Clothing steamer?

[TroutGuide]

I need to steam my hickory stave to remove prop twist that is causing problems with tillering.  I have a clothing steamer and was wondering if it would work for this task.  I could use a pipe or sleve to contain the steam and then bend the bow.  So what do you think?  It seems better than setting it over a pot of water like I have seen some do. Thanks for your help!

[Pat B]

It is the heat in the steam that makes wood flexable and not the vaporized water(steam). If the clothes steamer puts out enough heat then it will work fine.

[TroutGuide]

It will burn you very quickly if you steam your hand so I think, with some sort of sleve to contain it, heat will not be a problem.

[TroutGuide]

It seemed to work very well.  I made a sleve out of metalic bubble wrap insulation and stemed the whole limb and then twisted with... some cantilever and left to cool and set.  How long should I wait untill I remove the weight and let it spring back to where it wants to be.  How long till I can procede given a normal houshold drying environment.

[Pat B]

Did you seal the back? if not, seal it now so it won't check as it dries. I usually give wood 3 to 4 hours after heating in my 40deg basement. You want to be sure the wood is cool, not only on the surface but deep inside too. After that I would wait at least until tomorrow before stressing the wood.

[eflanders]

TroutGuide:  I am glad to hear the clothing steamer worked out for you.  Many a good steam box has been made using a clothing steamer as the heat source.  In fact, I have even seen commercially made units using them too.