: Hello there you 'alternative material' gurus: Maybe 'bendability' can be
: quantified. My 1 1/4" wide strip of 4 mm (3.9 actually) Okuome
: (France)looks like it could bend into a 12" radius, with the grain
: (the hard way). How does this compare with a doorskin?

: Rick.......

1/8" ply:
i shall have to do a better check, but last nite i don't think i even achieved 20-24" radius with a lg pc of new doorskin(i had the wood almost burning- discolored)((i might try something else tonite)) whereas i have obtained abt 4-5in radius on old pces of doorskin i still have around, that's with the grain (same maybe a bit more across)- unstrapped and unheated maybe 12-16” . with my face grain 1/8", i'm prob getting abt 8-12" radius untreated, not much better heated and strapped - has similar lousy and inconsistent backing plies. and with bending ply with the grain(not the bending direction) i'm getting abt 6" radius before breakage 50% of the time, 4-5in strapped and hted. don't ask, i know it too well!!
if your ply will bend 12 radius cold, with outside restraint and ht my guess is 6 or better. only problem is evenness of bend espec over large areas – lg pces tough to control.
my bet is that even dimensioned veneer ply with straight grained plies will bend fairly well. i just wish to get my hands on some okume scraps.