On Dec 6, 9:04 pm, "Don Dando" wrote:
I made up a 10 ft length of 4" plastic pipe with the end cap cemented on one
end, the other end is removable. I have put various species of wood in it,
filling it with water and let it soak prior to bending the wood. It work
well.

I have not tried bending mahogany using this method. I need to bend two
pieces of 1 X 3/8ths mahogany for seat rails in a lap strake dinghy. Just
spent $38 on the mahogany right after trying to bend other pieces dry only
to break them.

Does anyone have an opinion?

Don Dando

Clear mahogany can be bent nicely with steam. Be careful not to
oversteam or it will tear, under, it will split out. I trust you are
talking about real mahogany and not that crap they sell for decking.
Anyway, as to soaking first I suppose you can however, if you steam it
properly you should not have to. Any water that does soak into the
wood only serves to help move heat through the part, as heat is what
makes the wood cell walls soft, not moisture or steam. Steam just
serves to carry the heat as it were. Anyway, proper steam application
should make it so you don't need to presoak, at the same time, I see
no problem with it either, just extra steps...

I would try a test piece first, but 15 min per 1/4" is a good starting
point iirc, hopefully someone will correct me if I am wrong on that
one.

Later, good luck, post pics. I will see if I can dig up some pics of
my turkey frier steamer, I have several size steamboxes I can hook up
to it.