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My ash ribs has been soaking for about three weeks now. Two or three weeks more wouldn't hurt, but I can't wait -- the time has come for steam-bending the ribs. I usually shape the ribs with a temporary keelson attached, but this time I decide to perform without that safety net. Instead, I use pre-cut rib stock, where the length of each rib is equal to the distance between the gunwales at each respective rib mortise plus an "addition", which varies from bow to stern. For this particular kayak, I am using an "addition" of four fingers near the bow, three fingers amidships, and two fingers at the stern. This gives a hull shape that has a deeper bow than stern. For my last project, I constructed a "Nystrom bending jig" in order to achieve sharper and more consistent bends. The bending jig comes in handy for this kayak too, as it proves almost impossible to get the right rib shapes bending freehand. The jig has a compression strap, which also makes for less breakages. With the ribs in place, the bow and stern stems are rough shaped. I have a weakness for long East Greenland stems, so this kayak will probably end up with something along those lines... Total building time: 11 hours Next step: lashing stems and keelson into place. 
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