I just lay a damp rag over the strip and then heat the rag with a hot iron ... I don't soak the wood. Once you bend the strip you can glue it up right away. The only problem I've had is that by nature, the method bends the wood in a localized area and it often takes a couple of trys to get the bend I need. If you're not careful you can steam in some funny shape. I've used this method mostly to twist stubborn strips where they meet the stems. I've never been able to get decent results with dry heat (heat gun).

You might try using some 1/4" square strips at the shear. I'm building an Outer Island and the 1/4" strips followed the shear with no trouble at all.

Ken