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Hi guys, I want to replace my home built bending iron with an electric one. Does any of our sponsors have them for sale? I'd like to keep the business within our community and help in any way I can!
I see Stewmac has them but their quite expensive....I've seen them online for a bit less....
Please let me know or PM me.

Thanks

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Here is a ebay link to an Ibex bending iron I bought. Good price and good service from the seller. $135+10 shipping.Bending iron

Peter,

It's really pretty easy to build your own electric bending iron. That's what I did. Here's a pic of the one I built, right after I finished it. Note the temp on the thermometer. It's kinda hard to read in the photo, but the temp was 300F.



Details:

For the heating element, I bought an electrical charcoal starter at one of the big box stores for about $15. At the same location, I picked up about a 12" length of 2" pipe, some allthread, nuts, bolts, and washers. Over in the electrical section, I bought an appliance power cord, a dimmer switch, and the junction box and cover plate. I already had some scrap plywood for the base.

At the Ace Hardware around the corner from my house, I found the oven thermometer, which fit almost perfectly into the end of the pipe. I used an automotive hose clamp and some aluminum foil as shim stock to hold it into place.

Atogether, I probably spent about $40 total.

To get the charcoal starter, which is a narrow hoop-shaped electrical element, to fit into the pipe, I squeezed the hoop down to a smaller width in my vise. I drilled holes in the "bottom" of the pipe only, so the top would be smooth, and mounted the pipe with nuts and washers inside and out.

After I'd assembled it, I turned on the switch, cranked up the dial and then waited for the pipe temp to come to equilibrium. It took a bit of tweaking, but finally I found where I had to locate the dimmer knob for 300F, so I put a mark there on the cover plate. That would get me into the ball park, I figured, and if I needed the temp a little hotter or cooler, I'd know where the baseline was and could dial in the other temps without much difficulty.

Months later, I had a situation where I needed a tighter bend than the pipe would allow. So I decided to mount an extension. I bought a 1" pipe piece for the extension and initially used a reducer, which could be threaded onto both pieces of pipe. Unfortunately the reducer added too much extension away from the element, and I wasn't able to get enough heat out toward the end of the 1" pipe. So, I ditched the reducer, drilled another hole in the 2" pipe and a hole in the 1" pipe, and mounted the 1" piece to the end of the 2" pipe. This meant that I would lose the thermometer, but at least I already knew where to set the dimmer in order to get the temps I wanted.

I used this setup for my first six guitars. It worked very well, but I have since gone to the heating blanket/mold system. There are times, however, when I still need to use it, but not for side bending anymore.

Best,

Michael

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Live to Play, Play to Live

Or you could do it the other way......

Steam wallpaper stripper.



mould



extra outlay?

?0

works REALLY well for binding too. steam the whole strip & stick it with masking tape as you go.....

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My soundclick xx luthier blog xx luthier soundclick

I think the stew mac one was well worth the money. It works great. But I agree my primary bending rig is the machine with the heating blankets. I made a double jig so I can bend two sides at once.

I only use the bending iron mostly for binding. for the sides I use a side bender.

Martin, how does the Steam wallpaper stripper work?

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Some great Ideas here!! I think Micheal's is the one for me. Electric heat, rheostat and temperature gauge!!! I'm really glad I checked out the forum this morning

[QUOTE=Michael McBroom]



[/QUOTE]

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Nice Pipe bender, I as well like the adjustable heat and thermometer on the end. I use a bulb supported by a heat gun and like some others here use it mostly for bindings and touch up.

Mike
White Oak, Texas

I used LMII's deluxe pipe-has a fin welded to it to clamp in vise. (Since I can't get my big generator to start and my welder needs the 220 it produces, I couldn't weld it up myself. I hate rebuilding Tecumseh carburetors) Charcoal starter element and a variac.MT

[QUOTE=peterm] Martin, how does the Steam wallpaper stripper work?
[/QUOTE]

Exactly as in the pics above.

steam the sides flat on formica (which holds the heat & moisture well).

Work along the length of the side, turning regularly, then after about 5 minutes spend a minute sliding the steam head along the side so that all of the side his hot & damp, then slam it in the mould & get the clamps on!!

for binding I did the same, then dried it off and worked it ino the step, taping it as I went.

REALLY handy, and a FAR neater fit than my previous attempt bending on a hot air paint stripper.

the "made for the job" tools are probably better......

but on a zero budget?

I'm as happing as a pig in........... well, really happy anyway!!martinedwards38894.2493402778

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My soundclick xx luthier blog xx luthier soundclick

Martin, i was in the same situation last year and used a kettle and steam chamber to bend my sides! Here's 2 pics of my first and now former bender, while it was in the making! I can relate.