What's in a Bend

Here is a video about the origination of the Helix bend. I love this bend, it’s got plenty of challenge and the payoff is worth it. It’s super corny, but to get this to work meant “listening to the wood”, in other words, tons of failures as I stressed it too much or in the wrong way. Working this way is far from the straight and square woodworking that I started with. Below is a video that shows the process for shaping the bending form, which is one of the most fun shapes that I get to make in the shop, basically a little sculpture all on its own.