Good morning. I bought a heat gun yesterday, and the ash I'm using for an external stem still won't make the bend. Am I doing it wrong?

The ash was first ripped to somewhere between 1/16" and 1/8" and about 5/8" wide. The second attempt, the ash was ripped to just a hair below 1/16". Even after heating with a heat gun to the point of burn marks, I still couldn't make the bend without it breaking first.

On my Outer Island, I nipped about an inch off of the pointy tip of the bow and rounded it it over, to simulate more of what the stern tip looks like. As the ash travels from the keel up the upsweep of the bow, it will reach a point where it needs to turn a relatively sharp 45 degrees and point straight up into the air -- it won't make that turn without breaking.

In Nicks book, there is a picture of ash being bent around the tip of the bow and heading back towards the stern. I can't get anywhere near that.

Is there a trick to heating the ash that I'm missing? My new heat gun has two settings - 1000 degres and 750 degrees. I'm using the high setting. Is the grain orientation wrong (that is, should I rip a 3/4 piece off my board, turn it a 1/4 turn, and then rip it into 1/16" strips?).

Any and all help is appreciated.

Rick