was looking at some objects made from steam bended ply
just realized that they had to havve bent that when they glued the plys together
far as i know ply will come undone if you steam it and not magically adhere when it cools
bending and gluing plys would get messy and require a special built jig
it is a nice look though
No steam needed if it is done properly with the correct materials. It _will_ require an accurate jig/form/fixture to achieve the correct curvature and unless you are up for making both male/female forms you will need a vacuum bag setup. Other than making sure that the glue used is low-creep it is a pretty simple process to put together 5mm sheets of 'wiggle wood' in a way that they will stay that way after the glue dries and it comes out of the bag.
Note that this is not new technology. The Romans made their curved shields of 3 layers of laminated wood.
I wonder if they used steam to bend these arches. ;-)
That's the Arthur A. Smith Covered Bridge, the only Burr truss bridge in Massachusetts. Originally built in 1869, the arches were added in 1920. It was completed restored in 2007. It's located in Colrain, MA. That's SWMBO and my daughter going into the light.
Exterior view:
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