Mon Sep 11, 2017 3:26 pm
I've done quite a lot of woodworking, bending wood was something I've looked in to a few times but never attempted. I used to work with a carpenter back in the day that was quite good at it. There's a few different methods. The first method is the wood is laminated together in thin bendable layers, the layers are glued together all at once and are then clampled against a form. Once the glue is dry the piece or pieces are cut to exact size and finished. The second and most likely used method seen in your examples is the wood is steam bent. Look up wood steam boxes, that will give you an idea of how it's done. I'd assume Skinner had a form already made up, likely out of steel or iron, they would steam the wood until pliable, then clamp to the form until it was dry, then cut and finish the exact profile from there. As mentioned, it's without a doubt fairly tedious work and may require a few practice attempts first.
Marc