Bending the D*^$#n Ribs

Bending the ribs is finally done.  This has been the worse part of the project for me; I broke rib after rib until the last four I went back to a traditional way of getting straight grained wood.  Steam bending definitely has a learning curve that was very frustrating for me.  The one thing I learned was to use absolutely straight grained wood if you want any success.

The steam box I used was made from foil faced foam as prescribed in Chris Cunningham’s book.  The lay out in the book is simple and inexpensive.  I held the box together with duct tape and it held up reasonably well even though I used it at least four or five times.  Two modifications I made were to shorten the length of the box so it was a few inches longer than my longest rib and to push two dowel rods through both sides of the box for the ribs to rest on as a kind of rack to get steam all around them.    I had a hot plate to provide the heat and used the tea pot from our house, which I sanitized after each use then cut a 6 inch piece of pipe to connect the tea pot to the steam box.   The pipe was held in place by simply putting it in a bind between the two.  I was really amazed at how little steam escaped even though there wasn’t a tight fit between the pipe and the tea pot.  The end of the steam box was covered with a towel to keep as much steam and heat in as possible.

My first attempt was with some left over cherry and I carefully cut and shaped them and allowed them to soak for three weeks.  I broke everyone I tried to bend.  A little disheartened I called a friend that sells rough cut lumber.  I got two pieces of oak from him that had been cut only a few months ago so they were fairly green.  The problem, one I didn’t realize until much later, is that the wood was not straight grain.  I cut new ribs and let them soak for several weeks.  A buddy came over to help me steam bend the second batch.  We got all but four ribs bent into place.  Some of which had some splits that I glued back down.  The last four ribs were just downright a pain in the ass.

I think I made two more attempts two bend the last four ribs before calling my dad for desperate help, it all blends together now.  He suggested if I had enough wood left to split it by hand with an axe to ensure the grain was straight.  Having done Revolutionary War reenactments with my dad as a kid, implements of destruction like tomahawks are in no short supply in our family.  He brought over a hand forged tomahawk with a pull (flat section on the back) and a dead blow hammer, since neither of my tomahawks have a pull or the weight needed to do this safely.  I used the dead blow hammer to drive the tomahawk through the wood splitting it with the grain.  I split the pieces down until they were roughly a half inch thick then plained them smooth.  One thing I will warn anyone who is attempting this, a tomahawk should not be your first choice, they are sharp.  Using something that has a more blunt edge would be wiser if you’ve never done anything like this before.  I’ve been using a tomahawk since I was nine or ten years old so I’m fairly confident I won’t drive it into my leg.  I would also suggest long pants and boots if this is new to you not the shorts and sandals I wore.

The last four ribs soaked for three days and bent with ease, straight grain is the trick.  I do have to admit I sat down and drank a beer when the final rib went in.  This part took way to long, and I know that was due to my lack of experience bending wood.  If you attempt to make your own boat spend the money to buy straight grained piece of wood or do like I ended up doing, probably the most tradition way to make your ribs, spliting them by hand.

I was able to move ahead on several areas of the boat in the almost three months it took me to get the ribs done.  I should be writing about those in the near future to bring everything up to date.