It is a week later, and I have decided to bend another hoop to see if I have fixed all the problems, or whether the last one was a fluke. Here are the particulars of the timing:
- Start the steamer at 9:26
- Full steam and insert board at 9:56 - 30 minutes to start
- Turn the board over at 10:11 - 15 minutes on first side
- Pull out and bend 10:26 - 15 minutes on the second side.
The results of the bend this time were not stellar. The wood bent around the form OK, but it also split on one side.
The Wood Has Split Again
The previous bend seems to be a bit of good luck since this one did not pan out so well. Here is a closeup of the failure point.
The Point Where the Wood Failed
That was discouraging. I will have to come back to this later.