You need to contain the steam in something insulated to keep it all hot and you need to apply the force ideally while the steam is on the wood.
Remember steam is invisible... the cloudy stuff is water vapour... clouds are not hot!
You can't mess about getting it from steam to bending jig, you have just a few seconds to do it. That's why I try to steam it in situ on the jig, and apply foce while it's still in the steam. This isn't always practical, so sometimes it get it out of the steam ond onto the jig, but don't take more than 10 seconds!
Also if steaming for 30 mins didn't work, then steaming for 30mins again isn't going to work either! It prob needs 45 or 60.
Here's a post fom my blog, it even has a little video of me steam bending some maple
.
http://bowyersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/steaming-bending-maple.htmlIf you don't believe steam bending works, try what I did in this post... tie a brick on the end of the bow and leave the other end in a steam chest. As it heats through you'll see the brick slowly start dropping as it pulls down the limb.
http://bowyersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/spot-of-steam-bending.htmlIf you search for 'steam bending' on the blog there are loads of entries.
Del