The Complete Manual of Wood Bending: Milled, Laminated, and Steambent Work

Rating:
Summary: I bought three books on wood bending; this is the best
Review: After getting in over my head, I bought three wood bending books: this one (Schleining), Zachary Taylor's "Wood Bender's Handbook" and "Fine Woodworking on Bending Wood." Taylor is slightly more recent, but it omits many pertinent aspects. For example, he doesn't cover milling (cutting) or coopering (low-angle joints) wood as a way to obtain curves, and he gives little attention to some practical aspects, such as drawing plans. Taylor is relatively superficial and focused on making musical instruments. The Fine Woodworking book is spotty (magazine articles from 1975-1984) and covers many advanced topics (e.g. Lapstrake boatbuilding, tapered laminations, violin making). Schleining is by far the best choice for the intermediate-level amateur that needs advice from someone with a lot of practical experience. His sidebars and outlines really help a woodworker make good decisions. He gives extremely helpful details on glueing, jigs, and routing. He shies away from steam-bending, because it gives such variable results, but he finds that it can often be combined profitably with follow-up milling or laminating. He gives superb practical advice on which machine to use in what combination, he has excellent jig plans, and many hard-won safety recommendations. He does not provide project plans (Taylor does for oval boxes, walking sticks, boat ribs, and chair backs). Luthiers will enjoy this book, but also find more detail in the other two.

Rating:
Summary: I bought three books on wood bending; this is the best
Review: After getting in over my head, I bought three wood bending books: this one (Schleining), Zachary Taylor's "Wood Bender's Handbook" and "Fine Woodworking on Bending Wood." Taylor is slightly more recent, but it omits many pertinent aspects. For example, he doesn't cover milling (cutting) or coopering (low-angle joints) wood as a way to obtain curves, and he gives little attention to some practical aspects, such as drawing plans. Taylor is relatively superficial and focused on making musical instruments. The Fine Woodworking book is spotty (magazine articles from 1975-1984) and covers many advanced topics (e.g. Lapstrake boatbuilding, tapered laminations, violin making). Schleining is by far the best choice for the intermediate-level amateur that needs advice from someone with a lot of practical experience. His sidebars and outlines really help a woodworker make good decisions. He gives extremely helpful details on glueing, jigs, and routing. He shies away from steam-bending, because it gives such variable results, but he finds that it can often be combined profitably with follow-up milling or laminating. He gives superb practical advice on which machine to use in what combination, he has excellent jig plans, and many hard-won safety recommendations. He does not provide project plans (Taylor does for oval boxes, walking sticks, boat ribs, and chair backs). Luthiers will enjoy this book, but also find more detail in the other two.