Customer Reviews

Bent Ply

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There are paperback books and hardback books, but I don't think that I've ever before seen a book that was as hardback as these. The front and back cover are made of plywood. Fitting I suppose. Certainly interesting you your bookshelf.

Inside, the book is divided into three main sections.

The first is a history and description of the uses to which bent plywood has been put to in the past. Surprisingly the first patents on plywood go back to 1895, just about the time that the steam engine was becoming powerful enough to spin a log against a slicing knife. Continuing the history through World War II talks about (and shows pictures of) plywood airplanes.

The middle section is on the production of the plywood furniture, it starts with the bare logs and how they are cut into veneer and finally put into bent-ply furniture. It talks about a bent ply desk designed by Mr. Pfeiffer. This desk has veneer made in Latvia, the assembly of the desk is in Italy, and it is produced for the American market.

The last section of the book shows a wide selection of furniture articles, illustrating what can be done with bent ply.

bent ply by dung ngo and eric pfieffer takes an in depth look at the forming of plywood from it's early stages at the turn of the century up through the mass-production techniques of today. the authors have compiled detailed information on everything from how plywood veneers are made to the construction of molds for forming. the end of the book contains a wide variety of examples of bent ply furniture. the book even comes bound in plywood! a must for anyone with curiosity about forming plywood.

Some new info on laminated wood furniture. The best part is the cover, which is why I bought it, which is of course made out of plywood. Cool book. Part of my Cool Book collection.

This tome does justice to plywood and all its possibilities, and its contributions to date to modern and modernist life. Great rare history of industrialized wood (bentwood too). A must read for modern furniture fans.