Before I can laminate something, I first have to build a bending form for that task.

Here is a cylindrical form I made to make a curved handrail for a new church being built.

This drum actually will have two different rail radiuses being made. One will go right on the studs...and the larger outer handrail will nestle into my standoff brackets that you can see forming the helical shape of the rail. Enough glue, clamps and the right techniques will bend the rails into submission.

I have noticed you only clamp the crap out of the top and bottom of the laminates.
It seems that by bending the middle section slightly separates and the glue fills the void.
Up on drying it won't allow the laminate to spring back to straight????

Cool fool!

Gabor- Gaps are not good! If you look closely...I have hundreds of screws clamping each laminate to the other. The clamps just get the plywood bent right....then the screws are put in pre drilled rows of holes. As the screws go in...the glue squeezes out.

Now, when I put the outer face laminate of premium wood on...I will use long clamping cauls and lots of clamps....cant have screws then because the face laminate is what is seen.

OK that makes sense. Thanks

Here's another very tight radius cylindrical form I built this afternoon. It has a very tight 21 inch radius....but this one will be a piece if cake compared to that 13.25" radius rail that went to Montreal, Canada.

Here's a shot looking into my main set up room. Two curved stairways , and two curved rail forms. There is another curved stairway identical to the one at the right rear of my room. It will be built in front of that small drum form to the right. Those two stairways will be stacked vertically over each other.