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Thread: Bending Sides

  1. #1
    Registered User Valerie Jestice's Avatar
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    Default Bending Sides

    I was going to attempt to bend the sides for the guitar I am building. I heated the pipe to 400 degrees, had the wood soaking for 4 hours. It bent to a certain amount, and then broke. I tried in different areas with the same results. What am I doing wrong?
    Shawnee Creek #88
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  3. #2
    harvester of clams Bill McCall's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bending Sides

    What wood? How thick?
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  4. #3
    Registered User Valerie Jestice's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bending Sides

    Quote Originally Posted by Bill McCall View Post
    What wood? How thick?
    Sapele, and 5/64” thick
    Shawnee Creek #88
    The Mixson#1
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  5. #4
    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bending Sides

    Sapele is sort-of-mahogany, and that means it might benefit from soaking in water, but 4 hours might be excessive. Over-wetting wood can lead to breaking.
    We must learn how each wood we use responds. Some wood, like maple, bends best with minimal moisture. A spritz bottle just to keep it damp is usually all that is needed. Some mahogany is usually best soaked for a while.
    I'd suggest bending some scrape of the sapele that you are using. Try it dry, spritzed, soaked, and everything in between.

    Your thickness seems fine for guitar sides, not sure about the heat of the pipe, I don't measure the heat of my bending pipe, but instead I try for just short of scorching (though some mahogany tends to want to bend just beyond scorching).

    Sometimes, when wood bends to a certain point and then seems to stop bending, you can let it cool and then try again. With luck, it will continue to bend more without breaking whereas trying to force it without the cooling step can cause it to break.

    In short, experiment until you figure it out.

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  7. #5

    Default Re: Bending Sides

    Also to John's point -- wood thin enough to bend well doesn't have enough mass to hold significant moisture.
    So even if it's not over-soaked, it might dry out in a moment or two after touching the iron. Certainly less than 10 seconds after touching the iron. Sapele usually has pretty wild grain, and the more runout (figure) you have, the quicker you will lose moisture.
    So keep a'spritzing, keep experimenting, and you'll get it working. It's one of the easier parts of building, really.

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  9. #6
    Dave Sheets
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    Default Re: Bending Sides

    I don't really know if I'm "doing it right" or not, but I never get the complete bend all in one go. I wind up sort of rocking the wood back on forth on the iron, applying a bit of pressure, sliding it along and gradually developing a bend. I re-wet the wood as a it dries from the heat, and just gradually work the bend into the wood, it is usually a number of gradual iterations, getting a bit more bend each time. I practiced a bit with scrapwood to get the feel of it. If I push two hard trying to get the bend too fast, it does tend to crack on me.

    But, I'm no a pro- that's just the way I figured out how to do this, developing gradual bends and re-wetting the wood as a I go.

    I love the process of bending wood, it produces such fascinating looking results.
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  11. #7
    Registered User Tom Haywood's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bending Sides

    Good advice already, but I'll add a couple of things. Is the thickness mostly consistent throughout the material? Your thickness is close to .08", which I find is OK but is kind of a barrier. I prefer to be closer to .07" or even less. I use the spritzing method and bend over a pipe of unknown temperature. When water sprayed on the pipe sizzles, I start bending. The key is to spray the wood well and keep it wet where you are bending, take your time and feel the wood relax at the point you are bending, make the bend in stages, and repeat along the board to get to the final shape (i.e. don't ask for too much at one time). Occasionally, I have to come back the next day and bend some more. As far as hot soaking for hours, every time I've tried that with various woods. the wood either broke or didn't bend.
    Tom

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    Default Re: Bending Sides

    i hate bending, and am getting ready to so it again, I was also making my sides too thinck. I did find that using a bending strap helped me quite a bit, an so did you tube,
    Mike Marrs

  13. #9
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    Default Re: Bending Sides

    Lots of great advise here.. Too much water is a not good , so don't soak.. I tried lacewood once and finely conceded , but that was the only wood I couldn't bend.. I've also found that sanding as smooth as possible helps.. Make yourself some forms and clamp them up, and mist before .. And do it in stages...Click image for larger version. 

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    kterry

  14. #10
    Registered User Valerie Jestice's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bending Sides

    Thank you all, for all the great advice. I will be gone all of this week, so will tackle it again next week. I am going to get some mahogany to practice on, so I don’t mess up another side.
    I won’t give up!
    Shawnee Creek #88
    The Mixson#1
    1945 Taylorcraft

  15. #11
    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Bending Sides

    Good video here......

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxpCEyXQ6o0

    Good luck with your build.
    Charley

    A bunch of stuff with four strings

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  17. #12
    Registered User belbein's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bending Sides

    Valerie: What I found in bending wood was -- this will sound like mystical BS--is that you have to let the wood talk to you. Go slow. Feel the feedback the wood is giving you. It will start to feel stressed in your hands well before it cracks ... if you're moving slow. My understanding is that you are NOT supposed to soak the wood, though steaming is OK. Personally, the bending that I've done has been dry, with a spray bottle to spritz water on the part I expected to bend. But did I say SLOW? You have to do it at the material's schedule, not your own.
    belbein

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