I am trying to hoop a tanned beaver using willow. How do I make the willow more limber so it wont break when I bend it. Soak in water?

give the willow another couple months to take in water

the old saying . . . you can bend willow in any month without an "R"

May is a real good month to soak it and bend it

You can bend wood by steaming it.

Steam it. Even green willow break especially thicker pieces needed to make hoops with or so is my experience. Steaming wood makes it more pliable. Just soaking it in water is not the answer either. It needs the heat and once the heat is out of the wood it will still break if not bent fast enough. Having a jig to make the bend on quickly would be a very good idea also.
Ted

You can make a wood steamer by using pvc pipe and a kettle.Snowshow makers here use those to steam the tamarack or ash for snowshoes.

I have been using small diameter wild grape vines about 1/2 > 3/4 ". very workable. I skin the vines well then I form a hoop and cross over the loose ends to the desired diameter. I drill thru the cross over area of the vine at the proper size and run a finish nail thru.it. Let it hang till cured.

Not a lot of willow around here.

Thank you all!!

i soak mine and then apply some heat as im bending, similar to the steaming i guess

A wallpaper steamer is a great source for steam. Pipe it into a pvc pipe and you've got a great portable steamer.

Lots of guys making wooden bows use that for a setup.

A 55 gallon drum works good for a jig to rough the roundness in

I like this idea.

This ^

I gather mine in late April/early May and have no trouble bending diameters up to about an inch. I don't soak it, just bend it green and secure it to the beaver board about three inches outside the tanned beaver. I let it dry a couple of months or so before hooping.