: What is the best method to install a brass stem band?

Ted Moores advises pre-drilling, but cautions about possible kinks at the holes. I would think it hard to drill accurately once you've mounted the strip. I had to put a curve in a 1" wide pre-drilled aluminum t-track to match the curve the of a deck. As Moores warned the metal wanted to stretch at the holes, if the bending force was concentrated near a hole. I was able to successfully bend it by applying force between the holes. For this bend I used a very sophisticated tool. The receiver on my towbar and some wood blocks. If I were you I'd set up a simple bending jig on my bench (something like a dog to hold the tail and a dog to bend around) and bend the band to shape in a way you can control where force is applied. Good luck.