steveJ wrote:
: On a related note, I've always wondered if steam bending increased the
: rot resistence of wood. I was thinking that when a tree grows there are
: all kinds of mold and fungus spores and bacteria that must be in the
: wood just naturally. But when you steam it, these little buggers would
: be killed. Sterilized.
: Any body ever think of this? I wonder if it would reduce or slow fungus
: growth.

I've never heard of that directly. But there's this:

Using green wood is usually a bad idea in boatbuilding as it promotes
rot. Yet you prefer green wood when steambending.
But the steaming eliminated the tendency for the wood to rot due to
it's "greeness".

So in that sense, steaming helps to prevent rot.

--- Gregg

My woodworking projects:


Replicas of 15th-19th century nautical navigational instruments:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/backstaffhome.html

Restoration of my 82 year old Herreshoff S-Boat sailboat:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/SBOATrestore.htm

Steambending FAQ with photos:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/Steambend.htm



"Improvise, adapt, overcome."

Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Phone: (617) 496-1558

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