Several techniques are used to create the unique forms found in studio furniture. Some of the most useful are:
Bent laminating, Mortise and Tenon Joinery, and V eneering
Bent Laminating |
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The technique of lamination has been around for thousands of years. Bent laminations are made by sawing boards into thin strips and gluing them back together against a curved form. Even the hardest woods are capable of being made into fluid curves with this technique.The resulting pieces of wood are stronger than the original boards and retain the shape of the form |
Mortise and Tenon Joinery |
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The mortise and tenon joinery method produces one of the strongest joints in woodworking. Simple and strong, the mortise and tenon joint (also called the mortice and tenon) has been used for millennia by woodworkers around the world to join pieces of wood. Although there are many variations on the theme, the basic idea is that the end of one of the members is inserted into a hole cut in the other member.The "male" part of the joint is called the "tenon" and the"female" member (the hole cut into the wood) is the "mortise".The joint may be glued, pinned, or wedged to lock it in place. A mortise can be open on one end (exposed or through) or completely hidden (blind). |
Veneering |
| Veneering allows the artist to apply a thin wooden surface to any freeform shape the artist can imagine. There are two traditional methods of hand laying veneers, by the hammer or by the caul. The hammer method was used for simple flat work with pliable and mild veneers. The process involved the warming of both the veneer and the base, followed by the spreading of glue to both surfaces. The veneer was then rubbed down onto the base and the hammer was applied to the surface, thus removing all the air to obtain a good adhesion. The caul method is based on applying heat and pressure to the veneer in relation to the shape, dimension and form of the base. |  |