Mark Van Tassel
"Van"
Okay, so I set up my mini steamer ( the one that performed well for bending my new stems) and put in three ribs for nearly two hours after soaking them for 36 hours. In that time the temp rose to 197 degrees, thinking that should be good enough for cedar. Bending them over the inverted canoe, two snapped as bent them over the two bow ribs just after the cant ribs. I figure well that's an extreme angle, so I'll try the last (one which was just a couple ribs from the center thwart). Snap again. I am using Western Red not Northern White. What do I need to do different? How important is grain direction when bending ribs?