Sure is quiet in here....do I need to start a fight?

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Been a long time since I steam bent anything, I like your light duty steam box...LOL
We had a section of 16" galvanized road culvert about 10' long back home for a steam box used mostly for bending boat ribs on the cape islanders we built and repaired then. Bent ash for skies and runners but mostly larch ( hackmatac) for boat ribs. 4-6 hours of steaming they were really limp but they were quite green to start with, planed to one inch thickness by 2.5" wide in most cases for boats under 30' long.
 
Yeah John....getting that saw in there and set up was a challenge......but you can just see the "CP" in the back of the shop....that's where it lives....spent most of last week using it......worth every penny and all the work.....100% accurate in every direction...every time you set it up......a true joy and time saver to use....smooth...ungodly power.....never boggs or even changes tone....even cutting 5" thick old growth doug fir.....love it!!!!
Had to go back and look again , now I can see CP back there ! LOL
 
Been a long time since I steam bent anything, I like your light duty steam box...LOL
We had a section of 16" galvanized road culvert about 10' long back home for a steam box used mostly for bending boat ribs on the cape islanders we built and repaired then. Bent ash for skies and runners but mostly larch ( hackmatac) for boat ribs. 4-6 hours of steaming they were really limp but they were quite green to start with, planed to one inch thickness by 2.5" wide in most cases for boats under 30' long.


LOL! Was kinda hoping someone would mention/ask about muh steem box....LOL...same one I used 18 yrs. ago to make the first toboggan.......can't remember what I used for a steam generator back then.......but the hose, fitting and plugged pipe are the same.....the fitting that attaches the hose to the box is a vintage Land Rover Series IIA heater hose to cyl. head fitting.....

Very basic set up....how do you like the 12-2 wire lashing the pipe to the hoss?? LOL!!.......I listen to folks go on and on about steam box designs.....how to do it "Right"....LOL.....right then I know they be talking out the wrong end......my father and I used to take four pine boards an make a box of the required length for the timbers we were steaming......might have an actual door or just a piece of canvas....simple.....we used these retimbering out various 18- 40 foot boats......we used white oak if available and money was there or red oak if was a frugal repair....sizes needed varied widely so the steam boxes did as well......simple structures to be use once maybe twice.....then add to the fire to make the steam....the only rule, and that's a loose one, is the box need not be any larger or longer than needed to do the job...
 
So true Robin, I worked many other places that just used wooden board or plank steam box, pipe, ductwork or anything the steam wouldn`t melt quickly. A hot wet cloth wrapped around the cedar ribs works well for canoes, just keep pouring hot water on , let soak in and repeat often. No need for anything fancy, whatever can hold the steam in for a few minutes will work, more steam coming all the time. A portable box works just as good as a permanent dedicated one, we often threw something up right on the shore when doing emergency repairs at a slipway, no need for fancy.
 
LOL! Was kinda hoping someone would mention/ask about muh steem box....LOL...same one I used 18 yrs. ago to make the first toboggan.......can't remember what I used for a steam generator back then.......but the hose, fitting and plugged pipe are the same.....the fitting that attaches the hose to the box is a vintage Land Rover Series IIA heater hose to cyl. head fitting.....

Very basic set up....how do you like the 12-2 wire lashing the pipe to the hoss?? LOL!!.......I listen to folks go on and on about steam box designs.....how to do it "Right"....LOL.....right then I know they be talking out the wrong end......my father and I used to take four pine boards an make a box of the required length for the timbers we were steaming......might have an actual door or just a piece of canvas....simple.....we used these retimbering out various 18- 40 foot boats......we used white oak if available and money was there or red oak if was a frugal repair....sizes needed varied widely so the steam boxes did as well......simple structures to be use once maybe twice.....then add to the fire to make the steam....the only rule, and that's a loose one, is the box need not be any larger or longer than needed to do the job...
I almost asked bout steaming wood , i got no idea how its done . Now I seen a little bit bout it .
The X made them maple baskets , all they did was get them wet a little bit and go . But that stuff is so thin it don't take much to bend them .
Seen my Uncle that does a lot of wood working try to bend walnut , TRY was all he got . LOL Gave up and did something else . Hes the one that made my oak bed and dressers . The X knew better than to even think bout touching it !
 
We would put hardwood right into a boil tank full of hot water and let it simmer, some bends better than others. For basket making the ash used here would be soaked in warm water for a couple of hours then taken out and lay it across a log, take a wooden mallet and tap it fairly hard, the growth layers will separate, Just keep pulling the stick along and keep tapping it, you end up with fairly thin strips of de laminated growth ring wood that can be further soaked in hot water and then it will readily bend for basket making.
 
You guys back there seem to have all the bad weather systems


Well, Ice.......we do have some foul weather from time to time.....but we don't have much in the way of earthquakes...tornadoes....or other creatures that will kill us, etc....worst we gotts is blackflies and a bit of snow...which will melt away when it gets warm enough to rain/fog......
 
We're real lucky we never seem to get any real dangerous weather other than seems every other year or so we get high winds up to 100 mph but they only last for about 10 minutes kinda hard on the trees sometimes. We get sometimes up to 5 ft of snow on the ground but usually more like 18" to 24". Can have 10' to12' up in the mountains but that's needed for a good run off in the spring to fill all the hydro reservoirs for the next summer.
 

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