Official Luthiers Forum!

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

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Canada

That's a very nice bender there Shane. Good work!!!
My first one was very similar and served me many years.John How39048.7013194444

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Shane, i'd have to spend sometime in the shop with you for some pointers on woodworking bud!

WOW, nice bender and very neat craftmanship sir!

One word of caution if you use 2 blankets, i'd probably wrap the wood in paper and foil to really trap the moisture in and open both very slowly since you have 3 bulbs but i'm sure you already thought of that hey bro?

Have fun with that nice toy and stay safe!

Serge

Nice wood threads. Did you cut them with a Beall threader?

I did Marc, after spinning maple into a cylinder on the lathe. Then I did the caul connection area on the lathe as well. Way simpler to just buy a press thread. But I wanted to try this and it works well.

Shane

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Canada

Neat idea on the screw/caul connector, Shane!

Very nice bender. Really first class! I love the maple cranks! You're killin'
me though Shane, my screw is a big ol' eye bolt with a hammer handle
stuck in it.

long

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"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” -Heraclitus of Ephesus

Looks terrific SHane - good work - Im just about to start my bender, hope it turns out 1/2 as nice as yours.
Cheers
Charliewood

Hesh

My thoughts are that the area inside sort of acts like an oven. The whole area heats up. I know that some people use 200 watt bulbs in the upper bout area and 150 watts in the in rest of the area (our 200 watts everywhere, or 150 and 100's). Using 3 - 150 watt bulbs I was actually very surprised at how easily my .085 aussie blackwood sides bent, even in the cutaway (which I had to bend twice becasue of a kink that occurred in the lower slat!). Having said this, I am going the blanket route and solid forms so that I can WYSIWYG the bend from the top! I will still use the bender though just different forms.

Shane

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Canada

Shane,

Could you continue to use the bulbs underneath and just use a blanket on top of the wood?

HEY GRAHAM! How are you maiking out in the far cold north? My brother-in-law is up there also....I could ask if you know him or his wife (who is an engineer there also) but I think there are about 60,000 people so taht would be fruitless!!

I digress!! Nope, This is how the bender is set up now. I just used bulbs with it. I am about to take the bulbs out and switch to blankets, just because I want to go to a solid form rather than the ladder style form you see here. I will post pics in a couple of months when I get to that point. Building benches and cutting wood right now so this stuff is on hold.

Shane

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Canada

Shane -- cool press screw.

I am amazed that you were able to bend a cutaway using light bulbs -- good on ya. I find bending cutaways even with a blanket to be a challenge.

I built mine from the LMI plans as well -- somehow mine looks like Fred Flintstone built it compared to yours.

I was amazed also. But it bent like butter! The first time the lower steel slat buckled and caused a significant 'ripple' I took the slat out the next day and hammered it out, paid close attention and re-bent the side, this time it came out GREAT! I was very nervous before I bent it but it very well....I will stop here before I jinx myself for the future!

Shane

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Canada

Really nice bender Shane! Wood screws are a nice touch!

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

Hey Shane,

The cold North is really cold! Where I'm from, Vancouver, it doesn't usually go below freezing temps, but up here it's been -35C. Yikes!

That is a very nice bender Shane! Great job building it.
I'll bet you could sell some of these if you wanted to build more!

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

It might be fun Dave but if I add anything else to the list my wife will find me single! The tonewood, radius dishes and guitar making supplies are enough, for now anyways. Besides, I need to get building more guitars myself. Thanks for the vote though!

Shane

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Canada