Fun with steam

[patrick corry]

I decided to steam bend the new Ash outwales prior to priming and painting the Chestnut Bobs Special project. This is a new task for me and so far has gone reasonably well. In the second picture it's evident that the outwales make a rather abrupt inward curve at the decks, and are swept up to the greatest degree here as well. I rabbeted the stock where it meets the ribs, but left the outboard faces square to make clamping easier. I'm hoping they will keep their shape while they are off the boat being shaped to the final profile on the bench. I will certainly leave them on the boat for an extended period to ensure full drying before I shape them, and possibly create a temporary form (how, I don't know yet) to help maintain shape while I'm priming and painting the hull. The splash of water at the end of the video was because the boisterous boiling of water in the over-filled vessel shot out the tube. It settled down afterwards.

 

[Dave Osborn]

In my experience you won’t loose enough shape with the outwales off after drying to make a difference.
I most often use a hand held router to shape the outwales when they are pulled off.
If you do that, do it before you drill the screw holes.

 

[patrick corry]

Thanks Dave. Good advice… the router bearing would follow the screw countersinks! I also plan to taper both depth (thickness?) and height of the outwales as they approach the stems.

 

[Worth Gretter]

I agree with Dave. I steam bent both inwales and outwales around the hull, then set them aside for months while I removed the old gunwales and fixed the rib ends (88 of them!). They kept their shape.

 

[Dave Wermuth]

I hold the router, a small router, like a trim router at the horizontal and the bearing rides along the top, so the screw holes aren't a factor.

 

[patrick corry]

I hold the router, a small router, like a trim router at the horizontal and the bearing rides along the top, so the screw holes aren't a factor.

This is precisely why it's good to articulate the task one is about to undertake... someone else always has a method you hadn't thought of! Your method solves the problem of how to hold the loose outwale steady while shaping. Thanks.

The other thought I had was to pass the outwale blank over a router table to shape it but two notions occur to me; one, with a table mounted router you can't really see the cutting progress as well since the cut surface is down against the table, and two, I don't know how the complex curves of the more than 15' long, floppy blank will successfully ride on the table surface to get a consistent shape. It becomes even more problematic when considering that I want to shape both the top and bottom corners of the blank to arrive at a "D" shape.

 

[patrick corry]

Once drilled and screwed to the canoe, I decided to shape the outwales by hand for two reasons. First, because I don't own a small router or laminate trimmer, I decided that my full sized router would be clumsy to operate horizontally, and second (and more importantly) I was fearful of cutting too deep or damaging the hard work of steaming the outwales with a power tool.

Using hand tools- bench plane, block plane, card scraper, rasp, etc- have a couple of advantages. The work is quieter, chances of a boo-boo are significantly lower, and I find it's pleasing to see the shape progress slowly. I know this canoe was probably built in a factory utilizing all the conveniences of the time, but to me the hand-shaped result is pleasing. I will still refine the profile with sanding off the canoe while the priming and painting progress.

Observers will note that I haven't placed the last screws near the stems yet. On my three other wood/canvas canoes the last screws range from 1.5" to 2.75" from the tip of the stem. There isn't a lot of 'meat' there in the stem/deck junction and I'm fearful of creating a split with screws intersecting each other from both sides of the boat. I'm wondering what others do here to avoid weakening the area, but still having the strength to draw the outwales tightly to the canoe at the ends?

 

[Dave Wermuth]

pre drill with a fuller tapered bit and use a 2" screw if you got that size. If you want to get fussy, go ahead and use a steel screw with bees wax first, just to set the threads. If it were me, I'd just wax a bronze 2" screw at this point. Also, a spokeshave is perfect for hand shaping. I've used a small plane too. But the spokeshave takes the cake.

 

[patrick corry]

Am I attempting to have the screw pass through both inwales and into the opposite outwale, or simply penetrate into the (repaired) tip of the deck? Obviously, the screws on each side will have to be offset somewhat to avoid meeting one another! I have used a tapered countersink for all the screw installations.

 

[Dave Wermuth]

I would not go through to the opposite outwale. I would just get into the deck.

 

[patrick corry]

In an effort to maintain the outwale shapes while off the canoe during the priming and painting, I fashioned a frame of simple, notched spreaders located at center, 2',4',6' intervals. The spreaders were measured to mirror the width dimensions at each interval while the outwales were fastened to the canoe, so 'spring-back' should be minimal. There has been no attempt to over-spread or augment the shapes, just maintain. I used velcro straps to retain the outwales within the notches, though twine or rope would suffice. Bricks serve to hold the unit down to the floor and the tips up to maintain the upsweep. The intent is to be able to re-install the outwales with little to no bending force once the hull is painted and the outwales receive, at minimum, varnish on the inaccessible surfaces once installed.