Steam Bending:

Steam bending is a woodworking technique where wooden veneers are laid together and heated in a steam box by steam that's brought in by heated water.
 The moisture from the steam, along with the heat allows the wood to become flexible and bend around a mould to create a shape of the manufacturer's desire.
The moulding is usually made by clamping the strips of wood to a jig former mould.
Steam bending uses low energy in order to combine wood layers, it doesn't need to wait for the expense of glue drying for the layers to combine together for the desired shape.
However, this process will slightly weaken the wood which may leave residual stresses which can cause the wood to "break".
The moisture leaves the steam box by a drip pipe, where the steam may condense into water and drip out itself.

Moisture levels also need to come into consideration, for wood is made out of fibers. If moisture gets between them, the wood will begin to swell and possibly split due to its structure. You can see the mesh-like fiber structure in the picture of wood under a microscope. If wood gets between these they will expand which is the "swelling" of the wood, which may cause the wood's fibers to split.


The wood itself will also need to be considered when moulding, you'll look for woods with very straight grains, otherwise they're not likely to bend the way you want them to.

Moisture may also be removed from woods with wood seasoning processes. (Refer to the wood seasoning post I made on Thursday. 7th November 2013).