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Think I'm crazy?? Well actually I am.

Wood bindings are cheap anyways if you mess up it's only 3 bucks or so and you can use it elsewhere (clamping caul, trims, etc) if you do mess up.

What I do is clamp a soldering iron into a mini-vise then let it heat up good. Then mark the waist and put the piece on the iron and just move them back and forth and ease it into the bend. Don't move too fast or else you break something (especially curly woods) like I have almost broken a few sections. Then bend the rest and clamp it into a form as soon as you're done.

Get a few and practice until you get perfect. You could bend purflings and stuff with this method too. Get dark colored wood for the first few times so if you do burn something it won't look as bad.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Tai Fu nice tip and pics too.

Just be sure to wear more then boxers when that iron is on and clamped in the vice...........

Hi Tai,
I like your idea. It really helps to have these tips when you work in confined areas like an apartment or don't have big bucks to shell out for Fox benders or Ibex bending irons.

I looked at pics in your website and think you are doing an EXCELLENT job.

Keep at it my friend.

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

Think its great you are having a go with a small workspace - goes to show that the bug when it bites is too difficult to resist. I think many amateur builders who do have well equiped workshops often forget how luck they are. Hope it works out well as its looking great.

Good point Tai. I find, for some bends like the tight bends on my headstock & some soundhole bends, the soldering iron is really the best way. This headstock is bound with .080" curly maple.
Some "improvements" I made to mine.
- I jammed a hardware store brass nipple over the iron barrel to increase the radius & spread the heating a bit
-I use a board under the nipple (with 2 screws) to mechanically support the barrel during bending
-I plug the iron into a simple dimmer so I have some control over the heat
-pre-treatment with supersoft also helps

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Dave
Milton, ON

I was wondering how to control/spread the heat too since I find that the soldering iron is too hot sometimes and chars the wood if you let it sit for too long. Thought about sticking it in some metal tubing or something but I thought how do I get the heat to conduct well?

I think in the future I will try to find a large pipe and a barbecue torch (a torch attached to a butane cylinder for lighting charcoals) so I can bend sides...

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Like this?
I'd strongly advise using a commonly available "charcoal igniter" (basically an electric element with a handle) rather than an open torch! You can control heat through the dimmer.
For this one, I bashed some heavy wall alum. pipe into an oval & mounted it with the heater inside. SHIELD THE WOOD & always keep a fire extinguisher handy as best practice.

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Dave
Milton, ON

This is one of those tools that it pays to watch yard/estate sales and flea markets. Especially in farm/ranch country. Some years ago I picked up a 200w "American Beauty" for bending dulcimer sides. I got it for $7.50!

Here is what they look like.http://www.all-spec.com/1/viewitem/3158-200/ALLSPEC/viewimage/w3path=cat.

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"It's a Tone Faerie thing"
"Da goal is to sharpen ur wit as well as ye Sgian Dubh"
"Sippin Loch Dhu @Black lake" ,Kirby O...

I'd thoroughly think through the propane torch method. If you're indoors you'd better be well ventilated somehow. The electric idea may be better suited for your situation. Just my dos centavos.

Darrin

I got the idea from this forum actually.
What I used is an Aluminium pipe with a heat blower.
I secured the pipe with 2 U screws onto an MDF board.



But so far I only used it to bend the sides back to shape after a spring back.
My LMI kit comes with prebend sides but the spring back was pretty bad.
So I use this set up to correct the curvatures.

Sen

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Sen CL Goh
http://senguitar.blogspot.com

Never thought of that! I think buying a heat gun here in Taiwan (even if it is a little more expensive compared to the harbor freight stuff) it's still cheaper than a bending iron and I think it should be able to reach the needed temperature for bending... it's not that high you know. It should be a lot safer than an open flame. Then I can use the heat gun for stripping poly finish off of a solid body electric guitar should I need to do that...

What does LMI use to pre-bend sides? it doesn't seem as good as taylor's bender.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

[quote="rahimiiii]What does LMI use to pre-bend sides? it doesn't seem as good as taylor's bender.[/quote]

Nothing is as good as taylor's benders. They are the absolute state of the art and far above anything anyone else is using.

LMI and most everyone else is using a Fox Bender with a heatblanket. By the way...spring back is not a bad thing. In fact so far, I found it makes little to no difference if the sides had spring back or not. As long as the go into the form and can comform to the correct shape during gluing.


JD

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Joe

A router speed control from HF at $5 is a good temp. control. You could also just buy some alu. rod at different diameters and drill out the center of the rods to accept the tips of your iron or the tip and shaft if large enough diameter and use the iron as a heat cartrige. Alu. conducts heat very well. LMI also sales the heating element for the Ibex bender for something like $35 and bet you could use it for a home made bender. I have a Ibex coming that I got for $135 on an Ebay store, Pilgrimsproject. I have a HexAcon 250 watt. soldering Iron that accepts 5/8" dia. tips which I use to solder my Tricones with that would lend itself perfect for bending bindings. Although I'll bend my bindings with the fox bender the Ibex and Iron will come in handy for any other bindings that the fox bender won't take care of. But this iron wasn't cheep but less expensive irons can be adapted to the ways mentioned above. Just some food for thought.