Bending sides - Recommendations please

[sebastiaan56]

Time to get some side bending kit. This means spending money and wel... Im cheap. There is a silicone blanket, has anybody dealt with these guys? http://www.hotco.com.au/Flexible_Elemen ... SR_Blanket or there is the bending iron http://luthierssupplies.com.au/product_ ... cts_id=238

What do you people prefer and why?

thx in advance

Sebastiaan

[kiwigeo]

Silicone blanket my first choice but youll still need an iron for touching up sides.

I run a Blues Creek Guitars 110volt blanket via a stepdown transformer and router speed controller. Not the cheapest setup but I didnt have time to chase around local suppliers.

Matthew (Mou' Bass) uses a locally sourced blanket on his basses.

[Bob Connor]

The bending iron will certainly allow you to get a feel for wood bending and how the wood relaxes when it gets to a certain temperature.

You'll get more consistent and symmetrical results from a side bender jig and blanket.

We have both.

The iron is really useful for bending bindings around curved headstocks and we've got a curve in the end of the fingerboard so it's useful for that too.

The blanket came from Luthiers Mercantile International and we made a router speed controller from a Dick Smith Kit.

Bob

[sebastiaan56]

Thanks guys,

So if the Tax Department / Luthier Police came along and made you get rid of one of them which would it be. Ive heard that a blanket will not do as tight turns as the iron although its easier to learn to use. My interest is in Mandolins so this may be the dealbreaker,

Sebastiaan

[Bob Connor]

I'd personally get rid of the iron.

The side bending jig and blanket make it a no brainer.

Depends what sort of Mando's. Are planning on doing A models or F models?

Maybe if it's F model mando's I'd get the iron.

[Serge]

One of the best thing to do with regards to mandolin side bending would be to ask Arnt, he's our expert from Norway. I assume that you will use maple as your wood of choice and i woud not be surprised that there would be mini-blankets available that are cheaper than what we use for guitar side bending along with side benders for different types of mandolins that you can also build yourself too if saving money is important.

But if it was me, i'd go for the hot pipe in this case, with gloves of course and learn to feel the wood, i'm not sure if i would want to go through the trouble of making a side bending jig for an instrument that small, if you decide to build the F-5, i think the hot pipe is way ahead for the tight curves, in any case, i'd send a private message to Arnt, he's a real nice guy and will help you a great deal in making a wise choice.

Serge

[Allen]

I built my first bender with 3 150 watt bulbs. Works good. I also bought an electric bending iron for the third guitar, 'cause the cocobolo rosewood bindings were so damn hard I broke my first set in the bending form. Much more accurate to do them on the iron, and it's really not all that hard to get the hang of it.

My latest guitar I bent completely on the iron and got really good results. I hadn't built a form for this body shape and thought that I would give it a go. I actually surprised myself at how easy it was. I also use solid linings (laminated from 4 thin strips) that take just seconds to bend on the iron.

So, if I was to pick between the two of them, I would have to say that the bending iron would win. It's more versatile in my opinion....but I wouldn't mind having a blanket as well

[Hesh1956]

Hi Sebastiaan - Here is a link to a side bending tutorial that some arsehole did and posted on another forum.

I use exactly this method and have bent many, many sides now this way including very highly figured woods as well. It works great and I have never cracked a side - knock on tonewood.

I hope this helps M8.

http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/foru ... l#forumTop

[sebastiaan56]

Many thanks everyone,

Ive PM'd Arnt but given that F5's are a long way away for me and I do like the Gibson L5's a lot I think the blanket is the go. One day there may be both but Bob's comment on no brainers got me.

I assume a 0-200C (0-392F) range would be sufficient, also on the Bending Jig what materials are commonly used?

Sebastiaan

[graham mcdonald]

I think you need both, though a hot pipe would have to a first choice. These needn't be complex or expensive. I have been using this setup for 25 years with three pipes from 25mm up to 65mm, but it is used mostly for touchup after blanket bending



This is a basic mandolin side bending setup for a 50mm wide blanket. It is a block of 50mm jelutong, with the inside section in one piece and the outside in three. For your mini L5 You might be able to get away with three outside block, maybe five. If you get a blanket from the US make sure you specify 240v, and they can be had a lot cheaper that what LMI sells them for with a little googling. Have a look at the mandolin cafe (www.mandolincafe.com) classified for a bloke who advertises them there, and the cafe discussion site is a great source of info on mandolin building



cheers

graham

[Arnt]

Sebastiaan, I did not get your PM (you think much too highly of me, Serge!), but I will second everything the real mando expert here, Graham, has said. I use both the pipe and a heat blanket to bend sides too BTW, I'd really hate to lose either one of them.

[sebastiaan56]

Thanks to everyone for your input. Plenty to think about and some scrounging to do!

Sebastiaan