Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi folks,
I was bending a set of cypress and decided (rather ominously) to make myself a cup of tea. As if i didn't know better.
When I returned there was smoke billowing from my side bender, and when I pulled the foil back....glowing embers...like it had been in a bon fire. WOA!!
Heres a pic.

Ouch.
Dangerous stuff, tea!

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

LOL@Colin.
I was actually thinking of draping a couple of chicken fillets across it.

No point in it being a complete disaster.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

One of the reasons I no longer make or sell a light bulb bender. Heating blankets are so much safer. Also GET A TIMER so that when we do show our human dumness the mechanical timer will turn off the machine.
SAFETY TIP #1
NEVER LEAVE A BENDER UNATTENDED
you were lucky and I am sure you learned a good lesson.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Yikes, what wattage are your bulbs?!
FWIW, I still use a bulb bender (3 bulbs @ 150w) & side bends take about 40 (full) and 50 (c'away) minutes per side... never a problem. IMO, you WANT the wattage lowish so you can bend slowly & not crack the side/burn the house down.

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Dave
Milton, ON

I don't use side benders, and if I did I would use a heat blanket as light bulbs look unpredictable, not to mention incandescent light bulbs are getting harder and harder to find.

I like hot pipes because I am not limited to building bending forms (I can simply use the build form as a guide) and besides, I like full control of my bends and not all that concerned with being able to bend a lot of sides fast.

I also don't need to worry about leaving a hot pipe unattended and burning something

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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

Warning. The Surgeon General has determined that unattended side benders can be dangerous to you or your home's well being.

Just sayin

Mike (super glad you caught it before it turned out worse!)

Hummmmmmmmmmm never had " makin tea" as doofus move of the month !

Glad you caught it before it got to serious !

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...are you sure it was "make a cup of tea", and not "drink a case of Fosters"?

Aussies don't drink fosters, it a cruel joke we like to play on the rest of the world. Between that and rupert its pretty difficult to keep a straight face.

Cheers

Kim

Doofus of the month..YEHHAAAA .
Finally I'm famous.

Does it come with a printed certificate for the "Wall of flame"?!!

Claire

My light bulb side bender doesn't seem to work anymore. I'm using four 14 watt CFL to no avail. Maybe I'll give those new fangled LED bulbs a try. At $39 a piece they should really get the job done fast.

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Another day, another dollar.

The only expensive light bulbs i know of are energy efficient and don't actually put out alot of heat. I went and bought 3 dozen 150 watt old style incandescent light bulbs just in case. I'm sure it will get me out of trouble in a pinch but after the smokin' side bender incident I decided to err on the side of caution, splurge out and get a new machine. One that uses some other system than lights, camera, smoke. Ie new system being heating blankets. So I'll keep the old machine and remake the pattern and put it aside as a back up. I decided to be decadent and splurge out and get a pre-made bender to use as my main machine. The guys at Blues creek Guitars are fixing me up with a nice little unit and custom making the pattern.

Thanks guys!!

It does everything except make tea. I think that's an oversight.

They're in PA, Shaw. And i see from your profile you're in PA. They sell heating blankets, and timers etc. Check them out.

cheers,
Claire

What's Fosters? Is it Vegemite?

Oh, wait...Vegemite is byproduct of producing Foster's, right?......

Sorry...back to the topic...what was the joke?

Fosters lager is being promoted to the world as Australia's No1 beer, it aint, and to my knowledge it never has been..That is unless you only consider 'international' sales. In that case then yes, fosters lager with the help of massively expensive marketing placements at all formula 1 and major sailing events worldwide would most likely be the number one seller...The joke is that aussies don't seem to like the stuff very much at all. In fact it is fair to say that it's a product seldom seen with any prominence at local bottle shops. Most do keep a couple of bottles on standby just for those international tourist who come in with an expectation of fulfilling their belief that when in rome, they should do what their TV back at home has been telling them the romans are doing......pretty funny to go out in the evening and see some dude sitting at a table struggling through the warm dregs of one of them big oversized cans of fosters as he picks his way over a plate of burnt prawn shells...you just 'know' that he's no phone hacker

Back OT

Cheers

Kim

Well Kimbo! You ain't tell'in us what Aussies do drink! You trying to keep it all for yourself??

What about Ballarat? They still make that?

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

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

To think someone actually emptied a keg of beer, saw that crap on the bottom and said to themselves "that moyt be tasty on a crisp" is beyond me. Probably the same person who ate the first Witchetty Grub.

Mike

Hey, Claire, this is just a thought. If you want to keep your lightbulb bender in service as a back up, add a timer to the power cord/extension cord chain. Back when I first became aware of these machines, it seems like they were all heated with light bulbs. Instructions in the catalogs, etc., ALWAYS said to include a timer and apply the heat in two short periods. I think I recall that they recommended twelve or fifteen minutes at a time. I can't remember the timing for sure, so don't take me as an authority on that part. But the concept is a good one: Short applications of heat. And even with a timer, BE IN THE SHOP while the machine is working. The timer is only an added safety measure. Good luck with everything.
Patrick

The Victoria Bitter jingle. Culture Australian style
In Australia they only drink enough beer to facilitate instrument tuning. Combining great Aussie pass times of beer drinking, music and instrument making.

I love it!

One Vote for VB here!

Yeah beer adds with a classical feel are big here in Australia, really BIG!! (Turn ur speaker volume way up )



Cheers

Kim

I like the Lyrics!

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I want a beer now. And a Witchetty grub.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC