The rim is made from 3 pieces of maple, each about 1/4in thick and 3in wide.  Each piece needs to be steam bent to form a circle about 12in in diameter.  I used an electric water heater element as a heat source to create the steam.  I fashioned a little boiler using some black pipe and fittings.  The element screws into a fitting at the bottom, and the water supply comes in from the side.  Steam comes out the top through a hose to the steam box, where the maple strips are housed.

Steam boiler made from a water heater element, pipe and fittings.

The steam box is made from pine boards screwed together, with a hinged door in front.  The water supply is from a bucket with a vinyl hose running to the boiler.  It is important to keep the water level high enough so the heating element is completely submerged to prevent it from burning out.  I added water to the bucket as needed to keep the level in the right spot.

Steam Box

Here’s a video of my setup:
http://youtu.be/b9hivXYrcBA&w=550

I soaked the 3 maple strips in water overnight to try to fully saturate them.  On my steaming day I fired up my boiler and placed the strips in the steam box.

After about an hour I removed one strip at a time and wrapped it around a form seen here:

Rim strip fending form

The form is made from 2 pieces of 2x lumber glued together.  A metal bracket holds the end of a maple strip, and a metal band helps to keep the maple strip close to the form as it is being bent.  With help from my son, I bent each strip around a form and used clamps to hold them in place:

Rim strips on forms

All 3 done

After about a 1/2 hr or so I removed the strips from their forms and held them in shape with clamps to let them fully dry.

Rim strip removed from form

Rim strips removed from forms