: If you try walnut be sure to look closely at the boards I bought
: some at Dunn lumber and the color varied alot. Like you I was
: hoping for a nice dark contrast which did work using maple pin
: stripes. It bends pretty well but I remember soaking the pieces
: for a couple of hour first.

Soaking for a couple of hours is a complete waste of time, as all you do is get the outside surface wet. For soaking to have any real effect, you need to be thinking in terms of at least a week.