Steam Bending - In a BIG Way

[Don Abele]

So what do you do when you need to steam bend a hull plank for a 210 year old ship? Well, gather together 16 of your best friends and huddle around a steam unit for 8 hours then pull the 200 degree stick out and work like hades because you only have 5 minutes until it goes from jelly to stone.

The stick: 8 inches wide, 12 inches tall, 40 feet long. 9 Laminations thick and 3 high of quarter-sawn white oak with 8 inch scarf joints joining the pieces together. All glued with resourcinol glue. Oh, and it weighs 1500 pounds.

The twist: 20 degrees over 18 feet, slowly returning to zero over another 12 feet and a 5 degree camber over the last 10 feet.

First: Coming in the barn - 200 degrees.
Second: Using chain falls (5) to pull it into the form pins.
Third: Continuing the pull.
Fourth: Adding wedges.
Fifth: Hammering in dogs to add the camber (twist).
Sixth/Seventh: The results.
Eighth: This is where it goes.
Ninth: This is a similar replacement, but in a straight plank.

All in all an exciting 5 minutes. Now it will sit in the form for the next week drying and be installed about a week after that.

Ahh the joys of maintaining a wooden ship!!!

Be well,

Doc

[Don Abele]

The rest of the pics...

[Keith Starosta]

Very cool, Don!!! That is a pretty unique gig you got there...

- Keith

[Alex Shanku]

awesome don!!!

I have never seen anything like that. Very cool... I always wondered how that was done! Thanks for showing it to the forum.

[Jim Kountz]

Wow thats really cool stuff there Doc. What a sense of pride you guys must have working on such a historic project like that. Great job!

[Steve Clardy]

Looks like fun!!

[Todd Burch]

Wow! Thanks for posting Don! Where be ye shipyard, mate?

Also, how about a picture of that steamer too.

Todd

[Jamie Buxton]

The original shipwrights didn't have resourcinal glue. So how was this plank originally constructed? Did they actually have access to a 12"x8"x40' plank of quartersawn white oak??!!

[Bill Huber]

I don't guess that would be a home shop project.....:D :D

That is really neat and I would have loved to been there and see it.

Thanks for showing....

[Rob Haskell]

Do cannonballs bounce off when shot at this thick of wood?
Five minutes goes by fast when working on something like
this, good teamwork!
Thanks for the pics.
Rob

[Cary Swoveland]

Fascinating! Did you need to make any allowance for spring-back?

Cary

[Hunter Wallace]

Hey, I think I've seen that boat before!
And yes, if I recall it was a canon ball (or series
of them!) bouncing off of that white oak hull
which gave her her legendary name!
BTW, wasn't the original oak from New Hampshire?

[Carl Eyman]

A boat is something small enough to be put in a ship. Great pictures, Doc. I hope I stay well enough to make yet another trip to see your ship.

[Don Abele]

This project is for normal routine maintenance. In October however, we started a two year repair period where we will be doing major restoration to restore the ship back to it's original 1812 configuration. In particular, we are removing the entire Spar (upper) deck and replacing it so we can restore the camber (curve) to the deck that would allow water to shed off. The camber was removed during an upkeep in the 1930's when she was being used as an office building. :eek: There are many other projects going on, but that's the most significant.

Todd, if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm talking about the USS CONSTITUTION in Boston. I'm in the Navy and have been stationed on her for the last 2 years (I'm the Command Senior Chief - essentially the personnel manager for the 65 active duty Sailors). Below are some pictures of the steaming unit we used. It was self-built about 20 years ago (which is why the building is in such good repair). We don't replace curved hull planks very often (this is the first time in 2 years). The unit is powered by a steam pressure washer unit.

Jamie, no resourcinol in the 1700's. The plank we removed that the laminate is replacing was installed sometime probably in the 1920-1930 time frame. That plank, as well as ALL of the original hull planking, was 100% solid wood. The final dimensions for that stick is 7"x11" (we oversize to allow for planing to get a snug fit). To bend it in the 1700's they would have used a piece about twice the required thickness, draped it over bending supports and set fire to the top of it. The heat from the fire would essentially steam it from the inside bending it down. Then they would plane away the char and get the plank to the desired thickness.

Rob, the cannon balls often stuck into the white oak. This was not what made they bounce. It was the live oak inner ribs that did that. It's about 5 times more dense than white oak (it actually sinks in water) and was our secret "middle layer of our oreo cookie" - with white oak on either side.

Cary, we overbend by about 10% but anticipate little to no spring back. We still overbend though because it's easier to straighten that bend out a little when reinstalling it, vice trying to increase the bend.

Be well,

Doc

[Todd Burch]

So cool! (And, "duh" me in not figuring out it was 'ol Ironsides!) Man I would like to come see that. Can you get me in? And my family?

How were the original planks attached to the ship, and how will this one be attached? In that photo above with the straight plank removed from the side, it appears to be either long nails or bolts by the look of the head, and the apparent holes in the inner ribs. And, I presume that is caulking (the real stuff) between the planks?

Also, got any pics of the lamination process?

Todd

[Don Abele]

Todd, you as well as all SMC'ers have an open invitation to come and visit any time. I'll give you the special 11 cent tour of the ship as well as the shop we use for maintaining her (where the small tools are :D ). Most recently I had Bill Grumbine up here who is quite nimble for a big guy and went all the way down to the keel.

To answer your questions though...

The hulls planks are all pinned together with copper pins. The originial ones were forged by Paul Revere and his sons. A clinching ring is placed over it and the end peened over like a rivet. You can see them in the photo of the straight plank. The pins are about an inch and a half in diameter and range in length from 18 inches to over 34 inches (the thickness of the hull). For internal attachment, we use trenails (or tree nails) - wooden dowels to hold everything together.

If you look at the photo of the straight plank, you will see the angled bolt pattern we use. The inside pieces you see (which is live oak) has two sets of plugged holes. The very first original set (from the 1700's) and then the holes from the plank we just removed. We always off set the pins so as to not go back into the original holes.

We did not do the laminating, we have a supplier that provides all the laminated wood. Supplying the wood is extremely anal - we have to have an entire growth history for all the trees used (was there ever a fire, drought, disease, etc). And then the procedures they use must meet very specific military requirements. I do know that they laminated these hull planks using heat and pressure and it was done in a 4 step process. The pieces were joined using scarf joints about 8 inches long with no two lining up. There are 9 layers for thickness and 3 for heighth. For the Spar Deck replacement the company that's providing the wood has been working on it for over a year and won't have the shipment ready until next spring (about 4000 sq ft of douglas fir (can't get good enough quality long-leaf pine) and 2000 sq ft of white oak laminated to 6"x12"x40).

Be well,

Doc

[Jim Becker]

Well...as you prove...what you can do with "little things" you can do with "big things" if you really need and want to! Thanks for posting this, Don!

[Mark Hulette]

I'm really disappointed in the steamer... I had envisioned a really big hot plate! :eek:

Thanks for sharing, Don. That's really cool how they did it 'back when' and how you did it 'today'.

[John Schreiber]

That's a nice bit of woodwork. I'll bet they rehearsed that about a hundred times before they did it. Are the guys doing the work Navy Sailors?

[Jamie Buxton]

I'm a little surprised the resourcinal survives the steaming. Between the temperature involved, and the stresses from expansion and bending, I'd have expected it to fail. Tough stuff, that!

[Brian Backner]

Don,

Perhaps I'm missing something ...

Since the beam is a laminated construction to begin with, wouldn't it be easier to build it in a mold to its final size/curvature rather than making it rectangular/straight and then steam bending it?

Brian

[Bill White]

Now that's a good post. Very interesting, and I sure wish I had had the time to visit last time I was in Boston.
I'll bet that maintaining that puppy is a bear.
Bill

[Don Abele]

Brian, because of the size, shape, and location it's actually cheaper and easier to get straight stock made and then bend it to fit.

Here are some more sticks waiting to be installed on the ship.

The larger one to the right is 18 inches wide and 8 inches thick.

That's some live oak slabbed to the left (nasty stuff to work with).

Be well,

Doc

[Bill Jepson]

Don,
We often forget how well things could be made when using pride and paticience, no matter what the size! I am glad "THE SHIP" is in as good hands today as it was back in the day. To think that the Navy almost let this historic ship perish, pains the soul. Very few things define the pluck, the guts and honor that are the United States of America like the USS. Constitution. May she be maintained and ready to sail to the end of the republic. Thanks for sharing.
Bill Jepson

[Don Abele]

Rather than edit my original post, I'll make a correction here:

After being asked about the original piece being solid I wanted to post a picture of the plank we removed. When I shot the picture I looked and something didn't look right, so I did a little research.

The original beam, pictured below, was installed in the 1970's not the 1930's. So how'd I know - those growth rings are way too wide to be from the '30's. I'll see if I can find a piece of old growth and shoot a picture of it for comparison.

Be well,

Doc

[Ben Grunow]

Nice to have a purpose built facility and I am suprised that the resorcinol can survive the steam.

[Todd Burch]

Here are some more sticks waiting to be installed on the ship.

The larger one to the right is 18 inches wide and 8 inches thick.

That's some live oak slabbed to the left (nasty stuff to work with).


So..... Don.... 'ol buddy, 'ol pal... What's the Navy going to do with that old cutoff / trash surplus looking piece to the right in the picture where you show those other sticks???

Todd ;) ;) ;)

[Rick Thom]

Don, I find this absolutely amazing. I have seen the tall ships in Nova Scotia and several other locations, but this really drives home the skill of the craftsmen who originally built and now maintain these ships.
Thanks for posting this.

[Steve Wargo]

I thought all the Lumber for the Constitution came from Constitution Grove on Crane Naval Station in Indiana. That means that all of it should be Old Growth. Or do they use lumber from anywhere now for doing repairs. Just curious. That is a remarkable bit of steam bending. Very cool job.

[Don Abele]

So..... Don.... 'ol buddy, 'ol pal... What's the Navy going to do with that old cutoff / trash surplus looking piece to the right in the picture where you show those other sticks???

Todd ;) ;) ;)

Todd - trash :eek: those are a couple of perfect pieces of live oak. Those particular pieces are going to be used to repair the internal frames under where all the hull planking is being removed.

You wouldn't want any of that stuff any way. Between it's absolute rock hardness and crazy figure it's a bear to work with. It dulls carbide blades in no time at all and when we run it through our 36 inch, 20 HP, helical planer you ought to hear that baby SCREAM!!!

Be well,

Doc

[Don Abele]

Steve, we do have trees (white oak) available to us at Constitution Grove. They are even GPS tagged so we can find them quickly and easily. We have another grove in Kings Bay, Georgia for live oak.

The problem is time and cost. To harvest them and process them just takes too long and costs too much. A 24 inch diameter tree will only yeild a single hull plank and it needs to be clear and straight for over 40 feet!

The last time trees from the grove were used was in the early 90's during the last major restoration. Because of difficulties experienced during that, it was decided that all major components would be made from laminates in the future.

The company we now use is awesome and they can meet all of the military specifications we put on the materials. Also, the way we have the laminates constructed also minimizes the possibility that you can tell they are laminates.

Be well,

Doc

[Bruce Page]

Don, great stuff!
I kind of makes my woodworking projects seem insignificant. :o

[Bruce Benjamin]

Don, I visited the USS Constitution website and ended up pretty much viewing everything that was there. That's really a spectacular ship and you must have one of the best jobs in the Navy. My only suggestion for the website would be to add more pictures to the, "Virtual Tour" of the ship. I'm in California and I'm not likely to get back that way to visit in person anytime soon so some more pictures of the interior would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much for starting this thread as it got me to that website and I learned/relearned some U.S. history that all Americans should know. I'm glad that ship is in such good hands. Thanks for your service because what you and your shipmates are doing is very important.

Bruce

[Neal McCormick]

Just as Veteran's Day approaches. This was the best thing I have read all day. Thanks for posting this. And I agree - you must have the best job in the Navy! Thanks for serving!!

[Don Abele]

Guys, I really appreciate all the great comments. And yes, in my 20+ years in the Navy, this is the best job I've had. It truly is an honor to serve aboard her and be a part of preserving our Navy and our Nations heritage.

Bruce, thanks for the comments on the website. I just recently got an IT guy on staff and I want to completely revamp the website. Keep checking back, hopefully you'll see some drastic improvements over the coming months.

Thanks again guys.

Be well,

Doc

[John Kendall]

If I had only known that instead of being bored out of my head, stuck in New London, Ct. on the USS Fulton for a little over 2 years, I could have been helping you work on the Constitution!?? You should have called... ;) :D

I hope I can get the chance to visit some of my friends who stayed in the New England area and get them to Boston to visit. That's one piece of Naval history I still want to see.

How did you go from medicine to being on the Constitution? I'm jealous! :o :D

[Reid Smith]

Thanks Don for the tour of the USS Constitution Shipyard. I have always wanted to tour the shipyard in person. I once saw a documentary on the USS Constitution and also a filming of I believe Bob Villa when they were bending one of these planks. I guess that was you I saw when Bob did the interview?
Thanks again,
Smitty