Warped Dowel for Small Masts

[acaron41120]

Just inventoried my King of the Mississippi riverboat kit and all is there and good except (and there I always an except) I have one 4mm diameter x 590mm Bokapi wood dowel that is bowed in the middle. As we do with flat pieces of wood where we soak them for a few hours and then lay them under a weighted board, will that method work as well for a 4mm diameter dowel. Or is there some other method? Don't want to try to hunt down a 4mm Bokapi wood dowel. Thanks in advance for any assistance.

[Keith Black]

 Allen, you'd get better straightening by hanging the dowel vertically with a weight on the bottom. and somehow steaming the bent portion of the dowel. 

[acaron41120]

Hmm...Kieth Black. I wonder if my electric plank bender will work as a plank straightener? You know, soak the 4mm diameter dowel and steam bend the dowel where the bend is to straighten it out.

[Keith Black]

1 minute ago, acaron41120 said:

I wonder if my electric plank bender will work as a plank straightener? You know, soak the 4mm diameter dowel and steam bend the dowel where the bend is to straighten it out

 Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Having said that what you don't want to do is make it worse than it is. if you plank bender works I'd still weight the end and hang vertically for a few days. 

[SiriusVoyager]

Maybe a hot Iron and roll the soaked dowel on a flat surface?

[acaron41120]

I'm now kind of leaning towards soaking the dowel for a couple of hours and adapting an old building board/wood cutting board so I can insert the dowel between two similar thickness pieces of flat wood and secured with a couple of screws and then run a hot iron over it for a bit to steam out the bend. Then close up the space and rinse, lather and repeat until the dowel I straight. Any thoughts on my idea are appreciated.

[Keith Black]

1 hour ago, acaron41120 said:

I'm now kind of leaning towards soaking the dowel for a couple of hours and adapting an old building board/wood cutting board so I can insert the dowel between two similar thickness pieces of flat wood and secured with a couple of screws and then run a hot iron over it for a bit to steam out the bend. Then close up the space and rinse, lather and repeat until the dowel I straight. Any thoughts on my idea are appreciated.

 Allen, I doubt anything you try will make it worse. keep at it till it either straightens or you give up. Worse case scenario is you have to purchase another piece of dowel.