Hi Everyone,

I'm having all sorts of trouble finding a readily-available timber down here in Australia I can steam-bend for my ribs.

I have tried Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) Alpine Ash (Eucalyptus delegatensis) & Messmate (Eucalyptus obliqua) which are all sold under the generic title of Tasmanian Oak and are noted as suitable for steam bending, but without success. I'm bending around a 2" radius using a Brian Nystrom style bending jig.

Out of desperation I tried a few ribs of Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) and it bent without splitting every time. From what I can read on the internet, WRC is not usually suitable for bending so I'm a bit surprised at what I'm seeing.

WRC is quite soft & isn't known as a 'structural' timber so do you think it'll be a suitable timber for ribs ?

Thanks in advance!