: Hi Brian,
: I've used the open flame water heating method before but with wet
: "steaming" ie. a pan of boiling water for bending coaming
: timbers. Kinda dodgy in the safett stakes. I haven't used it for steaming
: as I was losing too much heat between the boiler and steaming box.

: A Wagner wallpaper steamer is a cheap, effective way to do steaming for ribs
: and coamings. The hose is kept coiled unless I actually need the length to
: keep my garage free of clouds. The coil is rested on an old wool
: blanket to keep it off the ground, the hose is thermally shielded already
: but every little bit helps. My steaming 'box' is a length of heavy PVC
: piping,(which will flatten if unsupported) in a bed of dry sand. The sand
: keeps the heat in fairly well and supports the 'box' to minimise the
: mentioned flattening.
: A piece of squiggled wire keeps the timber off the bottom of the pipe.

: One interesting advantage of the wagner is that I can spot heat timber if
: needed. Wrap the area to be spot heated in cloth with the end of the steam
: hose in the wrap. A 'wet' version of a heat gun.

: Hope this helps,
: Mike Savage
: South West Cork

I've got a Wagner too, other nice thing is they are fairly cheap as well as safe, safe is nice. One of my jobs at work is running large boilers, I'm always very careful around steam.

Bill H.