Ribs!

In the past week, since getting the deck in shape, I have cut and soaked all the ribs for four days or more before trying my hand at steam bending. It's always nice to try new things and this was no exception. I made a nice little steam box out of foam board and duct tape with a couple of nails to hold the sides in place and completed it with my campstove, a kettle, a piece of conduit and two towels. I cut a jig out of a 2x6 though all I needed was a 2x4 and used my belt as the strap to bend with.

I feel like I should have gotten a video of the process because it's so amazing to see it happen. Really, just the last minute, of taking it out of the steam box, bending the rib on the jig and then putting it in its place and the final adjustments. It's amazing how pliable wood can become yet the next morning it's almost as stiff as it's ever been. Some quick shaving off some of them revealed that they're still very wet though, so they should get stiffer and stronger!

That all being said, here's what she looks like now! She's a real beaut, with a small rocker to her and a low back deck, she should be good for high winds, stormy seas and calm mornings alike as well as a pleasure to roll. I look forward to meeting her on the water!

Now, you might see that some ribs are still missing here. I broke four ribs in the bending process, fixed one of them with some twine and then broke another two in the fine-tuning. This is actually a lot less then I was expecting so I'm pretty stoked. I already have replacements cut and soaking so Tuesday is the next big bending day!

Here's a really sexy photo, though it probably hides some of the mistakes and bad bends that I have since got back and corrected or tried to. This shows the almost last rib in the stern up front and the rest falling into place. I still have the keel and the two chines to lay which will hold the skin off the ribs but you can already see the beautiful shape of the hull to come. You can also see the mortise for rib 25 which broke before it even left the bending table here.

Here's one of my ingenious fixes to a split rib, twining the hell out of it to hold it together. It's like a tensor bandage from the days of auld. I think I'm going to leave them on unless I get told this is a bad idea from an experienced builder. If any of them read this, please comment.

Here's a split rib, beyond rib-air (soo bad). As I said I was expecting this as you can see under my foot there is two twelve foot sections of oak that could be cut into more ribs. Luckily, I don't even need these and they could even become part of the cockpit. Who knows, I may even do other things than kayaksmithing with them.











So the next steps ahead, after actually completing this one, is to fit the stem pieces on to the end. These will extend the boat another 8 inches in either direction and be the shape of the bow and stern. They will be lashed to the ends of the boat after a little planing and to the keelson, which is the very next step, along with the chines. It seems like there's so many steps but each day when I get home from work and I go to the kitchen  to shovel food in to me, I look out to the backyard and can't think of anything else I'd rather do right now then go work on my baby. Even as the days shrink and I feel the autumn cold kiss my feet, every day I can put in two to four hours, sometimes just fifteen minutes but if I get just one jig or mental problem solved, or even just a clean up, it feel so good. The journey here is its own reward so I am in no rush to get her in the water, especially if it means having something less than an awesome boat.