I don't play with steam bending, so perhaps someone who does can enlighten me.

Seems to me that if you can bend properly steamed wood you should be able to twist it like a corkscrew, too. For a paddle the twist would not have to be as severe as a corkscrew, just 90 degrees. With a steam-assisted twist in the center, the blades would have the advantage of proper grain alignment.

I suppose you could twist the 2x6 before shaping it, but I imagine it would be a lot easier to do after the center of the paddle was made round. The blade ends could be shaped before twisting, or left unfinished until after the paddle blank took on the appropriate configuration. In reducing the nominal 2 inch thickness to the desired blade thickness you would have some opportunity to fine tune the feather angle a few degrees one way or the other, if you don't bend it jsut right. Just a thought. Paul Jacobson