About The Project
This coffee table was made as the second piece in my Whip-it bent lamination collection. The table features two intertwining ribbons that are formed from multiple plies (thin slices of wood) of white oak. The glass top allows a full view of the ribbons’ geometric complexity and beauty.
The ribbons are formed by rolling glue onto the plies and sandwiching them together. The plies are glued together in the order they were sliced from the log, which reduces the visibility of the seams, as the grain lines between the plies align. The sandwiched plies are placed in a long plastic bag. The bagged plies are wrapped and twisted around a scaffolding to form the curves. The exact form of the curves and twists is done by eye and feel. Multiple test runs are made with unglued plies to determine the best form. This is an organic process; how does the wood want to bend, what looks and feels like natural curves.
Once the correct form is shaped, a vacuum pump evacuates all the air from the bag. This causes atmospheric pressure to press the plies together while the glue cures (think of home food vacuum sealing).
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