I am about to build a folding sailboat, a bit like an umiak, that'll have an ash structure. Ash bends indeed but I'll have to steam some 12 by 20 mm stringers. I tried to steam such spars by holding them over a boiling pan and made a fool of myself!
I kept them hours in the water instead with a pulling cord tied at both ends, but this gives the stringers a boomerang shape as they'll rather fold in the middle, not in an even fashion. A carpenter told me to use several cords, but that seems quite unpractical.
Would there be a way for an amateur to steam wood without a sophisticated equipment?

Regards

: Ash, Hickory, WHITE oak, and northern white cedar are THE preferred woods for
: bending
: because they possess natural bending properties unlike other woods. This why
: stripping
: with northern white cedar is easier than other woods

: Yes, you can bend other woods, but not as easily and with as much success as
: with these woods.

: The best stock would be quarter saw wood (cut on a radius from the log
: center) which will
: not have any grain run out, which might cause the piece to break during
: bending. Typically,
: we buy flat sawn boards and cut strips from the edge. The strips have a
: consist tight grain,
: with no figure to it. This is what quarter sawn wood looks like.

: All the best,

: Rob Macks
: Laughing Loon CC&K
: www.LaughingLoon.com