steamed wood?

My understanding it is a process by which the wood is heated (generally with steam) to alter the colour of the wood, making it more uniform in contrast/tone so that more of the wood is marketable. I asked this same question here http://lumberjocks.com/topics/3725.

-- "Checking for square? What madness is this! The cabinet is square because I will it to be so!" Jeremy Greiner LJ Topic#20953 2011 Feb 2

it also makes it more pliable, it used to be used back in teh day for ship building, and there are still people who use it to do other projects, generally you take the board out of the steamer and bring ti to a peg board where you have lots of holes to position pegs to bend against and hold it while it coolds off and dries.

You can’t do this dry…

-- Tony - http://ravensedgetoolworks.com

Steaming is done before the drying process to darken the wood, give it a more uniform appearance and make it look aged.

You can heat the chamber to 212F, 100C for 24 hours to accomplish this with wood that is not refractory ( prone to checking) The chamber must be kept at 100% RH.

I personally find steamed wood to be bland or dull. Air drying and then kiln drying gives a richer color to the wood especially walnut and cherry.

-- Kyle Edwards, http://www.sawmillnc.com, Iron Station , NC (near Charlotte)

I was aware of the bending part, and am intending to do some soon as a matter of fact, as the wife wants a celtic drum. It was the colour part that stumped me. Thought it might be similar to fuming or lye treating.
Guess I should have been clearer in my question.
Problem solved. Thanks guys/

-- The nicer the nice, the higher the price!

I knew about steaming for forming. I didn’t know about for color. Learned something new today guess that makes me a lucky guy. Thanks guys!

-- I don't make mistakes, I have great learning lessons, Greg