i need to bend some hazel for making the ribs on my canoe. i will need to bend the wood 90 degrees and the wood tends to split a little. would heating the wood enable me to bend the wood to this angle without damaging it?
I think heating the wood will help, but I dont think it will stop it breaking if you bend it through 90 degrees. Id either try using hot water and pouring that over the area you want to bend, providing that the piece is thin enough there should be little difficulty. Or try making some form of steamer box. Steaming wood to make boat planks and small items like chair arms is quite a traditional practice.jon r said:i need to bend some hazel for making the ribs on my canoe. i will need to bend the wood 90 degrees and the wood tends to split a little. would heating the wood enable me to bend the wood to this angle without damaging it?
jojo said:Hi Jon R. Can I ask what type of canoe you're building, that require such sharp bends in the ribs ?
pierre girard said:Bending ribs for birchbark canoes, I use green (fresh cut) white cedar and bend them two at a time over my knee. For bending dried wood, I boil water and pour it over the piece to be bent - wrapped in a towel. I've had better luck with this than steaming - as the towel retains the heat and moisture.PG
Ketchup said:Great. Is that the technique to straighten a hazel walking stick e.g.? Will the bark come of?
Diederik Pomstra said:Good morning! Three meters is allright for a funcanoe: not one to go tripping with, but great for playing around in and practicing strokes. The longer the canoe is the better it will stay on course ('track'). A longer canoe is faster and easier to paddle. And of course it can carry heavier loads.
You'll probably break a few ribs before you get the hang of it. Don't worry. By the way, you can follow a canoebuilding course with the guy I wrote about. And you get to take the canoe home with you...
All the best,
Diederik
Ps: I can't copy/paste a picture in this message, but if you like, there are two pics of my canoe at my website (http://www.het-stenen-tijdperk.nl/) in 'over mijzelf'.
There are all sorts of shapes and sizes, as well as many different ways of building canoes. there are no wrong or right way of building one. It depends on what you want to do with it, the waters you'll be using it on , etc . In the end you can just follow your heart!jon r said:I have never made a Canoe before and i know nothing about it apart from what i have seen on TV and on the forums. I asume that the bottom of the boat needs to be flat and the walls streight to give it stability. Am i right or am i going to all this trouble for nothing.