Lamination vs Steam Bending Pros and Cons of both and which would I use?

Lamination Pros: 1:Cheap: Laminated Wood is cheaper than a pure piece of an expensive wood as it is only a single layer out of a layered tier of cheap wood with the appearance of more expensive wood. 2:Light: The Laminated Wood is light as it is not a single block of expensive wood but instead, many layers of cheap and light wood that make the wood easier to transport and lift. 3:Strong:Due to the wood being layered, there is less of a chance of having knots in the wood and so the wood is then stronger because of it, as knots are weak points in the wood, especially for floors.

Lamination Cons: 1:Time:Over time the laminated outer shell of the wood can wear away and show the cheap wood underneath and the illusion is lost. 2: Slippery: The lamination of the wood makes the top layer of wood very flat and low in friction meaning that it is very slippery and can be potentially dangerous to young children and the elderly. 3: Can't Be Sanded or Refinished: The finish and style that laminated wood comes in, usually used for flooring is the one that it is stuck with and it cannot be changed without buying new laminated wood.

Steam Bending Pros: 1: Easy: Steam Bending is an easier process than lamination as it requires a lot less of the person to bend the wood than to create laminated wood. 2: Predictable: Steam Bending means interacting directly with the wood and so this means that the wood will go to a certain shape and it is much easier to see what the wood is doing and what it will do depending on what is required. 3:

Steam Bending Cons: 1: Weak: Due to the steam bending making the pores of the wood open more, once the wood is bent to the desired shape and has dried, the wood is much weaker because of its unusual shape and its wider pores. 2: Wood Types: Not all wood types will conform to steam bending very easily because of their structure and so this can make this method limited in some ways. 3: