1. Select Wood Species: Choose a species from the list. Woods with straight, clear grain, like oaks and hickory, are excellent for bending.
2. Enter Material Thickness: Input the thickness of the wood you intend to bend. Thicker pieces require a larger bending radius.
3. Calculate: The calculator provides the estimated minimum radius of the curve you can achieve with that piece of wood using steam bending.
4. Prepare Your Bending Form: Create a form with a radius equal to or, ideally, slightly greater than the calculated minimum.

• Bending Radius: The radius of the inside curve to which a piece of wood is bent.
• Steam Bending: A process where wood is exposed to steam to make it pliable. The heated wood is then bent around a form and clamped until it dries and holds its new shape.
• Lamination Bending: A process where thin strips of wood are glued together and clamped around a form, creating a curved shape without heating the wood.
• Bending Form: A rigid mold or pattern used to shape the wood during the bending process.
• Springback: The tendency of a bent piece of wood to partially straighten out after it is removed from the bending form.

"The key to successful steam bending is the quality of your wood and your setup. You need clear, straight-grained stock, completely free of knots or defects. Your steam box needs to be hot—a good rule is to steam for one hour per inch of thickness. And most importantly, you absolutely must use a metal compression strap on the outside of the bend. Without it, the outer fibers will stretch and snap every time." - Windsor Chairmaker

Example: Bending a Chair Back
You want to create a curved chair back from a 1-inch thick piece of White Oak.
The calculator shows that for White Oak, the minimum bending radius is `6 (ratio) * 1" (thickness) = 6 inches`. Your bending form must have a radius of at least 6 inches.

Example: A Thicker Piece
If you try to bend a 2-inch thick piece of the same White Oak, the minimum radius increases significantly: `6 (ratio) * 2" (thickness) = 12 inches`.

• Not Using a Compression Strap: This is the #1 cause of failure. A metal strap placed on the outside of the bend prevents the outer wood fibers from stretching and breaking.
• Using Kiln-Dried Lumber: While possible, kiln-dried lumber is more brittle and difficult to bend than air-dried lumber. If you must use it, it helps to re-acclimate it to a higher moisture content first.
• Not Steaming Long Enough: The wood must be heated all the way through to its core to become pliable. The rule of thumb is one hour per inch of thickness.
• Bending Too Slowly: Once the wood is out of the steam box, you have a very short window (often less than a minute) to get it bent and clamped to the form before it cools and loses its plasticity.

• Furniture Design: Creating curved components like chair backs, legs, and aprons.
• Architectural Millwork: Making curved moldings, casings, and handrails.
• Musical Instrument Making: Bending the sides of guitars, violins, and cellos.
• Boat Building: Forming the curved ribs and planks of a wooden boat hull.