Bending hardwood strips

[Pwh]

Is there a good method for bending walnut strips or any other hardwoods? I tried soaking but have marginal success.The strips are 2x4 mm and form part of the deck side waterway. The lengths range from 153 to 305 mm.

 

[Don Case]

I use an iron. I dip the wood in water for a minute or so and then hold the piece of wood down with the iron and pull it out at an upward angle. I use a dry iron set on "cotton" but do a test piece. You can quite easily scorch the wood. I've found that by pulling it up and sideways I can bend it in two directions at once. Hold the iron down hard. Good for bow planking.

 

[Gilbertm]

One option is to soak the plan in warm water and then use a soldering iron (or equivalent specialized bending tool) to bend the strip

 

[Pwh]

I was able to bend the strips to their proper shape using an old iron I found lying around the house. Thanks

 

[Don Case]

I was able to bend the strips to their proper shape using an old iron I found lying around the house. Thanks

Nice that you had an old one, I had to buy my wife a new one so I could have the old one. If you practice a bit it's kind of amazing how much bend you can put into stuff. I find that you should always bend it too much because it's easy to unbend but hard to add more.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

steam is hotter than boiling water so the trick is to soak the strip in water even room tempature water and bend it around something hot enought to instantly turn the water to steam.