I've been building a steam box and bending jig to make arms for welsh stick chairs. Also a shelter for this outside work. As you can see, the ash arm has split, perhaps (1) as the wood was too dry to start with (moisture content just 12%), (2) temperature in steamer was not high enough, (3) the bending strap's blocks were too short (so they moved away from the arm so the wood stretched too much), (4) we were too slow!? So: I'm addressing all of these issues next time by (1) leaving the wood outside for a while, (getting a thermometre for the steam box, (2) lengthening the strap blocks, (3) being quicker next time! I've been trying to repair the split arm (see pic below) but not very effective - soon, on the next steaming run, I'll try to bend a thinner piece around.
A second attempt, with the changes made suggested above. More success this time, with one arm bent without a failure and one with. The latter caused partly perhaps by being a little loose in the strap?
Very hard to glue as lots of tension within wood, but I aim to fill with PVA and colour so there's a kind of wabi-sabi look.