EP10 Steaming and fitting Green Oak frames: Building the schooner Malabar IV

Name: EP10 Steaming and fitting Green Oak frames: Building the schooner Malabar IV
Uploaded: 2026-01-04T15:46:28.000Z
Duration: 20 min 23 s
Description: Steam-bending green oak frames into the schooner Malabar IV requires relief cuts and precise timing to prevent breakage.

January 4, 2026 · 20 min · 7K views

Watch on YouTube

What this video covers

Green oak frames for the schooner Malabar IV are steam-bent and fitted in a single day, with pairs of frames cycled through a steaming box at five-minute intervals, ten minutes between each pair.▶ 8:19 The tight schedule — driven by the need to clamp each frame before it cools and becomes brittle — means the crew works flat out for most of the day, managing roughly two-thirds of the boat's frames before finishing.▶ 9:33 In the forward third of the hull, where the shape grows more extreme, the frames require a relief cut sawn down the centre to allow the two strips to slide against each other and take the tighter curves.▶ 10:25 A miscalculation in how far down those relief cuts were made causes several frames to push out of fair at the bilge; the fix is trimming approximately four inches off the bottom of each frame on the chop saw before it goes into the boat, giving the flexible section enough length to reach the pocket.▶ 10:30 Clamp alignment while bending proves consistently difficult, particularly keeping the two halves of each sawn frame flush with each other.▶ 7:04 The crew avoids screws in the turn of the bilge and the centre of the build throughout.▶ 2:53 Relief-cut depth must account for the full length of the straight section that seats in the frame pocket, or the frame will not bend where needed.