Heat vs steam question

[huisme]

I started dry heating a black locust blank over my stove with some oil on the wood, and the end started to crack ever so slightly so I stopped. I let the thing sit for several days, and now I'm wondering if since it's just slightly too moist to dry heat it's a good idea to steam.

Basically, I'm not sure where the line is between wood that should be steamed or dry heated 

[Pat B]

  Are the back and the ends sealed?

[huisme]

The back is and the ends were until recently. I tried with the sister stave and there wasn't a problem, so now they're both reflexed, but it'd still be nice to know for sure if a stave that's just shy of being dry heat ready is still steamable.

[owlbait]

I'm curious too.  Heat vs. steam, and what determines when to use them?

[Dances with squirrels]

Generally, if a stave is dry enough to begin bending and tillering, it's dry enough for the heat gun, otherwise I steam it.

[dwardo]

Steam for the sharp stuff and heat for the gentle curves. Never heat on wood that isn't seasoned enough.
Heat is always nice to temper and shape at the same time but always scares me doing the sharp angle stuff.
But... Steam you can take your eye of for more than a minute without ruining it.

[Joec123able]

I ALWAYS use steam It doesn't matter if the wood is wet or dry steam still works completely fine and works really good on sharp radius curves

[beetlebailey1977]

I must ask also.....when steaming is it best to seal the area with shellac?  I have yet to do either heat or steam bending.

[Joec123able]

I must ask also.....when steaming is it best to seal the area with shellac?  I have yet to do either heat or steam bending.

I've never done that before and never had any problems not doing it