Bending wood

Since breaking my important chine member (see previous posts,) I have come up with a much better method of bending and shaping wood. See illustrated guide below.

First you must gather all the necessary equipment. I am bending a thin piece of wood so I have the wood, clamps, old towels, a strap for tension and boiling water. And you must include a cute child for the process to work correctly. Fortunately we have all the required ingredients in ample supply in my garage.

While the water is getting hot, set up the bending rig. I measured the length of the piece I needed and the depth of the bend. I bent the piece past the intended bend since I think some of the bend will come out when I release the tension.

The work piece gets a clamp on each end. I used some scrap pieces between the clamp and the work piece to avoid nasty marks. Then I wrap some old towel around the work piece and put the strap around the clamps. Since both clamps are aligned on one side of the work piece the strap tension will put a bend in the work piece.

And this is the end result. I left the towels on for 24 hours and plan on leaving the pieces in tension for at least two days. When it comes to gluing, clamps and screws will hold these pieces to the chine pieces that are already sprung around the frames. This pre-bending will make the fit-up and prep work easier. Since the weather is warming up, but not quite broken, a few days of prep work will serve to get me back in the boat building mind set before I make anything permanent. I will be out of town this weekend so hopefully Charleston's 70F+ weather is here to stay.