Bending Red Cedar Shingles
 

Hello,

I'm replacing the red cedar shingle siding on my 1908 house because
the old shingles are covered in lead paint. The house has several
angled bays, and the existing shingles are bent over the interior and
exterior angles. I'd like to reproduce that detail and am looking for
advice on the best way to bend the new cedar shingles. The new
shingles are 18" long and 0.45" thick at the butt edge. I need to
bend the shingles 22.5 degrees out of flat (1/16 bend). A few
questions:

1) Will soaking the shingles be sufficient, or will I need to steam
them? Should I kerf out the backside at the point of the bend? It
will obviously be easiest to use the building itself as the bending
form.

2) Most of the shingles I'll be installing will be pre-staind with
Cabot Clear Solutions #9102, which I believe is primarily linseed
oil or similar. Is there any chance of bending the pre-stained
shingles, or do I need to get untreated shingles and stain them
afterwards? Can bending be facilitated by pre-staining the face
that will become the inner angle, providing an unequal rate of
moisture absorption on the two faces?

Thanks, Wayne