Looking into the steam box. You can see the zip tie "racks".

The full setup, ready to start steaming.

Pumping out steam at a mighty rate.

The results of the test steam bend. This is 1 1/2"x 1/8" oak.

I had some oak left over from an old project that matched my rib width (15/16") exactly. I cut up the rib stock and set it to soak.

While the rib stock was soaking, I took some plastic slats left over from some blinds we purchased and cut them down to the width of my ribs. The slats are about 3" wide, 1/8" thick and 3' long. Using the rib gauge described in Cunningham's book, I marked out all of the ribs, cut them and put them in place.

This exercise served a very important purpose. I had my daughter test fit the boat by sitting in it. It became immediately apparent that the boat was too small. I added 2" to all of the ribs (by taping on scraps) and increased the volume of the boat substantially. I am glad to have discovered this with a pile of plastic, rather than after bending 21 oak ribs.

The revised profile after adding the extra volume.

Another view.

The rib gauge used to determine the length of each rib.