Subject: Re: [baidarka] Re: Broken ribs...
From: 51fordf2@charter.net
Date: Sun Sep 25 2005 - 08:17:28 EDT
I am finishing a double (USNM 160336) and used ash for *most* of the ribs. I
cut them 10 mm (3/8") square then made them octagonal with a block plane. One
needs to be really careful about the grain direction or there will be a lot of
swearing. One batch of ribs had about a 10% failure rate while another (from a
different board) had more than 50% breakage.
For the 10-12 ribs at each end, I used green pussy willow (as per Brinck). It
was in the yard and was perfect in diameter and length. The willow is much
easier and I strongly recommend it. As for weight, the frame of my double
(20'-7" long, 22" beam) is 30 lbs. Skinned and with poly it's at about 45 lbs.
so weight does not appear to be an issue.
Good luck.
- Tony
>
> From: Peter Chopelas <pac@premier1.net>
> Date: 2005/09/12 Mon PM 09:25:44 EDT
> To: baidarka@paddlewise.net
> Subject: Re: [baidarka] Broken ribs...
>
> fpatrum wrote:
>
> >question is, should I look at other wood or will changing the bending radius
> >to something like 4" instead of 3" probably do the trick? Is the Cedar not
> >strong enough to be a good choice?
> >
> >
> One of the best bending woods I have found is Alaskan Yellow Cedar. It
> is light and rot resistant and bends nicely. It is very different wood
> than red cedar, which is not suitable for bending. You likely will not
> ad much weight to use oak or ash becasue the ribs are such a small part
> of the total weight (likely only 4 to 8 oz for the kayak). I do not
> like the idea of round ribs but I have never tried to bend any, I make
> mine about 0.2 inches x .75 inches, you could even go to .2 x 0.5 (I
> found 1/4 in thick would split at the bend), and I found boiling the
> ribs preventing splitting when using a back strap. I could never get
> steaming to work reliably on any type of wood. Try boiling them for 10
> or more min (I keep the water just below boiling just when it forms
> bubbles on the bottom and use a lid on a big pot, doing one end at a
> time). I also have a simply bending jig with a back strap. It is worth
> taking the time to build the jib, on the last two kayaks I built boiling
> the ribs and using the bending jig I only split one rib (out of about
> 30), using junk oak, and alsakan yellow cedar. I would not do it any
> other way.
>
> Good luck,
>
> Peter
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