Years ago, in the midst of a difficult reframing job, I came across Barry Thomas’s excellent book, Building the Crosby Catboat. In it, Thomas describes his research into the Crosby method for fitting thick steam-bent frames into very tight bilges. He had had the good fortune to meet Horace Manley Crosby, Jr. aka “Bunk,” right when he needed him. Thomas tells of Bunk showing him and his team the tools and method for picking up the shape of a frame using a wooden chain-like “timber mold,” transferring the shape to a bending jig, and bending the frame away from the boat with the aid of a compression strap.