bending ebony - it's a snap!

[Pete Howlett]

You know I'd love to do that Allen Smile Perhaps I can ask my daughter who is attending a wedding next week to have a peek?
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Make 'em. Play 'em!

[Mark McLean]

I got back into the workshop last night and tried again to bend some damn ebony. I was now armed with a bit more good advice and with some justification for thinking that if it didn't work I could blame the evil black twigs that I was trying to work with - and then go buy some plastic.

What do you know - it actually worked (well, mostly). I heated the Ibex up to 6 (a bit higher than before), used a metal slat behind the binding strips, wet both sides and got that wood really hot (at least you don't see singe marks on ebony), and took the bending pretty slow. I also found some new binding strips in the stash that I got from a different source (Gilet I think). Hoped they would be more agreeable.

I got the headstock binding done without any snaps. On the tightest bend of the cutaway I partly snapped one but I think CA will rescue it. I haven't glued them all to the guitar yet, but I am feeling optimistic.

So thanks for the advice. It helps. However, I am inclined to join the others who have said that ebony is not worth it. I'll try plastic on the next instrument that needs black bindings. But I reckon that I'll stay with solid wood for most others where the colour and grain make it look so much better.

[Pete Howlett]

Some times you need to step way back from the problem. If you want good ebony try Macassar - it is streaked but with judiscious cutting you can get all black pieces. It bends a lot easier than African.
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Make 'em. Play 'em!

[Nick]

Glad it worked out Mark, as you say, the good thing with the really black Ebony is the way it's hard to see any scorching but even if it did, when you come to scraping the bindings flush it would remove any sign. I found that the slow and easy approach worked for me so glad you had some success with a similar approach also. Very Happy
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A handmade Guitar for $300 ? Phftt. Sure, give me a chunk of wood, a hammer & some 6 inch nails & I'll see what I can knock up for ya.

Nick Oliver
www.oliver-guitars.com

[Taffy Evans]

Hi Mark, in my post way earlier, I mentioned the slat on the outside of the timber but did not mention what I put between the inside of the timber and the hot iron.
I have always used something that retains water and so creates a lot of steam. A foam sponge may come to mind but burns away with the heat. What I use when bending on my iron is the green type kitchen scourers used for pots and pans. They start off about 5mm-10mm thick but of course compress down, but hold enough water to create a good head of steam. I have two of these cut to size one soaking in my water dish whilst using the other on the iron. I have done this forever, even on sides with larger pads, until I started using a Fox type bender. It works well for me anyway.
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Taff

[Mike Thomas]

If you want to use wood for binding, and you want it to be black, why not ebonise some other wood that bends well, using steel wool, vinegar, and strong tea. I have used 1mm maple veneer to make purfling, and the black is very dense, goes all the way through, (i.e. isn't paler in the middle), and doesn't look like plastic. Whether this would be successful on the thicker pieces needed for binding, I don't know, but it may be worth a try. It is very easy to do.
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Mike Thomas


"There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness is the true method"

[Dennis Leahy]

Mike Thomas wrote:
If you want to use wood for binding, and you want it to be black, why not ebonise some other wood that bends well, using steel wool, vinegar, and strong tea. I have used 1mm maple veneer to make purfling, and the black is very dense, goes all the way through, (i.e. isn't paler in the middle), and doesn't look like plastic. Whether this would be successful on the thicker pieces needed for binding, I don't know, but it may be worth a try. It is very easy to do.

This was my thought too, Mike. One of those "when I get around to it..." kind of things, but I plan to try using a vacuum to drive the ferrous acetate (vinegar/iron mix) deeper, so I can scrape and sand the wood.

Dennis
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Another damn Yank!