Bent my first side - what could I do better

[naccoachbob]

I got 2 sets of sides from LMI for practicing on, and after the first side came out, it had rippling across from top to back. The very end of the upper bout still was moist, so I'm thinking I put on too much water.
I layed it out like this: slat on the bottom, paper, wood, paper, blanket, slat. I spritzed both sides of the paper and both sides of the wood.
Unfortunately, I have no idea what kind of wood it is. It's light reddish brown with some light brown, and some figure in it. Maybe some type of mahogany?
I let the heat get to about 235, then tightened up the waist caul to hold everything in place, and moved to the lower bout, which went pretty quickly. Then I bent the upper bout fairly quickly as well. Finally I cinched the waist down all the way. The temp got to going up, and something told me to take it to about 350, but it got to about 372. I then switched the VSI(?) to variable and all the way down to L. From the time I turned on the blanket until the side was completely bent was about 7 min. So there were a couple of minutes before the blanket got up to about 235. At the end of the 15 min period, the temp was down to about 255.
I'll try again tomorrow. But I think John recommended starting about 220-250, increase up to about 325, then variable down low for the remainder of the time.
Should I spritz the paper and leave the wood dry? Is there a better way? I do prefer to use the paper to keep the slats from staining and having to deal with that.
Thanks,
Bob

[tippie53]

cupping is part of the process.
80% of bending success is the wood selection. The more off quarter and more uneven the wood grain the higher the risk of cupping.
Some woods are more prone to cupping than others. Yes I wet the paper and the wood. Once key is the heat. I use full heat and don't set to VAR until I am bend. How long you take to bend can also play into the equation. I like to use a small weight sometimes on the lower bout end to assure good heating contact.
Don't be afraid to experiment with your technique. Like any good cook , you have to vary off the recipe once in a while. Keep some notes and you will soon have a book if solid information.