C-bouts

The thin strips of wood for the sides are bent using a bending iron and steam. It is surprising how easily wood can be bent this way.

It is frustrating how nearly impossible it is to bend wood precisely to fit in to the C-bouts.

With the wood bent, C-bouts are glued in. We use hide glue, which must be melted and used hot, but which sets very rapidly.There's only sixty seconds or so to apply the glue, align the wood, and attach the clamps. This makes the process pretty exciting.