wine, wood and (no song)

Fire bending. Neet. Everything is better with cherry wood smoke, Oak, Walnut, Maple, Mesquite. I’m getting hungry.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

I used some scrap hickory the other day to create just about the best batch of kippered london broil strips you ever had. And I’ve found that cedar siding, cut to length and soaked in water for a half hour, makes an excellent slab for grilling fish. No fuss. No turning. No mess. Just smoke it till the meat flakes off the bones.

Scotch? Naw. Wild Turkey Rare Breed! Soooo smoooth!

Ain’t life just great?

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

I haven’t used fire for bending, but I have used a heat gun.

Doesn’t make things tasty though.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Just be sure the cedar isn’t treated. All smoked food is better than non-smoked.

-- Maplewood, MN

wood, food, wine, cheese.. my goodness, this was an interesting blog

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Always interesting how some of these methods stand the tests of time. Dirty Jobs did a episode about coopers too. If you watch it often enough, you’ll probably see it in a rerun, or one of their marathon days.

-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX

Always interesting how some of these methods stand the tests of time. Dirty Jobs did a episode about coopers too. If you watch it often enough, you’ll probably see it in a rerun, or one of their marathon days.

-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX

I forgot to mention, it was cool to hear about woodworking from a food writer, describing how they bring in new oak from forests of central France, how they cut and sticker the wood so it can dry for a couple years, (green wood for wine, Mais Non!). Then they only use wood for the fires when heating the wood to shape it, and char it (who wants residue of solvents or accelerants to possibly taint the charred, umm… carmelized flavors of the wine barrel.

(meanwhile I’m expecting them to mention terroir to help describe and explain the differences between French and American oak flavors)

Woodworking gets into our pores, our blood, our DNA through our environment, and our victuals!

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh

I read only on in my interest of woodworking that it is the heat that allows the fibers in the wood to become flexible enough to bend and hold form when cooled. It has less to do with the water.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

so we find there are options apart from steam bending… though since they intend to char the inside of the casks and barrels, they won’t mind if things get a little toasted… whereas if we were trying to bend runners for a rocking chair, we certainly would.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh

For the VERY large timbers in wooden sailing ships, they used to boil them in salt water for bending.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Really? Does, salt water have a higher boiling point? I can’t imagine the boiling tanks they’d need!

I thought of doing “steam” bending in the dishwasher, but figured the water would keep the wood from getting as hot as the steam.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh

I was talking to some of the guys that re-fit the USS Constitution in Boston when I visited there.
I actually went on one of their turn around cruises to the mouth of the harbor on her.

That’s what they said they did after some research on how they did it in ‘the old days’.
Most of the smaller timbers they steam bent.

For steam bending I use a steam wall paper remover.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.