I thought I'd try a strip style coaming for my new Pygmy S&G. So far it's been very rewarding and I can tell that it will look nicer than the typical plywood coaming that the kit comes with but I've run into a bit of a challange with bending the strips for the edge.

Basically I bought a piece of 1" x 6" x 6' phillapine mahogany and cut 1" by 1/4" strips out of it. Then I cut some of those 6 foot stips 2" lengths and built up the vertical portion of the coaming. I ripped a second batch of the 6 foot strips to 1/4" by 1/4" (probably closer to 5/16") to be used as the horizontal edge of the coaming.

Next I built a wood steamer out of a 6.5' piece of 4" PVC pipe I had hanging around. I capped on end and drilled a hole for a 1 inch piece of clear plastic tubing that runs down to a cheap pot. I drilled a hole for the tube in the lid of the pot and sealed both ends so the assemble is essentially "steam tight" (the pot lid is held in place by a couple of pvc clamps...) Also, down the sides of the PVC tube, I drilled holes and inserted dowels to keep the wood out of any condensed water and I sealed the other end of the tube with a damp rag (there are a couple of 1/8 in hole to release a bit of steam if necessary - they're also currently plugged).

Ok so... attempt 1 - I put the edge strips in the steaming tube and heated water with a propane burner, steamed the wood for about 4 hours and couldn't get it to bend around the forms I created for the coaming. So, perhaps it needed soaking and hotter steam....this leads to:

Attempt 2: I soaked the wood in hot water for about 36 hours, then used an electic burner (on the kitchen stove - my wife just loved that!) to heat the steam hot enough that the PVC tub bent. The wood steamed for about an hour and a half but still wouldn't bend around the forms.

Anyone have any idea what I'm doing wrong? Should the strips be thinner? (1/8th inch or less)

Thanks for any input.

Taylor Warren