It can seem as though lighter woods cold bend (as opposed to steam bending) more readily, but looking at wood properties, the correlation between wood density and modulus of elasticity is not strong. So it seems as though woods that cold bend more easily has to do with how readily the actual cell structure of the wood deforms to accommodate the bending. But density does seem to play a role here at Washington Sq. Park where woods needed to be bolted in an arcing form that followed the perimeter of the facade. Reclaimed wine tank Redwood with an Elastic Modulus of 1,220,000 lbf/in2 was used in place of reclaimed boardwalk Ipe, measuring in at 3,200,000 lbf/in2.
