: I have two questions. First when I took the temp. forms and windlasses off
: the gunnels they relaxed pulling away from some of the deck beam tendons
: 1/32" at the worst. I tried to fix them once but it happen again. It
: is not possible for me to pull the artificial sinew any tighter with out
: breaking it. Is this a major concern?

If your joints are good to 1/32" I wouldn't worry too much about it. I try to start with tight fits but always wind up with some slop in my joints.

: Second I tried steam bending on Sunday with out much luck. I bent twenty or
: so ribs and only had two that did not break or fail in some other way. I
: started at 15 minutes and worked my way up to 20 this did not seem to have
: much effect on the bending characteristics of my white oak. Any thoughts?

You're cooking 'em too long, start with about 4 minutes and work up from there, I bet that about 4 or five minutes they'll turn limp on you. With proper cook time and your jigs and backing strap you should have no problems. All of the tips in this thread on soaking your stock and rounding the edges work. Hope this helps.
BK

: Thanks
: Richard