How to bend wood like this - Outdoor furniture project

[Alan Lightstone]

Thanks Maurice, and Mike. Not sure I understand the firehose, though.

Another thought I'm having and am planning on trying is with two 3" ratchet straps. Have to figure out how to use them with this, connection points, etc...

I agree and will have to figure out using some 1/8" wood or hardboard as cauls on top of the laminates. I think this is also a large part of the problem. I didn't realize that hardboard could bend. Never use it or thought about it. The thin metal banding I am using (the thickness was suggested by the metal supplier) is also an issue. Thicker might not bend, but this thin it is not transmitting the force evenly.

Still wondering if not pre-bending the laminates with steam will make gluing up the laminates FAR easier to glue up as opposed to having to spread glue on pre-bent laminates.

I could run my laminates through my planer on the sled I'm using on the wide-belt sander. Outside of saving time and steps, is there some other advantage to that? The wide-belt provides finished laminates that are quite smooth and consistent in thickness. The planer would leave some blade marks. I could see running through the planer once and then the wide-belt, but still not sure of the advantage to using a planer for that.