Testing for the press into the frame...

So, today I did some testing. The bend I need in the wood at the tail is a curve of 5/8" over a span of about 2".

So, I went to Home Depot and bought a wallpaper steamer. I figure I should be able to steam the wood this way.

I then returned home and cracked open a Lone Star and proceeded to see what the boundaries were going to be for my tests.

Test 1:
A piece of western red cedar planking with no steaming:
I placed the piece in the rocker table and pressed the frame into it. It got slightly bent before it snapped into several pieces...

Test 2:
A piece of western red cedar planking with some steaming:
I placed the piece in the rocker table and put the jet of steam to it. I let it heat/steam the bottom for about 2 minutes. Then I attempted to press it into place. It got much further almost all the way into the curve before it snapped into several pieces.

Test 3:
A piece of western red cedar planking with steaming on both sides for 5 minutes on each side.
I steamed the piece and then placed it on the rocker table and pressed it using the frame. It pressed in successfully. I let the piece dry and cool down. Then I released the frame and got quite a bit of "spring back". But that is OK - I am using 3M 5200 glue so spring back should not be a problem.

SO that gives me a general idea of how to steam a solid piece of planking to bend it in a pretty aggressive bend.

Test 4:
I took a couple pieces of wood and glued then together to simulate the frame "glue down". Tomorrow, I will take this glued piece and what I am going to do is wet the wood top and bottom first, then put the steamer on the bottom of the wood and use a hair dryer to heat the top and then press it into the frame. If that can successfully be done without the glue bond failing AND the wood successfully bending, I will be confident in pressing the planking into the frame...

New territory for wooden surfboard....