: I am building a Merganser 16 and for a bit of a feature I thought I might
: build the strip cockpit outlined in Eric's instructions and Nick's book.
: I have got the risers in place and they look pretty nice (red pine)
: I found a piece of tasmanian ash and cut the 1/8" by 7'strips for the
: rim (a few spare as well).
: When I tried bending these dry they snapped on the tight curve at the edges
: of the back of the coaming.
: So I soaked the remainder in A PVC pipe full of water in the sun for 3
: days....
: Some improvement but still not enough.

: Is there something I should know about this process??

: Thankyou in advance

: Nicholas Sheahan
: Mildura Australia

Cook it with steam.

stick the end of the pvc pipe over the end of a kettle with boiling water,

stuff a rag around it to get a bit of seal. at the far end stuff a rag, but leave it loose a bit so steam will fow through the pipe.

The wood stacked with one end taped to hold the stack will allow you to steam all at once, and bend them in place all at once.

20 mins in the steam, and it should bend easy. but wear gloves so you do not burn yourself. just camp in place on the combing riser (no glue), and let dry over night. It will hold most of the shape of the combing risers when dry, and you can glue it down. You have to work fast once out of the steam.

I'm not 100% sure the heat will not damage the epoxy, I doubt it, but it may be a consern.

the book Canoe Craft uses this technique for makeing the steams on the canoes.

A heat gun (looks like a hair dryer, but is not, much hotter) could be used to I suspect.

good luck

Myrl.

The other side (dark?) of the planet.