Steaming Mahogany Cockpit Coaming

Roach1948

Roach1948

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www.dallimoredesigns.nl
Well I have almost finished re-fitting the cockpit and all that I need now is a decent set of coamings on the cockpit sides. I have some lovely 3cm x 3cm Honduras mahog that I would like to use. The problem is that although the coamings are flat, the leading egdes that connect to the cabin bulkhead (Mr. Dallimore's design tells me) have a dainty upward curve that mirrors the sheer line. It's a sharp nasty little concave curve and I tried to bend the wood to it to no avail (well I did not risk splitting it). Can I steam just the ends that have the curve? Does Mahog work like Oak? I could cut the wood down till it bends but that would be a shame and a waste, or leave the design feature out and keep the whole thing flat.... Any advice welcome.
 
Any chance of a photo or two to get a better idea of what you are talking about?
 
I don't know anything specific about steaming mahogany, but I have always found "steaming in a bag" an easy way of doing localised bending. Just slip a polythene tube over the bit you want to bend, in situ, and connect to a DIY wallpaper stripper. Test for bendiness after a few minutes. When bent, rip the bag off.
 
What radius are you trying to bend? anything less than about 12" could present a problem using 1" thick stock.

If you want to try make a former with a slightly smaller radius that the finished bend. Steam the end of your stock for what ever length is needed for the bend plus 2~3". You will need to steam the timber for at least one hour as it is 1" thick. Quickly place the timber in the former and clamp in place then leave to cool preferably over night and somewhere warm and dry.

Honduras mahogany will generally bend easier than the African or Philippine varieties but can still suffer from tear out if the radius is too tight.

Two other alternatives would be to laminate the bend out of ¼" strips or cut the bend out of solid stock.
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The radius is around 6" so I now see that's where my problem is. I am pondering what to do. I reckon maybe the easiest and safest way is to cut from solid stock as you suggest - I did not think of that - I can then spline in the rest of the plank and hopefully nobody will notice. I am being cautious about tearing the wood as it will cost approx £100 to replace both planks !!
 
You didn't say how much of an arc you have to get, but if you cut out of solid stock you'll need to perhaps first glue up a lump out of several pieces each cut and glued on so that you can get the grain to follow as near as possible around your curve when you cut it out. A proper glued scarf joint will joint on to the main length. If the grain gets to run across the narrow part of your timber it could more easily split across.
 
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