Bending a stem with green wood (ash)

[pasteljoe]

Hi everybody,

I'm actually building a canadian wood and canvas canoe in France, from the Rollin Thurlow's plans (The Atkinson traveller)
As it seems that i'm the only one man in France who build this kind of canoë (all the buiders uses all wood canoes and epoxy) I don't find so much help in the french boats forums... So I turn to the original builders

I am working with a piece of green ash (a beautiful local tree fallen this winter by storm), and I just bent my stems with. The 1" 3/16 piece of green wood was soaked two days in water and 3 hours in a steam box. The bending was all okay, no break. But, as the wood is green, someone of you knows how long I have to let it dry on the form ? Can I put it in a 20°C room ?

Thanks to everybody !
Jo

 

[MGC]

Hello Jo, Congratulations on building a Traveller. These are one of my favorite canoes to use for canoe trips. With that design Rollin took the already great Maine working canoe and transformed it.
Using dried wood I allow my stems to sit on my form for about a week before I use them. I have never used green wood but I presume it would benefit from longer drying time.
I would want to make sure that the backing strop and wedges you used stay in place until you are ready to remove the stems. They will move a bit but you will be able to pull them into place on the form.

 

[patrick corry]

I am preparing to build the same canoe, and steaming is new territory for me. I just built my steam box and steam generator rig and tested it yesterday. I will be using air dried Ash for stems, bending a 7/8"x1 7/8" blank onto my form. The blank will then be cut into two pieces from which to make the stems. I'm curious to know what gauge steel is used for the bending strap?

Short test video: https://youtu.be/QYmfn6WIcL4

I discovered that I had to turn the burner way down once the water was boiling because at high flame it was sending too much liquid water into the box, and it was streaming out of the drain hole at the low end of the box. Once I turned down the flame, only drips and steam came out of the drain.

Thanks for the advice about leaving the blank on the form. I had planned on leaving it even longer; will this be detrimental?

 

[pasteljoe]

Thanks MGC, so for green wood it seems to be a month to dry... I will try anyway to accelerate the drying in interior

To Patrick, I didn't use gauge steel for bending. A simple 3/16" wood band of spruce works. But, you say you will bend a piece of wood before to cut it in two stems ? it's a bit complicated, no ?

 

[MGC]

Green ash bends very nicely. I've used it to make snowshoes. Snowshoe frames get riveted together to hold the shape. I let them sit for a few weeks before I varnish and then lace them.
I don't think you should have to worry too much about green ash stems. Once they are fit to the form and tacked place they aren't going anywhere. Ash dries very quickly.
I wonder if we will ever have a supply of green ash again here in the Northeast? The Emerald Ash Borer has devastated our trees. I have removed over 40 trees from my home lot and I have hundreds of dead trees to deal with on my hunting property.
There is a very limited time to harvest the wood once the beetles kill the tree. If it stands for more than a year, it literally rots from the bottom up. A windstorm finishes the job.

 

[pasteljoe]

We have the same problems in europe with this insect. And the problem with the climate changes will get worse...