: a while back we had a discussion about steaming sof ribs. i tried the yellow
: cedar and it worked great!

I tried steaming AYC after soaking it for as much as a week and I still couldn't get it to bend without breaking. Ash soaked for less time - or not at all - worked fine. Is your AYC green lumber as Morris suggests? All I could find was kiln-dried AYC flooring.

Regarding steaming, I've read that you can "over-steam", but my experience was the longer, the better. The only time I had a problem was when the steamer ran low on water and the wood came out of the steamer looking rather dry, rather than dripping wet. It seems to me that if you keep plenty of water in the steamer, the temperature will remain pretty constant and any extra time should have no detrimental effect. I suspect that the "1 hour per inch" rule of thumb is the minimum amount of time for steaming, not necessarily the optimum. I steamed the 1/4" ash ribs for 5-10 minutes (after soaking for 4+ days), depending on the severity of the bend they had to take. The 3/8" coaming ring sat in the steamer for a full hour and it bent like butta', despite only having been soaked for a day. I'd love to hear from someone with more experience regarding this subject. I get the impression that - like finishing - much of what is written about steaming is more folklore rather than fact.

Hmmm, maybe we can get Bob Flexner on the case...