Vinegar for plank bending

[Nirvana]

After watching a video clip about full size plank bending where they used distilled vinegar, I thought to give this a shot.
I am so happy I found that trick as it worked out very well for me.

Vinegar breaks down the molecules and softens the wood, applying heat to get the curves and bending and you have the shape.
The distilled vinegar doesn't change the color of the wood.

Application time about 10 minutes

 

[Dr PR]

But does it really work better than plain water? It is very easy to get gentle bends across the narrowest dimension like you show with water and heat.

 

The real test would be to compare bending planks across the width with water and vinegar. This has always been the biggest problem for me, even with adequate heat.

[JerryTodd]

I use ammonia because I happened to have a jug of it, but alcohol should work nicely too. 

[Capt. Kelso]

I've tried a number of methods including heat and now just soak the wood in ammonia.

[paul ron]

i leave my strips in the toilet tank for a couple hours. they come out like wet noodles and bend very easily... in fact i can get smaller radiuses than pictured above.

 

whatever floats ur boat...

Edited 4 hours ago by paul ron

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  Planking bends amidships are generally gradual, with the greatest curves needed at the bow or stern.  What I've done with pre-soaked planking needing more bend at the end is to put the end into my mouth ... Don't scoff, since perhaps there is something in saliva that helps the process - then I cautiously use my front teeth to slightly crimp the wood sequentially, with hand and tongue forming a tighter radius.  One can 'feel' the fibers strain and just start to crack a little, which is the cue to back off.  Its a bit of an art, but with  some practice its worked for me.

  Different species of wood have a variety of tastes, but as with wine tasters, one does not swallow but rinses with water to cleanse the palette.