Bent wood top rails

 

I did fair bit of research about this, then decided that everyone else was over-complicating the process, and tried something simple. I tied a scrap metal weight to the end of a length of 6mm x 46mm strip-wood and plunged it into a water butt and left it to soak overnight. The following day I took the wood out, used a triangular file to score the fibres and put in a groove on the inside angle, where the bend would be tightest, then gently bent and clamped the wood. It was very pliant.

The first one came out absolutely fine, and very largely held its shape. The second is now in the jig, but because of the milder, wet weather, will doubtless take a lot longer to dry. But there is no rush. In fact, a gentler drying may be a good idea anyway