bending wood

Having watched a load of YouTube videos which made wood bending look intimidatingly difficult, I decided not to do it "that way" and instead to find an improbably simple way and try that instead. And it worked. I stuck the strip wood in a water butt overnight, then bent it round one the two jigs that I made - cut-outs with clamp-holes cut in them - and allow the wood to dry out over about 24 hours.

When the water wasn't deep enough to soak a longer piece, I constructed a soaker using some old plastic downpipe, setting it at an angle, sliding the wood into it and filling it with a hose.

The process worked a treat, and by scoring a v-cut into one end I was able to bend the wood around a scarily tight corner, with only a little tear-out, which was easily sanded smooth.