Today we have already learned how to press profile panels up to 2.4 m high in various configurations: single-radius from 34 to 5000 mm, multi-radius, single- and double-plane with a thickness from 5 to 44 mm. The list of the most popular radii now includes: 96, 260, 300, 450, 600, 1000 mm, “wave”, etc.

The resulting parts, at the request of the customer, are coated with a white finish paper with outer or inside for further painting or wrapping with PVC films. However, in most cases, all panels are sold unsawn, with uneven edges. Post-gluing mechanical restoration and finishing of parts is carried out according to traditional technologies using conventional equipment.

Equipment

And so, to change the shape wooden blank and its final preparation before assembly, a number of installations are used. Bending, as mentioned above, is carried out using special presses, and finishing is done on a 5-axis woodworking center. The choice of this equipment is very wide, so we decided that in this case we should focus on the equipment that leading furniture companies use in their production. For example, the world famous IKEA.

The Swedish-Dutch company, as it turned out, works on Bulgarian machines. To produce radius products, its specialists use a generator high frequency VCHG-40 together with hydraulic cold press VP-C 11/15.

The first apparatus is designed to heat the adhesive layer when working with multi-layer workpieces. Installation is different high performance due to uniform heating of all layers (even if the thickness of the product exceeds 30 mm). The generator has smooth power adjustment depending on the production cycle. To achieve optimal values, the entire process is controlled by an ammeter and a thermostat.

After the high-frequency generator heats the workpiece to the required degree, the press for bent-glued products comes into play. In conditions high temperature it changes the shape of the part under pressure. To accomplish this task there is different ways. VP-C 11/15 performs crimping using the most common method - pneumatic chambers with the simultaneous use of special presses. By the way, Ikea’s choice in favor of this model is due to the whole range of its advantages over analogues. Firstly, the accuracy of the installation with a force of 100 tons is regulated by a pressure gauge with a timer. Secondly, the press makes little noise. Thirdly, the car is reliable, has long term service and complies with CE safety standards.

20-40 days after the molding work (namely, after this time, complete stabilization of the radius part occurs), the bent-glued product is subjected to finishing. This work is carried out on a five-axis woodworking center. Most suitable option - setting SPIN- one of the latest developments Italian manufacturer high-tech PADE equipment.

According to Italian experts, in just 224 seconds it can be used to solve a whole series of problems in a minimum amount of time. This includes profiling absolutely identical radius parts of any complexity, filing corners of the ends, drilling holes for dowels, filing to size in width, making a groove for a panel or glass, etc. In total, in one cycle you can get from 2 to 4 completely finished bent-glued parts, ready to be assembled into a finished product.

In general, this machining center allows you to produce products with very high precision. Therefore, SPIN is ideal not only for large-scale production, but also for small-scale production of exclusive furniture elements.

Most people, when they hear the word “chair,” imagine a product made of natural wood- large, massive, strong. And this is not surprising: this furniture is distinguished by durability, reliability, and everything that is valuable to the consumer. But times are changing, many buyers are coming to the conclusion that using natural raw materials to make furniture is impractical.

Natural material is expensive, a lot of waste is left during production, and the final product has quite a noticeable weight. Plywood chairs do not have such disadvantages, which is why they are in great demand.

Advantages

Special plywood is used to produce chairs. Buyers can be confident that this furniture will serve for a long time, will be durable and resistant to negative influence various factors environment. Plywood chairs (whether it is a regular seat, a transformer or a rocking chair) have positive sides. They:

regardless of light weight source material have high strength, reliability and stability;
are produced in a wide variety of designs: from an ordinary-looking piece of furniture to a unique design creation with curves and carved lines, a curved back and seat;
differ in shape and size, allowing the buyer to find the most convenient option taking into account the characteristics of the room area;

have a low cost, which significantly increases the number of buyers;
imply restoration and repair if, during use, the product has lost its attractive appearance;
easy to use and maintain and can be coated with varnish or stain;
mobile: they can be moved, transferred from room to room, transported to other installation objects, and put away in a corner when not needed.

When choosing plywood chairs, it is important not to fall for the trick of a dishonest seller.

For the production of chairs, plywood of the first or second grade is used. It is predominantly bent-laminated, meets existing GOSTs and SanPINs, does not harm human health, is environmentally friendly and is approved for use in the furniture industry.

Styles

High quality furniture plywood guarantees the receipt of interior items of different appearance. At the same time, it is not so important what type of material the stylish product was made from (bent, carved, layered). At skillful work with any type of material you can get beautiful designs, fit perfectly into the most different styles interior Plywood chairs are relevant in interior styles classical and modern trends.

For example, country and eco They approve of everything natural: floor and wall coverings, textiles, interior items. Plywood chairs of traditional shapes and colors will fit perfectly into the decor of this style. They can fit into the classics, even if the style prefers natural raw materials with imitation wood.

If the highest grade veneered plywood was used to create the chairs, decorated with various decorative details, plywood chairs have the right to decorate the interior of the directions vintage and baroque.

To successfully fit products into other interior compositions, you need to play with color through painting, varnishing, and pasting with a special film. When purchasing, it is important to choose products that are designed in the desired colors, have the appropriate shape, decoration and texture. For any design specialist, working with plywood furniture will not be difficult. Such products can harmoniously fit into any style, having a sense of taste and a special vision of style.

How to choose?

The opinion that a simple chair does not play a special role in the interior and is not an important component of the furniture composition is erroneous. This furniture is one of key elements interior furnishings. More often, chairs are sold complete with a table, which without them looks lonely. These interior items are related to each other: when looking for new chairs, you need to choose models that fit the existing table.

For different functional zones are produced different chairs. For example, for a kitchen, the key selection criteria are durability and ease of maintenance. If you have a bar counter, you will need bar accessories. Outwardly, they should resemble stools with elongated legs. Most often, such chairs are made without backs, although sometimes there are models with back support.

Despite the opinions of skeptics who believe that plywood is not suitable for backs, any furniture maker will confirm that From this material you can do anything that is subject to the designer’s imagination.

Regardless of what is most often installed in the living room upholstered furniture, these accessories are not uncommon. They are extremely necessary when guests gather in the house: this way the rest is comfortable for everyone and there is no need to huddle on the floor or sofa if there is not enough space. However, the purchase must take into account the combination of products with general view rooms. It is necessary that all furniture and parts internal filling looked harmonious with the overall decor of the living room.

Special attention It is worth paying attention to the choice of models for children. A highchair for a child should be beautiful, useful, convenient and harmless. It's no secret that children spend a lot of time sitting at home or on the computer.

Child chair must be special, with an orthopedic back and proper distribution of the load on the spine.

Modern chairs for children's rooms are distinguished by positive and original colors, so every parent can please their beloved child with a chair depicting their favorite cartoon character or fairy-tale character.

From such a material as wood, many are made various items. Often among wood products there are bent-glued elements (lamellas). The purpose of these elements is to act as furniture parts that restrain operational loads that may arise as a result of using this furniture. Bent-glued elements (lamellas), judging by their name, already have a non-linear shape and a certain profile. Getting a profile a certain form achieved by processing wood to special machines, usually tape or milling. Bending at a certain angle can be achieved using special technologies.

Wood has certain properties. By influencing the material in some way, and at the same time creating certain temperature and humidity conditions, you can bend a piece of wood and get the same bent-glued elements (lamellas) or any other products of non-rectilinear shape.

It should be noted that the process of bending wood products inevitably leads to deformations. Deformation in turn generates stretching of the outer layers and compression inner layers tree. If the bending force is too strong, the fibers may break. To prevent this from happening, the workpiece is pre-treated using hydrothermal methods, plus the bending process is fully automated. The same bent-glued elements (lamellas) can be obtained quite easily using solid and laminated wood. The process of gluing sliced veneer or plywood is usually carried out in conjunction with the bending process. If we consider wood species that the best way suitable for the manufacture of bent-glued elements (lamellas), these will most likely be hardwoods. That is, wood of such species as oak, ash, poplar, linden, beech, birch and others are well suited for these purposes.

The area of application of bent wood elements is mainly furniture production.

In particular, bent-glued elements (lamellas) are widely used in the manufacture of beds, sofas, armchairs and other furniture products. These elements have good mechanical strength and an attractive appearance. In addition to this, of course, a whole range of furniture is produced wooden elements, which have a bent shape. These are backs for armchairs and chairs, legs for stools and tables, various shelves and brackets, and others.

All photos from the article

What products from bent plywood can they be used at home? How are they convenient? Is it difficult to give a complex spatial shape to a plywood sheet yourself? Let's try to answer these questions.

Furniture

A chair or armchair is usually a compromise between ergonomics (in other words, comfort) and practicality.

Simple ones are practically not contaminated and can be easily washed if necessary. There will never be untidy stains from sauce or fat on it; Your cat probably won’t even think of sharpening its claws on a wooden seat.

The price of practicality is convenience: a horizontal flat seat and an equally flat backrest are quite tiring to use. long work or during a feast.

On the other hand, all types of soft furniture upholstery constantly suffer from all of the above troubles. Light furniture fabric It gets dark already after six months of active use; The presence of animals or children at home aggravates the picture.

Furniture made from bent plywood has the advantages of both solutions:

The shape of the seat and back evenly distributes body weight over the maximum area, reducing fatigue from a static posture and without impairing blood circulation;
At the same time, caring for such furniture remains extremely simple. It does not require reupholstery; Removal of dirt is reduced to simple wiping using mild cleaning agents.

Let us clarify: over time, small scratches often appear on the varnish and polishing.
A chair made of bent plywood can be easily polished with a felt wheel or defects can be removed by re-varnishing.

Arches, portals

Various arches and openings in general complex shape- another typical application bent products from plywood.

The main competitors of this material are drywall and plaster.

Why does plywood attract builders?

Possibility of installation without frame. For gypsum boards it is necessary, and assembling a frame for an arch of the correct shape sometimes turns out to be a very non-trivial task;
Speed of installation against the background of plaster arches. Finishing the opening is possible immediately after installing the arch; if the opening is finished with plaster, you will have to pause for at least a week while the cement-sand mortar gains strength;
Mechanical strength. It is relatively easy to damage both plaster and gypsum board, but not everyone can destroy the integrity of plywood 10-15 millimeters thick.

Bending plywood

Now we will study the technology: how to bend plywood so that it retains its shape forever and does not lose strength.

In practice, two solutions are used:

creation of bent-glued products;
bending with steaming.

Bent glued parts

The essence of the method is gluing large quantity thin layers plywood on a figured template.

Note: ideal solution there will be gluing separate layers veneer
However, in practice, it is much easier to find on sale not veneer, but plywood 3-4 mm thick.

Instructions for making an arch or seat with your own hands look like this:

From thin sheet several pieces are cut with a small (2-4 mm) allowance in size. Their number depends on the requirements for the final strength of the product: for a chair, a total thickness of 12 - 15 mm is sufficient, for an arch - 10;
A template of the required shape is made from wood or other auxiliary materials. It can be solid or framed; the main thing is that its design allows you to attract the glued product to the template. For fixation, clamps, weights or ordinary ropes with gaskets made of slats or bars can be used;

The blanks are coated with PVA glue. Its strength is quite sufficient for reliable connection of veneer layers: if the part is destroyed, the veneer will delaminate rather than the adhesive seam itself;

Attention: the fibers of the top layer of veneer must be perpendicular to the bending axis.
Otherwise, cracks may appear.

The product is fixed and left in a static position until the glue dries completely. For PVA, taking into account the air permeability of plywood, drying usually takes no more than two days;
Then the surface and edges are covered with paint or varnish.

Important point: after applying the first layer of coating it is necessary intermediate grinding fine sandpaper.
Otherwise, raised lint (wood fibers in top layer veneer) will make the surface rough.

Solid bent parts

Is it possible to make seats or chair legs from a single sheet of thick plywood? It's possible; however, the likelihood of receiving a defective product in this case will be much higher. The fact is that in order to bend the wood you will have to steam it in hot water or, which is much more reasonable, on water vapor; there is always a risk of veneer delamination.

How to steam the workpiece?

In this case, the steamed part is fixed on the template and left to dry for 7 - 10 days. If the workpiece is of significant thickness, transverse cuts are first made on the inner surface of the bend in increments of 10 mm; after bending and drying the parts, they are filled epoxy resin or PVA glue followed by sanding.