Bending outside rails

[rakwetpaddle]

I will be bending outwales on a Thompson that has quite a bit of recurve and have been soaking them in kerosene. How much time should they steam before bending. I intend to bent them on the canoe.

[Dave Wermuth]

an hour per inch. Never soaked in kerosene before so maybe that makes it different? How long did you soak them? Several canoe builders near you. Including me. Do you have a steamer?

[bob goeckel]

ralph, i have one over here on the east side of flint:D . anytime you want to use it. bob

[rakwetpaddle]

I do have a steamer. It is a commercial carpet steamer that runs on electricity. It is very compact and gets steam in 15 minutes. It works great.

[garypete]

If you have the source of steam from a machine, you just need an enclosure to channel the steam to the gunwale ends. Try inexpensive white PVC pipe in a diameter from 2"-4".

I used a 4" PVC pipe about six feet long, capped on one end. Slide that over the end section of gunwale to be bent and stick the hose from your steamer into the open end. Use damp rags to pack the open end shut around the hose and protruding gunwale and turn on the steam. A 1" x 1" ash or cherry gunwale will need about 1 hour of steam to get pliable.

Be aware that the PVC pipe will sag and bend when it gets hot, so support it along its length.

Good luck.

[rakwetpaddle]

I bent the rails yesterday and virtually did it the way garypete suggested. Except for taking a lot of time (about an hour per bend) they went on perfectly. Not a break or crack.

[Dave Osborn]

Ralph.....
What kind of wood did you bend for the Thompson outwales??
Dave

[rakwetpaddle]

Dave, we used 20' Spruce without a problem. We soaked them in kerosene for a month or so but as easy as they went on we probably could have just used steam. The wood had been kiln dried, thus the kero.

[crosscuts]

I am curious to know the advantage of soaking in kerosene rather than water to prepare kiln dried lumber for steaming.

Thanks, R.C.

[bob goeckel]

i bent ash rails last weekend. 2 day water soak on one end, 1 day soak on the other. about 45 min steaming. the one day set time for the first end seemed to work. but we did install the rail on the form within an hour of the bending of the 2nd. end.

[rakwetpaddle]

I understand that the kero soak rejuvinates the cells in kiln dried wood so that they can "stretch" when bent. I learned this technique from Jack McGreivey. Get in touch with him if you want more information. It worked just fine for me. Both rails went on without a problem.

[jake22si]

just boil'em and let them sit for a few days on your mold. Remember to overbend a few inches. and dont use kiln drieD

[jake22si]

dont use kiln dried and boil em for 1hr per inch and make a mold to overbend them

[rakwetpaddle]

Jake;
The stock WAS kiln dried, thats why I soaked them for 3 weeks in kero, then steamed them while attached to the canoe. We bent to the sheer line, drilled a hole, and attached the rail. It went without a hitch. I am letting the rails dry on the canoe for a month, then will remove them, sand, and varnish before replacing them. The canoe itself was the mold and they fit perfectly.