How to Quickly Kerf Bend Plywood and Solid Wood | Woodworking Coat Rack Project

How to Quickly Kerf Bend Plywood and Solid Wood | Woodworking Coat Rack Project

How to kerf bend both plywood and solid wood quickly and easily. Thanks to Dollar Shave Club for sponsoring. Go to http://DollarShaveClub.com/MakeSomething to get your first starter set for $5!

There are 3 common ways to bend wood; steam bending, bent lamination and the technique used in this video called kerf bending. Out of the three, kerf banding is in most cases the quickest and easiest method and doesn’t require any special jigs. The process if fairly simple in which you make a series of kerfs in your wood spaced apart depending on your desired radius. The kerf is cut almost all the way through leaving a little more than a 1/16 skin (veneer) on top. This skin is thin enough to allow it to bend and can be held in place with glue. I prefer using polyurethane (Gorilla Glue) for this technique as it expands when it comes in contact with water filling the gap. This wood bending technique works with both plywood and solid wood. In this tutorial video we go over how many kerfs to cut, spacing and depth without getting into unnecessary math. I use the kerf bending technique to make a stylish coat rack and at the end of the video I’ll go over some tips and tricks to get up bending wood with ease!

Kerf Bending Calculator: http://bit.ly/2SuGjBh

★ TOOLS & SUPPLIES (Affiliate Links)★
Table Saw: http://amzn.to/2k8ODcP
Polyurethane Glue: https://amzn.to/2Y0bS7d
F-style Clamps: https://amzn.to/2XNLOAW
Assembly Square Tool: https://amzn.to/2SoQKpW
Little Bandsaw: https://amzn.to/2LmBGb3
Disc Sander: https://amzn.to/2XaGbfX
Cherry Edge Banding: https://amzn.to/2SolMhP
Wood Glue: https://amzn.to/2JPdpbh
Aluminum Bar Clamps: https://amzn.to/2XPQEh3
Miter Saw: https://amzn.to/30wyZbi
Yellow Push Block: https://amzn.to/2WCsGR3
Painters Tape: https://amzn.to/2Y2tnI0
Hot Glue Gun: https://amzn.to/32APnJv
Drill: https://amzn.to/2WIZ0qq

★ WATCH MORE ★
How to Make a Table Saw Sled: https://youtu.be/ttxU494qtpQ
How to Make a Picture Frame Sled: https://youtu.be/r6fUXRMJ0DI
Remaking a Nintendo NES: https://youtu.be/lv4zCOzj_UA
Bent Lamination Spoon: https://youtu.be/72O8W0sunnU

★ ALL THE LINKS ★
Patreon Support / Extra Content: http://patreon.com/picciuto
T-Shirts / Books / Stickers / Plans: https://makesomething.com
My Other YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/makesomething2
Making It Podcast: http://makingitpodcast.com

★ FOLLOW ME ★
https://twitter.com/drunkenwood
https://instagram.com/MakeSomethingTV

96,406
Like
Save


Comments

Ty Arnold says:

Great project! You could put a hidden compartment on the back side of the bends, make a side drawer that the whole side slides out! How may takes did it take to get the hat on the hook? Lol

Edward Lahr says:

Very cool and nice shop!

Gary Cooper says:

Can you do it the other way? That is, can you bend it so the smooth, unbroken surface is on the concave side, with the kerfs on the convex side? Let’s say for a barrel-vault-style ceiling, or a curvy skateboard ramp?

Jacob DiMaria says:

“Welcome to make something with me David patoot oh” Thanks auto-generated captions

Smaragda Demertzi says:

I think I'm going to try this technique on my crown moldings! Feeding wood diagonal isn't an easy task so I'll give kerfing a go. Thank you!

J.R. Millstone says:

It turned out well, but in an application where you wouldn't have the sides supported, gorilla glue is not the right choice. It doesn't have as much strength as you might think. Check out Matthias Wandell's videos on gorilla glues gap filling strength.

Made By Marylou says:

thanks for the great tips on this one! cool project

Robert Long says:

I’ve seen kerf done in the past but something about this video made it look so much easier than I thought it was. You are an amazing woodworker but I really appreciate your ability to make things seem not so out of reach for beginners such as myself.

Terri Stroh says:

This technique is going to make me look better than I actually am 😎

plywoodworking says:

Great, thank you for share i will use this for my project

segrimsjinn says:

What if you kerf cut both ways could you get a concave/vex shape? Maybe a bowl?

mykalimba says:

Beckham's got nothing on you.

Aaron Singh says:

Thanks for the guide n the website mentioned. Great info…👍👍

Albers Woodworks says:

Really cool build David! This definitely got me thinking of new project ideas with kerf bending. Thank you for sharing!

Fine Woodworking of South Carolina says:

Great video.  Were you required to account for spring back?

Geoff Cowan says:

I've seen this done before, and I heard you talk about it on the podcast, but this turned out so nice! I love it! I like how you explained it and it still amazes me. So a) of course I have to try this, and b), I wonder if I can make a snare drum this way? I know it is not the "proper way", but what the hell?
Thanks for making great content!

Royston Telford says:

I've been meaning to recycle my old headboard that has a cool upholstery pattern for an entry-way bench. Gonna experiment with this wood bending option and and create an entry way bench and coat rack/key holder combo. Great projects and ideas as usual. Keep up the good work and continue *Making Things*…

Skate Everything Project says:

Awesome tutorial thanks so much for putting it together!

Digital Swagg says:

Nominated for The 2019 Digital Swagg Player of the Year : 4:23 You ROCK Dude!

webadage says:

Why's it called Dollar shave club if it cost 5 bucks?

J Will says:

While Gorilla glue does foam up, it is not a good choice for filling large gaps because foamed glue is very weak. Think about it — you just have a bunch of bubbles or cells of glue with thin cell walls and the rest being air. That does not make for a strong bond.
A much better choice to fill gaps is polyurethane construction adhesive, or epoxy. For this, I probably would have used construction adhesive.
Also, I would NOT use the foaming great stuff. It sets too quickly. By the time you got it sprayed all over it would already be pretty stiff and hard to squeeze.

Richard Benson says:

Looks amazing but can you give us more details on the Odies Oil please? I read some really mixed reviews of it

Comments are disabled for this post.