11-08-2012, 10:33 AM
Nice chair David, I have still got my drawknife somewhere, I used to use it for stripping the bark off spruce/pine poles prior to Tanalizing when I used to make rustic seats. Used to do a bit of steam bending for my mates boat, on the quayside on the Penryn river we rigged up a plywood former and at low tide we used to stuff the end of cast iron pipe down into the mud at an angle and support it with a forked stick, put some water in and stuff a rag down the end and light a fire underneath the pipe, once steam was raised we shoved the oak ribs in and when soft enough run like the clappers with them to the former and bend them round the guides, when done they were fixed to the hull with copper roves. I have a friend in the Channel Islands who I used to do green oak framing with he looked into the possibility of steam bending big stuff like 6 x 6 and 8 x 8 oak, he bought a dozen or so hydraulic rams for the purpose but I am not sure if he ever gave it a go.
Lawrence.
Lawrence.
