: Would they need to be steamed to get the bend or could we just soak
: them for a few hours?
: I guess I need to go look at those plans again.
: I have only ever tried bending wood once,(clear pine) by steam, on
: a short 8' kayak and that was with wrapping the bend location
: with a towel and then pouring boiling water over it for about 10
: min, had a couple of failures but did manage to get it finished.
: Would say a 1/4" x 1/2" strip of poplar or birch bend
: with just soaking? maybe overnight?

Hardwood ribs would need heat for bending, some have gotten good results with soaking for a while (days or weeks). Pine is hit and miss with steam bending. Not sure about poplar or birch, haven't used them. Slim shoots might work well for bent ribs if cut and bent fresh, though poplar isn't known for rot resistance. Birch should work for bending as pre-cut timber.

Soaking is a long term process, soaking for a day or three only gets the outer mil or two wet. Soaking, or ponding, is mostly done with fresh cut shots or slips to keep them supple rather than softening wood.
Steaming with a simple box or tube and a wallpaper steamer is pretty effective and fairly safe with gloves and long sleeves. Much safer than boiling water. For 1/4" x 1/2" about a minute steaming should be enough. A plus with wallpaper steamers is that you can use the steam directly on the rib if you hit a tougher part of the bend. A bit cloudy and damp, though. :) Will definitely fog up any glasses.

A search through QajaqUSA will throw up a lot of information on bending timber. Though information overload may happen. :D

Mike Savage
South West Cork