: It's time to think about the coaming ring lip. Are some woods more suitable
: to the bending than others without steaming than others? Or worded another
: way, which woods in a light color are unsuitable due to being too brittle
: to bend into an oval?

Ash bends very easily and is tough.

I used maple and mahogany. Maple is very stiff, but I didn't have any cracking problems. I did use 1/16" veneers, as opposed to the 1/8" strips most folks use, so that helped a lot.

Shawn