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Re: Strip: When bending ash ....
By:eric-skinyak
Date: 1/6/2002, 11:59 am
In Response To: Re: Strip: When bending ash .... (Rob Macks)

I am about to build a folding sailboat, a bit like an umiak, that'll have an ash structure. Ash bends indeed but I'll have to steam some 12 by 20 mm stringers. I tried to steam such spars by holding them over a boiling pan and made a fool of myself!
I kept them hours in the water instead with a pulling cord tied at both ends, but this gives the stringers a boomerang shape as they'll rather fold in the middle, not in an even fashion. A carpenter told me to use several cords, but that seems quite unpractical.
Would there be a way for an amateur to steam wood without a sophisticated equipment?

Regards

: Ash, Hickory, WHITE oak, and northern white cedar are THE preferred woods for
: bending
: because they possess natural bending properties unlike other woods. This why
: stripping
: with northern white cedar is easier than other woods

: Yes, you can bend other woods, but not as easily and with as much success as
: with these woods.

: The best stock would be quarter saw wood (cut on a radius from the log
: center) which will
: not have any grain run out, which might cause the piece to break during
: bending. Typically,
: we buy flat sawn boards and cut strips from the edge. The strips have a
: consist tight grain,
: with no figure to it. This is what quarter sawn wood looks like.

: All the best,

: Rob Macks
: Laughing Loon CC&K
: www.LaughingLoon.com

Messages In This Thread

Strip: When bending ash ....
KenC -- 1/5/2002, 4:49 pm
Re: Strip: When bending ash .... *Pic*
Pete Rudie -- 1/5/2002, 10:29 pm
Re: Strip: When bending ash ....
Rob Macks -- 1/5/2002, 7:50 pm
Re: Strip: When bending ash ....
eric-skinyak -- 1/6/2002, 11:59 am
Re: Strip: When bending ash .... *Pic*
John Schroeder -- 1/7/2002, 8:54 am
Re: Strip: When bending ash ....
David Bryson -- 1/10/2002, 5:45 pm
Re: Strip: When bending ash ....Thanks a lot...
eric-skinyak -- 1/7/2002, 12:42 pm
Re: Strip: When bending ash .... *Pic*
Bob Kelim -- 1/6/2002, 9:08 pm
Re: Strip: When bending ash ....
KenC -- 1/6/2002, 8:38 pm
I've made steam boxes from
Charlie Jones -- 1/6/2002, 8:38 pm
Lee Valley Tools to the rescue...
Pete Rudie -- 1/6/2002, 2:04 pm