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Steaming yew
bownarra:
No you misunderstand I mean what is the point of trying to do both limbs at once...Of course you would correct everything on the one limb at the same time. It doesn't work trying to do it is left/right, then up/down.
I've steamed and corrected many staves. I would suggest that there is no advantage to trying to do a whole stave at once. You will have more time and control doing one limb at a time.
mmattockx:
--- Quote from: JW_Halverson on May 04, 2022, 11:37:51 pm ---I am thinking of building a steam box and steaming the whole thing all at once and pressing it into a form to bring the whole thing straight in one go.
--- End quote ---
A member of the local woodworking group I belong to forms laminations for furniture legs by steaming them inside a long plastic bag instead of a box. This lets him keep the steam flowing the whole time he is clamping the pieces into his form, then shut it off after the clamps are tight. PM me if you want more details on his method and the equipment he uses.
I agree with bownarra that it will take too long from pulling it out of the box to being clamped for this to work well. My experience with test bends and forming lams for recurves and the like says you have less than a minute out of the steam before the piece has cooled off substantially and stops bending easily. Bigger, heavier pieces retain the heat better but not that well. I expect what will happen is you find that it takes a lot of force to clamp it into the form and then it just pops back to near its original shape when pulled off the form.
Mark
gutpile:
I have steamed a whole bow in a PVC pipe about 6 inch.. I run some bolts through pipe to keep stave suspended during process. cap one end use a tee in middle and plug end bow goes in with rubber and a strap.. tee part runs to metal gas can over propane turkey fryer.. fill can with water.. works like a charm.. just got to work fast once you pull the stave.. gut
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