I've heard rumors about using alcohol to bend wood, but never tried it. I've used steam successfully. I built a steamer using PVC pipe and a steam cleaner. It's not instantaneous. You have to leave the the wood in there long enough for the heat and moisture to penetrate. Maybe up to 30 minutes for kayak strips. Heat alone will work, but steam is better.

Denatured alcohol won't give you any trouble with epoxy. It evaporates in seconds, and doesn't leave any residue.

Cheers,

Pat

When building my Wood Duck 10 hybrid, I used hot water in PVC pipes.  It takes a while but works well.

Rich

i built my frist boat a Petrel and only used and heat gun, industrial style, from and automotive body  suply co. you can feel the cells give as they heat, and strat to give. I used a couple vice grips to hold the strip and another to comtrol where the bent and how much . it seemed to work very well and did not take a lot of time  

Hot wet towels on the strips should work.  You can also borrow mother's steam iron to assist.