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Somewhere there was a easy to make box or structure for steaming. Does anyone know where a picture of it might be? When steaming a board to fit how long after steaming do you epoxy it in place? Will the moisture it absorbs be a problem?
Thanks

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John Amundsen
Monte Carlo
Winter Haven, FL

Maybe it will be done by G6 and maybe not.

I have been using plastic downpipe, supported by a bit of timber as it softens with the heat. I made a timber plug for the steam end with a centre hole for the steam and a small hole at the bottom to let the condensate out (this end is lower than the other end). If the timber fits in there completely I have another wooden plug at the other end with a small hole to let the steam flow, if it doesn't fit I stuff a wrag in to roughly seal it. You want the steam to be able to flow out this end so the heat travels the full length. I wrapped the whole thing in an old bit of cotton type carpet underlay to keep the heat in. I purchased a wallpaper steamer to generate the steam. The Wagner one I got goes for almost 2 hours without a refill and has a seprate boiler chamber so it gets up steam within 2 minutes.
As for the moisture in the timber, the heat dries it out pretty quickly, but I would leave it until at least the next day before attempting to glue it. I am in a hot climate though, not sure about your working temps it might take longer to dry out.
Don't think I currently have a picie of the outfit but if you like I can get one.

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By the time I have built a boat, I'll be ready to build a boat....

Pics would be great. I have several small but about 6 ft long pieces I would like to steam. After you steam the piece do you then dry install it to help hold the shape you want? Do you think one day is enough time. Our temps here are in the 80's right now. At least in the day time.

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John Amundsen
Monte Carlo
Winter Haven, FL

Maybe it will be done by G6 and maybe not.

John - It takes one hour of steaming for every 1/2" of material. You have a very short window from when you pull it out to get in on the mold. If you build a mold to bend it around, build it a little over bent because the wood will spring back a little. Or you can use the boat itself as the mold. Leave it in the mold for a day before pulling it . You can then fine tune the fit and fasten it permanently. The wood bends by compression of the inside curved cells not by lengthening the outside so be sure you have it long enough to begin with.

The wood will dry and set rather fast as it cools down so be ready with all the clamps.

The easiest box to build is a 8"x8" box in the length you need to hold the pcs you intend to. Seal one end . Hinge a door on the other end but hinge it to swing away so it does not get in your way when you pull your pcs. Wrap the box in insulation to hold temp. Hook up your steam to come in at the sealed in. Tilt up the box up slightly to allow condensation to run back to a hole in the bottom. I have seen little hoses inserted in this hole to direct the water away. Be sure to seal the inside of the box completely otherwise the steam will bend the wood. I have actually seen epoxy used to seal the inside and this amazed me because I thought epoxy softens up with heat. At the door end, insert a food thermometer. The box is heated up enough when the thermometer reads over 190. You will need to put some cleats on the floor of the box to hold the wood up so the heat will surround it.

If you soak your wood for a day before hand the wood will heat up more thoroughly for the water transfers the heat to the core of the wood allows the cell walls to be come elastic and compress.

Hope that helps

and yes, those little steamers you get from Wally world are just fine for steam generation. There are some neat plans on the web to build a steam generator out of pipe and a water heater element.

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Dave

My Riviera build - the Midnight Cry Project

Video of Midnight in Action
Blog

Few things in the world measure up to the thrill and satisfaction of boating in a boat that you built.

FYI--here's a couple of articles about steam boxes--the first one is from kens
http://www.glen-l.com/weblettr/webletters-8/webletter61.html#shoptalk
http://www.glen-l.com/weblettr/webletters-14/webletter121.html#XXX

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Gayle Brantuk
Vice President
Glen-L Marine
Visit our Blog & Create Your Own!

fwiw, I needed to steam gunwales for a canoe... Hot towels were just not cutting it... I made the "$5 single use" steambox from:

1 kettle from the thrift store
1 piece of heater hose
2 metal studs
some rags
lots of duct tape

no pictures, but you get the general idea.

I used our kitchen kettle to have boiling water ready to top up the steam box kettle as it was running dry... the steam needs to be pretty much continuous. (you can't put cold water in your steam source)


As Dave said... pull the steamed piece, and quickly clamp it where you want it.... Let it sit for a day... it will hold most of the shape... then epoxy it.

The steam box was 10' long, but the gunwales were 17'. I just did each end separately, on consecutive days.


For the number of battens I broke using the "hot towels" method, I wish I had given in and gone with the steam box approach when I built the Monaco.

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Bruce.

~~ Do what you love, and love what you do. ~~
~~ To me - only my boat is not yet perfect. Everybody else's is to be admired for I know the path they have walked (Dave Lott, 2010) ~~
Dow's Monaco Project

This is the most awesome forum. Thanks everybody for the help.

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John Amundsen
Monte Carlo
Winter Haven, FL

Maybe it will be done by G6 and maybe not.

Yup, Those wallpaper steamers work great.

Roberta

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Roberta
Built Zip "Oliver IV" and Super Spartan "Jimmy 70"

I used some drain pipe available at Home Depot. It is not PVC, but some Poly blend, which actually has a higher melting point than PVC. It handled the steam just fine.

I plugged the far end but included a vent hole and also drilled some holes in the side to place support dowels. (you can see them in the picture.)

I also had a Wagner wallpaper steamer which I used for the steam. I used the boat frame to support the assembly.

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Bob
Completed Malahini (launched 6/24/2012)
http://bobsboatbuild.blogspot.com/

Pics always make it easier. Thanks

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John Amundsen
Monte Carlo
Winter Haven, FL

Maybe it will be done by G6 and maybe not.

Not sure if you can still use my method but here it is anyway. I used a piece of 4" PVC pipe connected to a sealed bucket of water. The steam from the bucket traveled up the 2" PVC into the 4" PVC pipe. The wood battens were placed through a hole at the end. After about 20 minutes they were ready.

I would clamp them in place then wait until the next day when they were dry. Then glue everything and screw them in place. This went on for weeks, ha.

It was cheap and worked great. Here are some pics of my pitiful rig.

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Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. Albert Einstien

I promised some piccies....

Very crude setup to steam a small area of a curved piece of timber:

Very crude steaming tube. Note the insulation. High end always has a small opening, bottom end has a drain hole:

Made a plug from offcuts. Hole in the middle for the steamer wand, bottom for drain.


One thing worthy of mention is that the Wagner steamer only takes a minute or so to start producing steam. If you go for a large pot it can take quite some time (and energy) to get up a good head of steam. For small jobs this becomes important.

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By the time I have built a boat, I'll be ready to build a boat....

A quick jig I made to bend a piece of timber around.

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By the time I have built a boat, I'll be ready to build a boat....

Thanks for all the pics

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John Amundsen
Monte Carlo
Winter Haven, FL

Maybe it will be done by G6 and maybe not.