After soaking the wood for the bows for two weeks I drained the soaking tube and poured in about five gallons of boiling water. Then after agitating the wood to make sure it all got hit with the hot water I pulled out one of the pieces, laid it on the ground, and poured another three gallons of boiling water over it, turning it over, and working up and down its entire length.Then moving quickly I took it over to my turning stanchions and bent it around, clamping as I went. Thanks to my lovely clamp girl, pictured above, for her assistance. I repeated this procedure with each of the pieces.
I let the bent bows stay on the stanchions for two weeks, covering them up at night to avoid the dew and fog. When I unclamped them they stayed pretty true to shape, but I tied the ends together to hold them in their curve until I was ready to use them on the wagon.
Learning Curve Note: I used thin PVC and it didn't hold up well to the boiling water. By the time I had done the last batch of bows it was severely deformed and had assumed a C-shape and an elliptical cross section. I would probably use the heavy, black, schedule-40 sewer pipe. It would be less effected by the boiling water. I would also use a larger diameter, that way I could soak more pieces at a time.
