Very cool project there Jerry.

My brief experience with springback was when doing stems. I had steamed and clamped 3 strips of cedar to the stem form. After drying for 24hrs I then epoxied everything together. The stem still had springback, I guess maybe an inch or so at the end. That's why I anticipate some with the paddle after gluing. Mind you, the curve in the paddle shaft is pretty mild.

I think I'll give it a shot!
thanks

: Doug,
: If I understand correctly, you have not glued the paddle together. I have not
: made a bent paddle, but I have build a laminated circle for a 54 liter
: demijohn....long story. I used 1/8" white oak. None of the strips
: were steam bent. The circle was about 18" dia. Anyway, I really think
: you should do a glue-up. The glue should make a huge difference in the
: amount of springback. The U shaped parts of the "apparatus" had
: very little springback. And as you can see in the picture, it's a pretty
: sharp angle at the bottom. Don't really know if I helped at all. But once
: you do a glue-up, I think you will find out you will be just fine.

: Jerry