: I just made my first attempt at steam bending the coaming lip on my
: stripper. I spintered out my pieces at the front of the coaming
: trying to make the bend on two axis'. I steamed for about 30 min
: and one end seamed good but only up a few feet. Do I just need
: to wait longer? I was thinking of soaking in the bath tub for a
: little while then steaming??? How long should be enough
: steaming? I have set up a small electric burner with a tea
: kettle and a 10' x 1 1/2" PVC pipe.

: Thanks

Here is a different approach that I've used successfully on two coamings: Get a piece of PVC or whatever pipe that is long enough to hold the full length of your strips. Plug one end, put all the strips you want to bend inside. Place it vertically and fill it up with household ammonia (sold in the laundry aisle). Leave them to soak for a few days. The ammonia does something to the lignins or whatever makes wood stiff. the strips should bend like wet noodles when you take them out. I did this with ash and walnut and was able to bend them right around the tightest bend at the front of the coaming. If they need any coaxing the heat gun steams up the wet wood and helps. Because they were so soggy I did not try to glue them immediately, I just clamped them in place, let them dry and then glued them later. You will need to hold the strips down so they are submerged because they will float and you can expect the ammonia to darken the wood.
The heat gun alone did not work so well for me, the wood did not get as bendy as I wanted and I had trouble not scorching it.

Ric