: Paul!

: Hey there, been a while, good to hear from you. We did have a happy
: Thanksgiving, hope you did too.

: I did cook my seeqqortarfik, and it worked great.

: How in the world did you become such a font of knowledge? Were you an
: encyclopedia editor? You always bring such a chunk of info to the table. :
: )

: What is the best way to skin a kayak? How about steaming ribs? What do you
: think of the Wagner Wallpaper Steamer as a steambox? Obviously people have
: reported fantastic success with it, and it seems like maybe one of the
: safest, easiest ways of generating clouds of billowing steam. Can you
: think of an easier, cheaper way to do it that would be as or nearly as
: safe, versus boiling big quantities of water on some sort of open heat
: source?

Hi Thomas,
I'll jump in the wallpaper steamer. For the timber sizes we work with, a wallpaper steamer takes some beating. They usually have heat-shielded hoses, no heat loss there, and the end fitting can be screwed on to the steam-box inlet.

You can catch any condensate but don't feed it directly back into the steamer. Don't use the steamer immediately after re-filling it, the steam won't be hot enough.

I've used an iron tube and fire for large timbers that need bending and the wallpaper steamer is quicker for small stuff.

One big plus is the lack of flames. You can use it indoors. And depending on local ordinances and by-laws, even outdoor fires can be frowned upon.

Mike Savage
South West Cork