REPORTS ON A 1914 HUMBERETTE RESTORATION

[Spinneyhill]

Thanks for the pointer, Ray. I have read the first article. Interesting. I see Part 11, on ethanol blended fuel, in the latest issue.

 

This gives me something to think about. I have been observing high head temperatures in the Dodge 8.

[R.White]

Hi Spinnyhill.  I know how you appreciate an intellectual approach - so these articles, I imagine, are right up your street.  

 

As it happens, the MG fraternity in the U.K. are, in my opinion, some of the most technically proficient practitioners in our hobby.🤓

Ray.

 

 

 

 

[Spinneyhill]

18 minutes ago, R.White said:

I know how you appreciate an intellectual approach

LoL! Not quite. I just like to see the science behind it. There are a lot of myths and half truths out there and if something sounds whacky, it probably is. So I like to look behind things. Often that is hard because many web sites trot out the same tripe one after another (without acknowledgement of the source) and no-one checks its voracity.

[Mike Macartney]

Thanks everybody for all the information and links etc.

Basically, why I was interested in finding out about early petrol was two fold, firstly I have an interest in fuels in general; since I started Jaymic Alternative Fuel Systems, back in the 90's. Secondly, I am thinking of raising the compression ratio and wanted to try and find out the maximum compression ratio I could use in the Humberette, whilst still being able to start the car on the starting handle.

This morning I found the following information:

 

From the 1920s to the 1970s, the evolution of engines (measured by compression ratio) and the evolution of fuels (measured by octane rating) occurred in tandem. Gasoline octane improvement during that period (red markers in the graph below) was likely due to refinery technology improvement and the addition of lead, which guards against engine knocking. In 1973, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandated a reduction in the lead content of gasoline and eventually banned the use of lead in fuel for on-road vehicles. Since that time, other sources have been used as fuel oxygenates to control engine knock and the average octane rating of gasoline has been fairly constant at about 88-90 AKI (anti-knock index).

The engine compression ratio of new cars and light trucks (black markers below) improved along a similar course as octane rating from the 1920s to the 1970s. After that time, the average compression ratio continued to improve due to advanced engine design and controls, diverging from the octane trend. There is some concern that in the future, auto manufacturers will reach the limit of technological increases in compression ratios without further increases in the octane of the fuel.

Average Engine Compression Ratio Compared to Average Gasoline Octane Rating, 1925-2015

Year	Average Compression Ratio for New Light Vehicles	Average Octane Rating (AKI)		Year	Average Compression Ratio for New Light Vehicles	Average Octane Rating (AKI)
1925	not available	not available		1971	8.64	90.08
1926	not available	not available		1972	8.46	90.25
1927	4.44	not available		1973	8.13	90.13
1928	4.53	not available		1974	8.34	89.67
1929	4.57	not available		1975	8.32	89.71
1930	4.63	61.44		1976	8.27	89.62
1931	4.72	61.46		1977	8.28	89.63
1932	4.87	62.10		1978	8.29	89.43
1933	5.10	64.46		1979	8.30	89.49
1934	5.35	68.47		1980	8.40	88.97
1935	5.66	70.46		1981	8.50	89.01
1936	5.98	70.46		1982	8.58	88.80
1937	6.13	71.02		1983	8.66	88.04
1938	6.22	72.16		1984	8.69	88.25
1939	6.28	72.76		1985	8.81	88.25
1940	6.28	74.05		1986	8.95	88.10
1941	6.26	77.32		1987	8.98	88.22
1942	6.38	76.53		1988	9.02	88.40
1943	not available	75.01		1989	9.04	88.45
1944	not available	74.11		1990	9.00	88.27
1945	not available	72.27		1991	9.00	88.19
1946	6.47	77.83		1992	9.10	88.24
1947	6.49	77.54		1993	9.10	88.25
1948	6.49	77.79		1994	9.30	88.26
1949	6.47	78.17		1995	9.30	88.26
1950	6.86	79.81		1996	9.30	88.10
1951	6.90	81.19		1997	9.30	88.05
1952	7.04	80.52		1998	9.35	88.10
1953	7.34	81.54		1999	9.39	88.04
1954	7.52	82.33		2000	9.42	87.87
1955	7.92	83.48		2001	9.53	87.86
1956	8.49	85.15		2002	9.58	87.88
1957	8.98	85.88		2003	9.64	87.82
1958	9.24	86.61		2004	9.70	87.75
1959	9.06	87.02		2005	9.76	87.66
1960	8.91	87.81		2006	9.87	87.61
1961	8.84	88.04		2007	9.94	87.59
1962	9.07	88.26		2008	10.04	87.54
1963	8.91	88.46		2009	10.09	87.55
1964	8.79	88.72		2010	10.22	87.53
1965	9.02	89.02		2011	10.26	87.52
1966	9.20	89.24		2012	10.34	87.57
1967	9.26	89.77		2013	10.39	87.59
1968	9.43	89.84		2014	10.50	87.60
1969	9.48	90.02		2015	10.52	87.65
1970	9.52	90.05
Note: Average octane rating based on refiner sales volumes. Sources: Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering, "A Historical Analysis of the Co-evolution of Gasoline Octane Number and Spark-Ignition Engines," January 6, 2016. 2014-15 Average octane rating calculated from Energy Information Administration, Refiner Motor Gasoline Sales Volumes, accessed June 29, 2016. 2015 Average compression ratio calculated from Ward's Auto, "North America Light Vehicle Engines Availability & Specifications, 2014," accessed June 29, 2016. With regards to the  'Totally Type 2'  articles. I saw these when they were in the MG Car Club magazine, I had forgotten all about these articles until Ray mentioned it. At the time, in the mag, I was disappointed that the graphs etc were reproduced so small that you could not read them. On the Totally Type 2 website they can now be read easily.  Thank you Ray for bringing it to my attention. On a different note here is a photo of the inside of the exhaust pipe after I cut it. Seeing that the last tine the engine ran was in 1924 it looks as if the owner was dripping in too much oil into the engine over the 10-years the car was in use! I must admit I have never seen this amount of build up of carbon in an exhaust pipe before!

 

[Roger Zimmermann]

10 years more usage and the pipe would be full of carbon! It could also be that the vehicle was used for small drives and never went really warm.

[Mike Macartney]

Roger this could also be a possibility:

 

In July 1916, two years after my Humberette was registered, petrol was rationed and a tax on fuel was introduced which doubled the cost of petrol by sixpence to a shilling a gallon (5p in today's money). In some ways, this increase in the cost of fuel made little difference to car owners who simply found they could not buy petrol, even if they could afford to. Only doctors, veterinary surgeons, the commercial world and official and semi-official cars were to be supplied with petrol. Petrol was strictly limited to the war's 'key workers' and 'tickets' were issued allowing small amounts for ordinary motorists. These 'other' car owners opted for more enterprising ways to eke out their petrol allowance and a number of companies advertised gadgets to improve fuel efficiency. The Illustrated London News's motoring columnist reported on the results of mixing two thirds petrol with one third paraffin, and wrote of some more imaginative liquids making their way into car engines; 'The internal combustion engine is agreeable to work in an emergency on gin, whisky, methylated spirits, paraffin, and other vaporising oils.'

[JV Puleo]

Interesting... there was a regular column in The Illustrated London News titled "the chronicle of the car". I wonder if they did an article on the Humberette? The wartime articles were all about pre-war cars. In any case, I have a complete run from 1914 to about 1930 so if you see a reference to an article I can look it up for you.

[Mike Macartney]

Over the last week and this week, in between me playing with the exhaust, Robert and I have been cutting up the planks we cut out from that large chestnut tree I photographed in a much earlier post.

Cutting the 1-1/2" x 1" strips for the 'top hoops'.

Ecentrics to hold the strips of wood for planing.

'Planing' all four sides.

Setting up the router to make the curves edges.

Cutting the hoops to the required length.

Starting to make the steam bending jig.

Although we only need three hoops we have managed to get six out of one plank. Here's hoping that we don't need to saw up more planks. Neither Robert or I have never attempted steaming wood before so it is a matter of research and crossing our fingers!

[Roger Zimmermann]

If that vehicle was run with paraffin (plus some gin or whatever), no wonder you have such a mess in the exhaust!

[Spinneyhill]

Here might be the articles "The Chronicle of the Car" from the Illustrated London News.

https://www.illustratedfirstworldwar.com/?s=the+chronicle+of+the+car&magazine=0&dir-search=yes&from=&to=

 

It looks a bit hairy. The OCR is not the best, or the copy was poor, or both.

 

It was a nice warm winter day for woodwork al-fresco!

Edited February 26, 2019 by Spinneyhill (see edit history)

[Luv2Wrench]

Wow... that's a great job without a table saw, thickness planar, jointer, shaper and/or router table.   Impressive.  I would have cut something belonging to me if I had attempted it that way.

 

[Laughing Coyote]

2 hours ago, Luv2Wrench said:

Wow... that's a great job without a table saw, thickness planar, jointer, shaper and/or router table.   Impressive.

Yes very impressive.  I have a heck of a time working with wood.  It may not be as troublesome if I had all the right equipment I guess.

[Mike Macartney]

11 hours ago, Spinneyhill said:

The OCR is not the best, or the copy was poor, or both.

It was a nice warm winter day for woodwork al-fresco!

 

Looking at the link you posted it does look as if the OCR application was suffering from dyslexia!

 

Yes the weather on Monday was the hottest February day on record for the UK. 21.2C. This time last year we had snow = what the press  called 'The Beast from the East' .

 

7 hours ago, Laughing Coyote said:

I have a heck of a time working with wood.

 

So do I, that's why Robert was happy to help - he seems to love wood - I call him the 'Wood Wizard'.

 

We were going to machine the top hoops at Roberts, as he has all the gear in his shed, unfortunately his shed is too small to get the lengths of wood into his machines. That's why he decided to do use the hand tools. I did 'rib him' when I noticed a couple on 'dinks' in the routing of the corners of the wood he was putting a radius on, I said "I can see that you were a farmer in your early life - you've decided to do a bit of ploughing"!

 

Hopefully, if the weather holds out we should be able to get on with some more work on the bending jig this morning.

 

 

[Mike Macartney]

16 hours ago, JV Puleo said:

The Illustrated London News titled "the chronicle of the car". I wonder if they did an article on the Humberette? The wartime articles were all about pre-war cars. In any case, I have a complete run from 1914 to about 1930 so if you see a reference to an article I can look it up for you.

 

Many thanks Joe

[alsfarms]

Do you fellows have your steam system plans in mind now to facilitate your bending process?  If you do, share your thoughts with us.  I need to attempt a few Wood Bending projects myself.

Al

[Mike Macartney]

Al,

 

If you look back through my posts there are photos of my set up. I have converted two pressure cookers and a couple of lengths of galvanized pipe. If you can't find them don't worry, as I will photograph the splines steaming, we shall be standing around for at least an hour, waiting for the steam to penetrate the wood. It will be a few days before we are ready to 'steam' as I want to paint the base board so the excess moisture from the steamed wood does not damage 8' x 4' sheet of MDF. Also the weather may change for the worse, today, again, it is a beautiful spring like day very unusual for the UK in February! 

 

Mike

[alsfarms]

Mike, per your learning , does Chestnut behave nicely while it is in the actual act of bending?  How tight are your corner bends going to be?

Al

[Terry Harper]

Hello Alan & Mike,

 

I have had experienced the frustration and the absolute amazement of steam bending wood for a few projects.

including bending white oak for kayak ribs and cockpit rims.

 

Invariably when I had a failure it was due to the grain orientation. I soaked the strips in a length of water filled PVC pipe

for a week or so before steaming and I made sure I was using green wood. For steaming I built a simple box out of scrap

lumber with dowels going through to act as racks. Some of the small parts I boiled. In fact that's how I managed to

to stew my foot but that's another story.

 

You only have a short period of time to work. I usually started bending by hand before clamping in the form (if your using one)

All the ribs shown below were free-formed using the keel as a guide. The cockpit rims I used a form.

 

Looking forward to see the progress!

 

P.S: Mike you have green grass! Trying to remember what that looked like - as of this weekend our total snow fall is over 16 feet!

 

 

 

 

[Mike Macartney]

On ‎2‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 1:59 PM, alsfarms said:

Does Chestnut behave nicely while it is in the actual act of bending?  How tight are your corner bends going to be?

 

Al, We shall find out how the Sweet Chestnut bends next week! We have been informed that it should bend. By cutting it out of a 'bloody great tree' we have managed to get very straight grain. We shall 'suck it and see'!

 

The bends are, from memory, about an 8" to 9" radius. Neither of us have attempted steam bending before so it is a learning curve.

 

Here I am doing the final rubbing down, on the curved edges, of the wood for the hoops.

We have prepared six and only need three good bent ones - so we can have three mistakes before we have to saw up another plank!

 

 

 

[Mike Macartney]

On ‎3‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 12:39 AM, Terry Harper said:

I have had experienced the frustration and the absolute amazement of steam bending wood for a few projects.

including bending white oak for kayak ribs and cockpit rims.

P.S: Mike you have green grass! Trying to remember what that looked like - as of this weekend our total snow fall is over 16 feet!

 

I did reply to this post yesterday. When I came back to forum this morning the post had disappeared?!? I'll try posting it again.

 

Terry, the kayak looks great, you've made an excellent job of it. Mind you, with 16 foot of snow would you have been better off building a sledge?!?

[R.White]

27 minutes ago, Mike Macartney said:

 

I did reply to this post yesterday. When I came back to forum this morning the post had disappeared?!? I'll try posting it again.

 

 Same thing happened to me!   I suggested that there might be serious amounts of lead in the exhaust pipe build up.  

 

Ray.

[Terry Harper]

Quote

Terry, the kayak looks great, you've made an excellent job of it. Mind you, with 16 foot of snow would you have been better off building a sledge?!?

 

I am seriously think about it!. Another storm is due to hit us on Sunday..... joy!

[alsfarms]

Mike, I can't help but have a bit of fun with your use of words.  You mentioned  8" - 9"  radius and it will be a learning "Curve".  I smile with your learning curve being only 8 or 9 inches!  My gosh! my learning curves are MUCH larger than that!  🙂

Al

[Mike Macartney]

Your thoughts would be appreciated on the Humberette track rod and steering geometry.

 

 

As you can see in the above photo there is no adjustment for 'toe in', or 'toe out' on the track rod. Also, the track rod arms come out of the stub axle assembly at 90 degrees to the track rod, rather than to Ackerman's angle theory, that at the invisible lines from the extension of these track rod arms, should intersect at the centre point of the rear axle.

 

Your thoughts would be appreciated as I am wondering about whether or not to make another track rod with adjustment and a couple of new track rod arms with the Ackerman angle.

 

My 1903 Crestmobile has tiller steering, although the geometry layout is similar to the above photo. If your mind wanders while you are steering the Crestmobile you can easily go nearly off the road.

 

Is this a problem with all early cars. or, is it they have no caster angle on the front axle that gives you the 'feel' and return to straight ahead position when you take your hands off the steering wheel?

 

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

[Mike Macartney]

16 minutes ago, alsfarms said:

You mentioned  8" - 9"  radius and it will be a learning "Curve".  I smile with your learning curve being only 8 or 9 inches!  My gosh! my learning curves are MUCH larger than that!  🙂 Al

 

At least it made you smile. I only wish I had meant to write that as a joke!.

 

As they say - 'Mines 12", but I don't use it as a rule'!

 

I looked in my note book this morning to find the actual radius and it is 9-1/2" so my memory isn't as good as I thought.

 

 

[alsfarms]

Yup, I could sense your serious intent in your statement, but I, for some reason, saw a glimmer of humor!  I have been thinking about your steering arrangement and do not have a valid worthwhile comment, I am still on my Learning curve.

Al

[Mike Macartney]

Thinking about it this morning; it's something 'I can put on the back burner' and decide whether or not to alter the steering geometry at a later date. I was thinking that as the roads in the UK are so busy nowadays and drivers of modern cars haven't a clue about 'old cars', anything I can do to make the driving of the Humberette easier may be worthwhile. I would still like to hear comments from others.

[Mike Macartney]

MORE ON MAKING THE TOP HOOPS

 

The parts for the bending jig were now ready. . .

. . .  to screw onto the 3/4" MDF board.

Robert rebated the ends for fitting the metal straps that should 'pull' the wood against the curves.

The straps were then screwed into place.

All that's needed now are the 'pull hooks' for the ends to be fitted.

Robert says "All done - now for the bending next week - I'll leave you to clear up!"

I spray painted the areas that the steamed wood was going to sit on so that the moisture would not damage the MDF sheet.

On the splines I marked the centres and put some lines where the spline will stick out of the ends of the steam tube. This is to make sure they are being 'steamed' in the right area.

Six splines all marked and ready for bending, hopefully on Monday if the storm that is coming in this weekend isn't too bad and the jig board hasn't blown away in the wind. I put a tarp over the board and strapped it down to shield it from the rain.

 

 

[Roger Zimmermann]

16 hours ago, Mike Macartney said:

 

 Also, the track rod arms come out of the stub axle assembly at 90 degrees to the track rod, rather than to Ackerman's angle theory, that at the invisible lines from the extension of these track rod arms, should intersect at the centre point of the rear axle.

 

 

If I had a picture with the wheels steered, I could then be sure at the pivot's location. An arrow on that picture showing the pivot location would also be OK.

[Mike Macartney]

Roger, Many thanks for making me stand back and think about it rather than me jumping to conclusions.

 

I have not had another look at the steering yet, but I am sure now that, although the steering arms come out at right angles at 90 degrees, the theoretical line from the king pin to the back axle passes through joint between the  track rod and the steering arm.

 

When I wrote the Post I was not sure of when Ackerman devised his theory. On looking it up I found this:

 

Ackerman Steering. A simple mechanism to approximate ideal steering was patented in 1818 by Rudolph Ackerman, and though it is named after him, the actual inventor was a German carriage builder called Georg Lankensperger who designed it two years earlier.

 

Its way before the veteran and Edwardian were built.

 

Thanks again Roger for your help.

[Mike Macartney]

WOW - I've not been this excited for years! Steam bending wood really does work!

 

Yesterday was a washout on trying to bend the wood. The wind was blowing a gale and pouring with rain.

 

Today, the weather is a lot better with more of just a stiff breeze. Before I put the top hoop strips of wood into steam I thought I had better get everything ready on the jig. I had read that you don't have much time to mess about before the steamed wood dries out and becomes inflexible.

I set everything up on the board, put two clamps ready and attached a tie down strap.

I got out the camping stove, connected hose to the pressure cooker, got out the gas bottle, two workmates and the steaming tube that I had made previously. Not knowing how much water would be lost to steam I nearly filled the pressure cooked with water from the hot tap to save using lots of gas in heating the water to boiling point. I then lit the gas and went and had a cuppa. When I came out to have a look at the progress the flame on the cooker was minimal - I'd run out of gas! Luckily, our village Post Office keeps gas bottles in stock and Jane took the bottle down to change it for a new one.

With the new bottle of Butane the water started boiling and when I saw steam coming out at each end of the tube I decided to wrap the ends with cloth to keep as much steam in the tube as possible. (you can just see the steam coming out on the right hand side).  I also put an old pillow over the top of the tube to try and keep the heat in the tube. I then went and rang Robert to tell him the wood 'should' be ready for bending at about 1pm. 

Sod's law being what it is - Peter turned up at about 12:55 with my bodyshell spit, that I had lent him to rebuild his V8 MGB, about 2-years ago, he didn't let me know he was coming, even though he was travelling over 200 miles to bring it back. Robert then also turned up. We left Peter to unload and we slid the spline out a bit and wasn't quite sure whether or not it was flexible enough yet, so we shoved it back in and left it another quarter of an hour. As I have said before; this is a learning curve for both Robert and I. I had read that it doesn't seem to matter if you steam it for longer than needed.

When we did take the spline out and fixed it in the jig I tightened the strap up by just pulling it and if like magic it bent without much force at all - it was like bending putty. To allow for 'spring back' I used the ratchet on the strap to slightly overbend the curve. We have decided to leave the ratchet strap in place and the clamps on until tomorrow morning. I drew a white pencil line on the board where the end length is at the present time so we can see how much 'spring back' we get when the top hoop is removed from the jig. I let you know the results tomorrow, if the weather allows for taking the hoop out and bending the other end.

It all went a lot better than we thought it would (no pun intended).

[Laughing Coyote]

Nice work!  Love it when a plan comes together and the results come out the way you want.

[Col Wright]

Hi Mike,

i have been following your progress from Brisbane Australia. I know a chap who builds wood spoke wheels from scratch. When he steam bends the felloe or felly he makes it in two half circles which looks like two letter U’s . As soon as they are steam formed he attaches a piece of tie wire across the ends to stop them straightening as they dry. He lets them dry and does not use them until the strain goes off the wire. This takes some weeks or months. His timber is larger than yours but I would be careful to keep the bends held in position until the timber is again fully seasoned throughout.

thought this may be helpful as I could see you might move too quickly.

keep up the good work I am 70 and currently restoring a 1915 Indian.

cheers from Down Under

Col

Edited March 5, 2019 by colw
Spelling (see edit history)

[Mike Macartney]

Hi Col,

Thanks for the tip. I was going to make an oblong frame to fit the bent top hoops to store them in and hold the ends to the correct width.

As the weather is bad today, pouring with rain, I will concentrate on finishing the second steam chamber so that I can bend both ends of the hoops at the same time, then hold them in the frame until it's time to shape the ends.

I wish you all the best with your Indian restoration. My two Indian motorcycles, a 1925 Prince and a 1925 Scout I swopped for the 1903 Crestmobile, a few years ago. Below are photos of the two Indians I used to own. I found it took some time to get used to riding with the foot clutch and left hand twistgrip throttle.

1925 Indian Scout.

1925 Indian Prince.

[Mike Macartney]

When I released the tie down strap the spring back on the steam bent wood was minimal. I then finished making up the second steam tube so that I can then steam both ends together and form the hoop in one go.

The second galvanised tube with the plywood end plugs and the stainless rod with the half moons to keep the timber to be steamed from touching the metal tube.

I also made up this oblong to fit the ends of the hoops into to keep them from 'splaying out' while they dry out.

From the old rotten parts that were left from the original top hoops, I made cardboard patterns of the shape. These can then be used to 'shape' the ends of the new top hoops.

While I was doing the above jobs, I steamed the other end of the first hoop and it bent just as well as the first bend.

I'll try and take a photo tomorrow when I take the hoop out of the jig. Here's hoping for some fine weather so that I can finish the steaming of the hoops. This morning was windy but fine, this afternoon it is pouring with rain - a typical British day!

 

 

[Mike "Hubbie" Stearns]

I'll take that weather over what we are to get this evening and tonight. Calling for 1-3" of snow with freezing rain by morning

[alsfarms]

Hello Mike,  Nice all over the page for your nice Indian Bikes.  We were at Sturgis this year and drooled all over a couple of nice restored early 20's Indian bikes.  I have a few pieces of a 1924 H-D JD that I hope some day to assemble into a bike.  I am so impressed with your home-brew steaming fixture.  It gives me courage to give it a try for my current project.  I probably will not sleep tonight just wondering how you are doing and waiting for pictures of your first completed hoop.  Please make any suggestions of things you have learned and would change or do differently.  That information is good for us fellows that are going to give steam bending a try.

Al

Edited March 7, 2019 by alsfarms
correction (see edit history)

[Mike Macartney]

Well the second steam bend in the first top hoop went OK, with no problems. It was our 50th Wedding Anniversary yesterday and Janes relatives popped round with a bottle of bubbly. I said to them "We will open it if you help me bend my bit of wood first." Which they did. We then celebrated both the anniversary and the wood bending! 

This bend went just as easily as the first bend.

This morning I undid the ratchet strap, removed the hoop from the jig and fitted it into my frame to store them.

Now lets steam both bends at once with the two converted pressure cookers and the two steam tubes.

It started steaming at about 10am this morning. At about 11:10am we thought the wood should have steamed enough and had a go at bending the two ends at one go. . . . .

Oooop's. . . .

We refilled the pressure cookers and started steaming again around 12noon. This time we left the wood steaming for a minimum of two-hours, it then bent easily, like the first two bends. I had asked Jane to take some photos of us actually bending the wood. By the time she had walked up the garden to take the photos we had already bent both of the bends!

 

Things I've learnt so far:

• The straighter the grain the better.
• You need to have the converted pressure cookers at least three quarters full of hot water to start with.
• Although they say, that it needs 1hr per inch of thickness, that start time is from when the wood gets to the steam temperature. You can leave the wood in the steamer for a longer period with no problem.
• You have to move quickly to bend the wood while it is still hot.

I am not too bothered about the broken hoop, as we have learnt a lesson, don't try bending until you are sure it has steamed enough! Robert was fed up about the second hoop failing, but I pointed out we still had 4 lengths left ready to bend and 3 more planks to cut up if needs be.

 

[JV Puleo]

As far as I'm concerned, making mistakes is part of the learning process. Having one break is pretty minor considering you've mastered the technique and, best of all, shared it with the rest of us. I only regret that I can't think of anything I need that requires bending wood... maybe the seats? I still don't have a good pair of seats so perhaps I'll design something that needs a bent wood frame.

[Mike Macartney]

I have just thought of something else I have learnt with the steam bending of the wood.

 

You only need to steam the wood in the areas that you are going to bend.

 

That means you do not need a long steamer to bend top hoops, it can be done with just one or two small steamers.