Steam Bending the Beam Shelf

With the hull ready to accept the new beam shelf and with the new beam shelf cut and prepared ready to go in, we set about creating a steam box to steam the new timber.

We used a large billy to boil the water, heated on a gas burner. The steam was piped into the wooden box, which has a door on the opposite end to add and remove the timber.

The timber was left in the steamer for about two hours, to ensure it was hot enough and would bend to shape easily. Once ready, it was offered up into the hull and clamped into position. Both scarfs lined up really nicely and the timber bent to shape perfectly. Smiles all round!