Steam box 3.0

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I'm sure there are others here who thought, "You know, maybe I should try my hand at steam bending". So maybe a test of the water is called for and we get the budget Rockler steam generator, hose, and miscellaneous fittings along with instructions to build your steam box. Having helped steam and place timbers while working on older PNW fishing schooners I figured I could get a good grip on this smaller version. Well, there's a reason the title of this is what it is. To put it simply, using the supplied box building instructions I was able to get good results from the process but, after using it for its intended purpose the drying out process twisted the components of my 1st two boxes into shapes that frankly were a bit too artistic. So, like so many of us have done in the past and no doubt will again in future, I went back to the drawing board. I went back to my boat building roots and followed the principles of hollow spar building. One side of each of the 8 parts gets the "bird mouth" joint while the other remains at 90 degrees. So, after some glue along with 6 stainless hose clamps it was ready for a test drive. After 6 uses now with months to dry in between I feel that this is the design that will stand the test of time. We'll see how long it is before the next trip back to the drawing board.

Some of my most creative moments have been when I've had to cover up an error in my woodworking.

Once again the tenon and mortise connection is not as it should be. 😊

https://dutchypatterns.com/

Nice one Joe, do you gift these, sell them or just have them all over your house?

.................. John D....................

awsum; There is a 9 year old jr. termite nextdoor who was in on the beginning of these and now has a wall covered in them. I too have a growing pile of them in my shop that needs to be addressed with a new storage bin. A few gifted, some used as inlay patterns and the rest are staged by the big shop door. They have been great conversation starters and have brought new interest to the shop and what happen inside.

Dutchy; I plead insanity. I'm crazy about making this stuff.

Some of my most creative moments have been when I've had to cover up an error in my woodworking.

Thanks for the explanation Joe. That's great to have a young neighbor that enjoys your creations. I bet they are great conversation starters.

.................. John D....................