Checked keel

[Brent Cummings]

I steam bent the keel for my Haven 12 1/2 this week.The keel is 16 feet long, 8" at its widest and 1 3/8" thick. Didn't go super smooth due to my poor bagging of the keel in plastic, but it took the bend anyway. The problem is several checks have developed in the timber. They seem to be superficial but I guess I can't be sure. One seems to be a little deeper and extends from the centerboard slot. So my questions are. What is most likely the cause of the checks? and More importantly Is the keel toast? If I can figure out how to post a picture I will. Thanks in advance.

[Brent Cummings]

hope you can see these imagestation (http://imagestation.com/album/index.html?id=2125684158)

Maybe someone can explain again how to post pictures.

[Bob Smalser]

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid172/p4881af4164f4c12381438f55eab1c336/f3d36ee2.jpg

Show your pic in Imagestation full-size.
Right click and copy "properties"....the http address.

In you WBF posting dialogue box, click on the "image" icon, and erase what's in there. "Paste" your http address in there and hit "ok", and you'll display your pic.

Hard to tell....these are the only cracks I can see...the grain is so swirled there, that it's hard to tell if they go anywhere. Not a low-risk bend with grain that looks like that....there was a knot close by, and the dark swirls in the top of the pic are the knot's underarm area, and you can see that the top of the tree was at the top of the photo. The long grain dips deep there, looking at it from the top, and that'll always be a weak spot in that timber.

Make small dams of modeling clay....pour some denatured alcohol in there, maybe with some aniline dye in it, and see if it comes out on the other side.

Keep your eye on it til it's happy in the bend. The cracks don't look bad, but I don't like the looks of the timber for bending.

[ 06-05-2005, 11:56 PM: Message edited by: Bob Smalser ]

[wyndham]

I agree with Bob. The grain at the top of the pic is not what you want in a piece that is subject to bending stress. The knot further down is less than desirable.