My SOF project was going really great...until today. I'm building based on Cunningham's book. I'm really happy with the deck so far - all those mortises and tenons at odd angles really do work.

Then there are the ribs. I ordered a piece of bending oak. Ripped it down to the right size for the ribs. At that point, even before I'd cut them to length, I had one or two of the 8' long pieces that seemed like they wanted to break.

I plunged on, hoping it was just a minor problem. I soaked all the pieces for a couple of weeks. Cut them to length, thinned the ends as recommended in the book. But now that it's time to bend them I just can't get them to bend without breaking. My steamer seems to be doing the right thing, putting out lots of steam - and the ribs are soft when they come out of it, not brittle. But every one of them is breaking.

I suspect the problem is grain runout - I've attached a picture of one of the broken ribs.

I don't think I want to go through the time and expense of ordering another piece of bending oak - I'll probably just go to a local hardwood supplier and look for ash or oak and try that.

Does that sound reasonable? Which is better, ash or white oak? Does this sound like a problem with the grain? Is it more likely my milling of it or just the particular board I used?

Thanks for any input you might have - I really want to get past this part of the process.

Chris