linseed oil , turpentine bath before steaming

hi all, i heard about a linseed oil and turpentine bath before you but your wood in the steamer. has anyone tryed this method? thanks jeff

 

Ive never seen it. perhaps people do.

The local guys either soak in water to moisten the wood before steaming or they paint the wood before steaming.

Painting before steaming traps the heat inside the frames and gives you longer working time once out of the steamer to install

 

thanks; im looking to protect the rib backs before i steam and rivet the ribs home

 

Might work...might also just steam the turps and oil out.

Give it a test steam and see if the magic potion is still in the wood.

 

i did, i soaked my 5/8 x 1/4 inch white oak ribs in a 50/50 mix , boiled linseed oil and turps for 1 hour than right into the steamer, 20 minutes. let them dry one day than gave the ribs my water droplet test. the 1/4 inch water beed lasted 2 hours than within 1/2 hour it soaked into the wood. im going to try again with raw linseed oil and turps

 

I have no experience. Is it a lapstake boat

 

I have never heard of such a thing, I have built a lot of canoes and kayaks with steam bent ribs. I have given up on steaming as wasteful (too sensitive and results in too many broken pieces), I have found that boiling the wood in a large tub of water more reliable and less sensitive. Almost no broken ribs when I lightly boil the wood in a tub, about one third or more of the ribs split or crush when I steam them.

After the wood is formed and fully cool and dry is when I apply the finish.

 

Filling the cells within the wood, will prevent the wood from taking up the moisture, from the steam box. It'll just slow down and stink up the process.

Heat is what does most of the work. Moisture vapor, inside the steam box is the vehicle, but there are other methods too. Boiling water works both with direct contact and moisture vapor within the wood cells.

 

this is a lapstrake canoe with a varnished interior. how do you finish behind the ribs after they are steamed or boiled and riveted home?

 

The nice thing about all lapstrake builds, is you can completely "dress" the planking, before it's installed, while it's on a work bench. Usually, you have to "present" the planks a couple of times (at least) to the boat, before you hang them for good. This is when you have the opportunity to mark, trim, predrill and finish the planking, particularly in areas that will be difficult to do so, when they're finally hung. Once the planks are hung, finishing behind the ribs is difficult but not imposable. The common method is to "bottle brush" behind the ribs as best as you can, wiping the inevitable excess, as it oozes out afterward. It's less than an elegant solution, but if you work slowly and neatly, keeping up with ooze out as it's fresh, not as bad as you might think.

 

this 14 ft canoe was build upside down on forms, the 1/4 inch planking was clinch nailed . it was then taken off molds, the interior was sanded then varnished. my main obsession is to get some water proof protection behind the ribs after steaming... my first attempt i steamed the naked ribs , clamped them in the boat for 24 hours, i then removed the ribs from the boat to give them 2 thinned coats of varnish, 2 days later i went to install the ribs and they lost there twist. to hard to bend back into shape so i didnt use them...this time i was hopeing for a magic potion to prep the ribs before i steam them.... thanks to all that care to listen , jeff

 

Ive neve much cared for natural finish on the interior. It always goes black with age.

Painting the wood Before steaming..is a common practice . Painted ribs hold their shape better and check less after cooling. Since you desire natural ribs, paint is a problem.

You might try to only paint the back side. Test a piece...steam it...dry it...then do a simple peel test with duct tape on the painted surface to see if the paint held ?

This paint on the back might be varnish ? or a natural colour

 

that varnish on some sample ribs,steam,dry and peel test sounds like weeked homework..................thanks

 

When you steam ribs into a boat or a jig, you have to leave them there for a while (several days) so they'll take a set. I've never seen stock painted before it goes in the steam box, but I suppose some might try this, it does seem counter intuitive. Even after they've taken a set, if "released" from the boat or jig, they will try to relax, so they need to be restrained, to prevent much relaxation. This is one reason you over bend stock slightly, so that the natural "spring back" will be about what you want, without trying to force the sheer clamp outboard, after installation.

 

After pulling the ribs off the form could you tie the tips of the ribs together with twine to hold their shape? Maybe even tie from tip of ribs to center of rib, since the strongest part of the bend is at the bilge? That would allow you to overbend, if desired.