There has been a bit of talk about side benders lately so I thought I would post a couple of pics of the one I built from the LMI plans. The plans don't show how to build or where to join the cutaway attachment so I bought their video and just watched buddy burn himself a couple of times and estimated where to place the pivot for the this attachment.
Anyway, here is the bender with 3 - 150 watt bulbs.
From the side. Note the timer switch, these are great but be cautious, they are not entirely reliable and you should never bend wood in this thing unattended.
Here is a typical form for this style of bender. You would use a steel slat under and over the wood, a wood sandwich!
They make commercial screws that can be applied to these things, LMI sells them and so does Lee Valley. I made wood ones just for the fun of it. If you decide to be crazy as I was, here is how the caul seperated from the screw, hopefully you can put it back together in your mind.
My current (and only build) was bent on this machine with these bulbs and turned out great. BUT, I have a blanket now that I need to wire up and I think I will be building solid forms and will add another blanket so that I am heating both sides of the wood.
I hope these pics help those of you who are going down this road.
Shane
