Steam Bending
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Episode Summary
For those who have never seen it done, the notion of steaming or boiling wood and bending it to shape can be intimidating. In practice, the process is quick, straightforward, and fairly simple. Boatbuilder Milo Stanley joins the Mastering Skills crew for a look at steambox designs, the needed tools for safe and successful steam-bending, suitable bending stock, and the steaming of frames for a boat.
Milo, along with Greg Rössel and Rich Hilsinger, also explain how to mark the frame locations on the ribbands or planking, the sheer, and the keel or keelson. With the steambox cooking and oak frames being steamed, the crew will demonstrate how to bend frames over a round-bottomed hull. They’ll then move on to a boat being built right-side up, and show the procedure for bending frames inside of the ribbands.