: Steam "box" doesn't have to be all that tricky....

Eh, way I unnerstand it, there's no trick to it at all. Probably one afternoon would have me in the steam bending business, that's why I call myself a dead butt for not having already gotten around to it. Heck, I've seen people successfully use cardboard boxes and tea kettles on camp stoves to get up and running in less than half an hour.

I also know a guy who can build staple-less almost as efficiently as I can progress using them willy-nilly, but I'm still utterly uninterested for whatever reason; probably because I think the neat little rows of staple holes look cool and add eye appeal to the finished product rather than detract from it. I gotta have a pretty good reason to depart from methods I already know work very quickly and produce excellent results, and so far nothing has impelled me fix up a steamer rig. As for things like stems and coaming rims, I find it so easy to glue up a stack of laminations using wood glue (Titebond II) that never felt a need to look at any other methods. But I'm sure it's a mere matter of time before I hit some project where steam bending will be the only really decent way to go (traditional SOF?), or simply sound like a fun thing to try that day, and then I'll do 'er and be posting all kinds of expert advice for y'all to learn from in a day or two........

Disclaimer: Do what works best for you. All statements above are made solely to add perspective for noobs trying to sort out all the grizzled old veteran BS, and is subject to me changing my mind tomorrow in any case. Thank you, and please drive safely.