: I am trying to steam bend my ribs and getting very frustrated with the whole
: thing. The problem I think is that my steam box is not getting enough
: steam in it to do the job. Currently I have a teakettle with the spout
: going straight into the steam box. The wood coming out after 15 - 20
: minutes is only warm and dry. The box Is a 4" diameter 3 1/2' piece
: of PVC wrapped in 2 layers \of 1 1/2" of fiberglass insulation. Does
: anybody have suggestions on how I could generate more steam?

I also use a tea kettle and a pvc pipe. I have no problems with the quantity of steam. I use a 2" pipe and I put some wire through it to hold the ribs up near the top. I just snipped some coat hanger pieces, then heated them up in the fire of the stove and pushed them through the pvc. I connect the kettle to the pipe with a short piece of radiator hose pushed into the kettle spout and up through a 90 degree bend piece on the end of the pvc. I do nothing to plug around the hose and I have no other insulation. I drape a rag over the other end of the pipe to "hold" the steam in, works best damp. The pvc pipe is elevated above the kettle by a couple of stacks of bricks, held in place with a little duct tape.

It's ugly, water drips out of it on the kitchen counter, and it sure isn't the ideal steam box, but it works. The only thing I bought for it was the radiator hose, and you could probably scrounge some of that somewhere.

I steam for only 3-5 minutes, and then quickly pre-bend the rib ends on a jig like in Cunningham's book. The ribs stay pliable long enough to walk from the kitchen out to the back yard where my "shop" is and install them.

I would say the key is to minimize the distance between the kettle and the "box", and to use a pipe just barely big enough for a rib or two, rather than heating a bunch of empty space. Otherwise, go ahead and spend a little cash for a wallpaper steamer or one of the electric kettles from Lee Valley, and make a proper steam box. Someday I will do that...