113,
Well, based on a lot of reading and responses from the members here, this is what I do.
I bend my ribs over the outside and let them dry a day before installing them in the canoe. I am careful to not remove too many ribs in one place, at the least 1 only with preferably 2 between removed ribs.
I carefully measure the inside distances and find the same distance on the outside.
The rib is quickly and tightly bent over the outside and clamped in place, effort is made to make sure it's laying flat against the hull.
The next day/night the rib is dry and placed/fit check inside. IF it lays flat against the hull along the full length, it is tacked in, starting from the middle planks, working toward the rails. If I can't get it flat it isn't tacked in.
This seems to be a lot of putsing but once I started using this process, I haven't had a bad rib yet. Prior to using it, I had plenty of bad ribs, including a couple that took 3 tries.
Being that I do this for fun and am not trying to live on canoe work, I don't mind spending more time getting something done.
BTW, the suggestion is to rebend a rib following the above process.
Dan