hi dave
I missed your bennding posts earlier, but two thoughts come to mind re: bending tips
1. boat builders sometimes "steam in place" with the wood inside a plastic bag and the steam piped in from a steam generator...tighten the clamps gently as you go
2. if you have issues with the tension side splintering you can clamp a strip of metal to the outside of the bend and force all the movement to the compression side.