Fluted Beams supplies Cold-Bend™ compressed, bendable, solid hardwood for commercial Extreme Wood Bending™ applications. Bendable hardwood (Compressed Wood, Compwood) bends to extreme radii, well beyond what can be accomplished with steam bending. It offers unique opportunities for restoration of heritage boats, and allows for new and rapid production techniques in new boat building. Fluted Beams bendable solid hardwood is also suitable for curved moldings, curved cabinetry and curved stair treads in boat interiors. We recommend White Oak or Black Locust for boat builders when decay resistance is required. Yacht interiors can employ any of the compressed hardwoods. Please note that Teak and Mahogany are not compressible (or extreme bendable) woods and not offered by Fluted Beams.
Mast hoops on the USS Constitution are made from Compressed Oak. Compressed Wood is also used to replace broken and rotted ribs in restorations. The rowing dinghy Thistle, pictured here, is a 1920s craft that was rebuilt with Compressed Hardwood ribs (Elm) by Mike Burn in the UK. Thistle has aged extremely well, looking as good now as when she was rebuilt in 1999.
We are also developing superb new yacht wheels from multiple species of Compressed Wood.
Compressed wood is very flexible when you receive it, and it becomes stable after it is dried and fixed in its shape. A good marine finish will protect it from all elements. If the Compressed Wood will be subjected to immersion, or weather exposure, it should be treated on all sides with penetrating epoxy sealer. Smiths and System Three are two companies that make it.
Cold Bendable Solid Hardwoods are available in planks up to 1.75" x 6" x 100" without joints or laminations. Longer lengths may be joined from this stock. Please see Discovering Compwood for additional information on bending Compressed Wood.
Large boat interiors are ideal areas to employ compressed wood. Bend the wood by hand along the curved cabinet or wall on your own time schedule, then fasten it. It will dry in place and hold it's shape as it dries. Once dried, the wood may be finished with any usual finish for wooden boats. Curved railings are another ideal area of the yacht to use Compressed Wood though you must be able to plan for drying and shrinkage of the wood as it dries.
Compressed Wood does not suffer from "Spring-Back", which is seen in steamed wood. Spring-back requires wood benders to over-bend the part, and to guess or use experience as to how far it may "relax" or spring back. The over-bending required in steamed wood can easily cause losses such as grain run-out and breaks that would not be experienced with Compressed Wood in tighter bends. Compressed wood retains about 90% of the original strength of a non-compressed plank, and can be superior to steam bent planks in strength since fractures rarely happen when shaping Cold-Bend™ Hardwood.
Fluted Beams recommends that you bend to a radius of up to five times the diameter of the board. This will allow for a 5" radius on a 1" board. We often accomplish more extreme bends than this and you will see some in the bow section of the boat illustrated on this page. It has a bend of approximately 3 to 1 with a 1" radius on a 3/8" part. Pushing the bends further, three of these parts are nested during the bend, then laminated together to form one piece over 1" thick, that appears to be bent to a 1" radius.
Keep in mind that Compressed Wood should not merely replace steam bent or laminated parts, but should be employed to produce much more dramatic bends in boat parts that could not otherwise be fabricated in solid wood. This opens up the use of Compressed Wood to new ideas, experimentation, prototypes, slow thought provoking work sessions, and fast production environments.
Imagine rope made of braided Compressed Wood for your moldings or trim. Better yet, try braiding three species together to make a tri-color wooden rope (Maple, Cherry, Walnut). How about a basket woven grid-shell for the back of a deck chair, or a basket woven lattice partition from thick strips of compressed hardwood? Please take our ideas as a starting point, and explore Compressed Wood in your own projects. It should be a very rewarding experience.
To learn more about boat building with Cold-Bend™ Hardwood, please see Skin Boats and Heritage Boat Restorations.
Quotes: chris.mroz@puretimber.com 1-253-988-2046
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