steam bending set-up

[julie Graf]

i'm setting up a little steam bending station - and haveing a hard time finding a metal 5 gallon gas can locally, which is what i was going to use for boiling the water. (I found some online, but after shipping they are about $40, and i'm looking to go the cheap route on this)

any suggestions on other options?

[Michael Short]

You might see if there is a military surplus close to you and see if they carry the 5 gallon steel cans there.

[David Epperson]

i'm setting up a little steam bending station - and haveing a hard time finding a metal 5 gallon gas can locally, which is what i was going to use for boiling the water. (I found some online, but after shipping they are about $40, and i'm looking to go the cheap route on this)

any suggestions on other options?
Scrap yard?
..to find some discarded soda syrup tanks? They are stainless steel though (which is bringing fairly high scrap prices), and already threaded for plumbing attachments.

Old air reserve tanks?
Yard sale pressure cooker? Usually won't hold 5 gallons, but.....
Old water heater tank?

[Greg Cole]

Big aluminum stock pot & propane tank like for deep frying a turkey?

Just a wing nut idea....but would probably work.

Greg

[David Epperson]

i'm setting up a little steam bending station - and having a hard time finding a metal 5 gallon gas can locally, which is what i was going to use for boiling the water.
any suggestions on other options?
I have to assume that you are going for just 212°F and non pressurized, Gas cans and such will not take a lot of pressure and to get above 212°F you will need to look at the saturated steam pressure/temperature reference tables to insure that your system is up to what you want. For instance, if you wanted 230°F, your system will be containing approx 21 psi. Gas cans are good to about 5 or 6 psi.

Search for "Saturated Steam Tables" and you should find any number of pressure temperature calculators.

[Todd Burch]

A 5 gallon gas can works fine. You're not building a pressure boiler, you're heating water to make steam, that has an escape path through a hose into your steam box, and that too has a hole in it to drain condensed water.

Try a commercial lawn mower supply in your area. That's where I bought mine.

Todd

[Ray Knight]

I actually do use a turkey frier. Can get double use. Buy it for the family, use it carefully at thanksgiving (don't burn the garage or porch down), then sneak it out to the garage for steaming. You need to put a hole in the lid with a pipe fitting for a hose (radiator hose). It sure makes more steam than my previous hot plate and old copper teakettle. Ray Knight

[julie Graf]

how did you put the hole in the lid? how airtight does the container have to be?
i have an old large cheap soup pot that i could repurpose... the lid isn't super-tight though...

[Bruce Haugen]

So, how much wood are you bending?

On the last few projects I've bent, max thickness = 1/2", I've simply used a garage sale tea kettle set on a camping stove, with a radiator hose going to the steam box. Worked really well. You DO NOT want your steam setup to be pressurized in any way. That is more dangerous than you can possibly imagine. Check out the Mythbusters show to see what they did with a water heater with the safety gagged. It will take out a house.

Bruce

[Lee Schierer]

You don't need to have a large can. You can use an empty 1 gal. lacquer thinner or paint thinner can. Just wash it out with soap and water before use. A 1" rubber hose fits nicely over the spout on the can. I used a 1 gallon can on my Coleman stove when I did steam bending.

[George Bregar]

Check out the Mythbusters show to see what they did with a water heater with the safety gagged. It will take out a house.

Bruce http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmJoyuUJj2Q :eek:

Perversely, I want to try it. :)

[Steve Clardy]

Lacquer comes in 5 gallon metal cans.

Search a cabinet shop for empties

[Dell Littlefield]

One of those empty helium tanks used to fill balloons works great. They are not reused so you should be able to get one free.

[Rod Sheridan]

I purchased a used pressure cooker at Goodwill for $5.

I drilled out the pressure relief valve and installed a 3/4 inch heater hose to it.

It works great as a steam source.

Regards, Rod.

[Rick Levine]

Check your local Pep Boys. I bought one from them a few years back.

[Todd Jensen]

Julie, I just use a $10 hot pot from walmart or whatever and it works great. I set the pot at the low end of my steam setup and a lot of the runoff goes back into the pot and would steam for an hour or two at a time between refills.

Here is my $20 setup that worked quite nicely for pre-bending a tight handrail.
http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z66/grizzified/x45railsteamer.jpg

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z66/grizzified/tightlot17bend.jpg

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z66/grizzified/CC17FromAboveCurve.jpg

I ran 1/4" bolts through the black pipe about 1" up to support the work out of the water/runoff, and used a dremel(Foredom) to cut the spout off the hot pot and cut a circle in it to accept the white pvc. I have addt'l pictures of the setup if you wish. Have fun!:)

[julie Graf]

todd, that looks like a nice little set-up.

i'm leaning towards something like that or the used paint thinner can idea...

thanks all!

[David Epperson]

Has anyone tryed (and had any luck) using steam to flatten cupped or twisted lumber prior to jointing/planing. Did the cup come back? Or did it stay flattened?

["Jason Belous"]

I use a propane burner "like the ones for the turkeys" with a metal gas can 5 gallons. This gives you a spout to run a steam line off. I piped mine into a large pvc pipe with a fixed cap on one end and a screw on cap on the other end. Tap it for pressure release and you have a great champer. I got my design from fine wood working and it works amazing. this seems to be the path you were on until you got side tracked. Good luck to you

[Doug Shepard]

Kerosene heater sellers ought to have the 5 gal metal cans for kerosene too.

[Marcus Ward]

I use a keg with the top cut off. Holds enough water to boil and steam for 3-4 hours and on top of a 60000 btu gas burner it really provides tons of steam. I bend inch thick oak with it. I usually use it to make beer, however, and it excels at that also. Google: keggle.

[Todd Jensen]

Naysayers.:cool:

[Jim Dunn]

Would an older style propane tank, filled with water naturally, work? You could take out the top valve and suppliment some sort of fitting and hose.