: Hi Andreas
: How do ya steam a cedar strip?..... Tell it that its twisted.
: OK now ya know why I am not making a living as a comic.

: Its bad enough we keep telling people we are stripping. Now we have to tel
: 'em we are twisted too. Ah well what shall we do but be good at what we
: are.

: Here are some ideas on steaming wood. They are sort of in ascending order of
: from simple things to try to Tim Taylor "More Powa" solutions.
: I Hope one of them works for ya.

: It has been my expereince that most softwood strips of 3/4 inch
: and less (width) don't need a full out steamer box basting. Its a
: whole 'nother deal if your trying to twist a hard wood strip.
: For Cedar strips most just need a little coaxing with hot water, an
: iron or a heat gun. THe key is bending and heating over time. SAy
: 20 minutes. The wood will bend over time its jsut the sharp pull
: over a few seconds that makes for that dismal sound of wood
: cracking in the night.

: Another trick is to cut only the length you need to twist plus a foot
: or so.Twisting on a 20 footer when its the last 3 feet can really be
: a bear.

: Also consider going to thinner width strips a 3/4 inch on the skeg of
: a G18 can be a real bear. Its a 90 degree twist of 18 inches very
: do-able but in this case smaller is better. A half inch or even
: 1/4 inchstrip will twist easier. We just finished a bassswood and
: Mahogany boat and we manufactured some strips that were 1/8 th width for just
: such occasions. Yeah, Its more strips to lay up, but its also less time in
: the steam.

: Often cedar strips don't need a full steaming to get the shape you want.
: Cedar takes to bending very well when heated, so some times laying up the
: strip up her in place and working it with a heat gun or even a hair dryer
: will get you the twist you need.

: If that doesn't work, try putting the strip in real hot water (like
: in a bath tub for a 20-40 minutes. After they are good and spongy you
: can usually get 90 degrees out of them. Another option is to stand
: your strips in the shower with the water on full hot.In these
: situations, its good to have marks on the wood showing the middle and
: ends of the twists. THis helps you in the bending process.
: After the strips are pulled from the hot water, shower etc.
: Place several bar clamps down the twist between your marks, be sure to
: altenate them left and right Then start torquing the bars out in the
: direction of the twist starting left and going right start with
: small movements on each bar. Then go back and adjust each one out a little
: further away from the mid line until you have the twist you want. If
: the twist is real tight you cna use the clamps on the wood will its in the
: tub. Or in a stream of hot water from the faucett.

: After the wood is twisted to shape I often put the piece of twisted wood with
: the bar clamps still on on a piece of rug to dry. The rug keeps
: the clamps from sliding back to mid line until the twist drys. The whole
: thing looks sort of like a large insect with a wood body and bar clamps
: for legs. Another visulization would be it looks sort of like a pup tent
: or a swing set. Some times I pit a heat gun on the wood to aid in the
: drying and at the same time keeping the wood plyable as he drys. This
: alows it to dry to a final shape before you install it on your form.

: If it is really steaming you need. Then the options get a bit thicker.
: In order for wood to go limp its got to get really hot. I can't remember
: cedar's exact temp reqquirements at the moment. However, it means either
: taking a sauna and bringing the wood in with you, or Or build some kind of
: temporary or perminant steamer contraption.

: The quick and easy solution is a PVC pipe hung at an angle over a
: boiling tea kettle works just fine. Though when I tried it over the kitchen
: stove. it sorta weirded out my dear spouse. (A fairly common occcurance
: gosh I wonder why The other possibility is to use a out door camp stove
: etc. Of course then your neighbors will wonder what's up. So spouse or
: neighbors take your pick
:

: If your really bent on basting. Then a steamer box is in order. HEy
: boats are an excuse to buy tools. The best strip steamer I have ever
: seen is a piece of 8 inch PVP pipe with a hole drilled in for a
: meat thermometer. On the one end was a wall paper steamer
: with the steamer head installed into the pipe and cap with
: drill holes on the other end.

: If you want to keep the cost down you can build the whole contraption
: excepting the wall paper steam. You can rent those at most tool rental
: companies by the day half day etc for just when you need it.

: Well I hope that gives you some ideas to play with. Happy twisting.

: Just remember smoke the turkey, and steam the wood. and not the other way
: around.

: !RUSS

: !RUSS

Hi Andreas: Re: how to bend a cedar strip?

I have built a 16'stripper canoe, although never a kayak but the situation seems similar. You have two choices (1)cut the strips narrower and use cheater strips or (2)soak the strip(s)in a container (i.e. a piece of pvc pipe closed at one end) filled with full strength household ammonia for 6-8 hrs, then clamp it to the strong back and let it dry overnight. In the morning, go back and glue it in place. The ammonia will not affect the wood once it has evaporated and it is a lot easier to work with than hot wood especially with the time constraints imposed by the wood cooling off. Good ventilation is also important when using this technique.

Good Luck

Jim

P.S. You are going to break a few strips regardless of what method you use. Don't let it concern you. It's part of the learning process.