Steambending for Woodworkers
By Rollin Thurlow
Northwoods Canoe Company
VHS Format
65 minutes
$29
Reviewed by Tim Hewitt
November 14, 1995
Rollin Thurlow writes about this video,
The tape was shot entirely in my own shop using high-quality home video equipment. While the tape is clear and crisp and carries the information I wanted to convey, please do no expect a slick, Hollywood-style production.
Rollin is correct. The video starts out with lead in music that could have been the alternate theme to Leave it to Beaver and eventually focuses on the main actor/producer of the whole affair, the owner of Northwoods Canoe, Rollin Thurlow. If the shot of a bearded, flannel shirted Thurlow isn't enough to scare you away, then you will be disappointed to watch Steambending for Woodworkers.
The amount of information on this video, much of it buried in the many words of explanation that come with each step of the steam bending process, is absolutely staggering. Rollin's easy manner of speaking, along with his dry Maine sense of humor, lead you through the process of steam bending wood like a father teaching a child to ride a bicycle. When I finished watching the video for the first time, I wanted to rush right out and bend wood - knowing that I had the tools and the knowledge to do it successfully the first time!
Beginning with the selection of species, Rollin, working with his helper Andy Cook and being filmed by the intrepid Garrett Conover, takes you though the steps required to improve your chances of having a bending success story. He does not preach about right or wrong methods, only suggesting tips and tricks to increase your likelihood of success. Starting an explanation of what makes wood easy to bend, and a demonstration of how a knot will affect even the best species of wood, we learn what grain patterns will work, how a rough cut piece or a poorly dried piece will tear out, and what "slope of grain" means, and how it applies to wood to be bent.
In an ingenious use of a "loose laminate" the mystery of compression and tension in the bending process is explained. This has always been a subject of interest to me, and this simple and effective demonstration puts it all in perspective. Compression and tension failures are explained, and jibs and straps explored to reduce the chance of these types of failures. Bravo Rollin, the best section in the video.
If you thought that in order to steam bend wood you need a fancy boiler and steam box setup, think again. Rolling shows that he uses a home made version heavy-duty enough for commercial use, but you and I can easily use a camp stove, a length of PVC pipe and a tea kettle. The myths around boiling, soaking and steaming are exposed, and steam box management, dealing with kiln dried woods, and steaming times are discussed with enough detail to make them make sense.
After you have been introduced to the art of steaming and the theory surrounding the methods to be employed, join Rollin and Andy as they demonstrate the different techniques discussed so far. We will bend ribs for a new canoe, replacement ribs for an old canoe, stems of different shapes, multiple profiles of willed rails, each with it's own unique problem, and each problem successfully and easily solved. I have always had problems bending large, wide pieces like decks. These are now solved - at least in theory - and using good old Yankee ingenuity and thrift.
Last in the bending examples section, Rollin details, then demonstrates how to bend a rib without a steam box at all, and then how to get that stubborn garboard plank bent around the turn of the stem using a simple and elegant trick of the trade.
All in all, the shop tips and tricks in this video alone justify the price. It is a useful teaching tool and will help any woodworker with the inclination to turn a bend in a piece of wood to be successful. If that were not enough, the video ends with a listing of reference materials and further sources of information that I have personally checked out and found to be wonderful indeed.
If you would like to know what an apple press, a length of sewer pipe, a household iron, welders gloves and lobster have to do with bending wood, you'll just have to watch the video.
[WCHA Home Page] [Table of Contents] [Member Book & Video Reviews]