: Hi Scott,

: I'm sure you could probably make the coaming and the lip by steam bending,
: but I don't think I would try it on the boat. Instead I would use a form
: to do the bending. That way you won't stress the deck and deform it or
: possibly break it during bending. I personally make the coaming from
: strips glued vertically and then steam bend several small strips of ash or
: black walnut around the coaming and once dry I epoxy them up. I don't know
: what boat your building so I don't know the radius your trying to get but
: if it needs to be real tight I would suggest black walnut as it has a
: tighter bend radius than ash.

howdy scott,
ken has a valid point with stressing the deck. but, if you are building a stitch and glue design with plywood i'd go for it. i did, and it turned out nice.
what i did was attatch the deck so i was sure to get the proper angle of the deck. then when it was time to cut the cockpit opening (after laying it out) i cut it about half the size it supposed to be. leaving about six inches of material on the inside of the coaming. what i did then was to go and buy some cheap 3/4 shelving from lowes and i laid out the coaming on it. i then cut it out and took drywall screws and hot melt glue and attached to the inside of the caoming line. ( this area will latter be cut out so some holes and glue globs don't matter.) i then had my jig for bending attatched to the deck. you may find you'll have to cut the shelving into smaller sections before screwing them down so they will follow th curve of the deck. after that, its just a matter of steaming and clamping the wood the the jig. a word of caution. make sure you make the wood over sized, because when you clamp soft steamed wood your clamps will make a flat spot on it. i used 6 layers of 1/8 wood. i used basswood and i used black walnut. basswood bends like a wet noodle. walnut is a pain in the neck. if i were to do it over i'd use basswood and black ash. but your a big boy, and i'm sure you can make up your own mind. its just black walnut is very hard and not cooperative. good luck. i've got pictures of the coaming and the laminating process...now if could only remember how to post them....
good luck and build on,
brett the hitman hart