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I'm about to bend my first (and only) pair of Mac ebony and I was wondering if a bit of water spritzing helps. I normally bend rosewoods dry.
Does it cup and buckle badly?
The grain is pretty good, thinned to 1.8mm - 0.07" I'd go thinner but I'm afraid I won't have enough left to sand the possible distorsions.

Thanks!!

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Build log

It needs water. It's an ebony, and it doesn't have the resin content that I think contributes to rosewood's pliability. Go. Slow.

I"ve had better luck using SuperSoft on ebony bindings before bending.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I bent one. Not exactly like butter but not fighting it either. It always felt solid and reliable. A bit more cupping than I like though. I'll make the second side thinner and try it dry.

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This is a nice thread. I have some Macassar ebony that I am going to use soon and I had the same question. Filippo, your photos have me all the more excited!

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I've only built two macassar guitars and for them I bent the sides when they were 2 mm thick. It worked but there was definitely more resistance to bending than compared to, say, rosewood. I think you should be good at 1.8 mm and that's what I intend to do for the next one (which should be this fall).

Pat

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There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

Yes I'm using blocks (most of the time) to push on them, and it is mostly quartered (even a silky band). In fact the worst cupping, plus wawes I ever saw was on a pair of Madagascar sides that were perfectly quartered across the width (bunch of silk showing). They were also 1.8mm thick. Strangely on average I think I get much less cupping when the wood is thicker (2-2.1mm) although this time I went thin again because it was ebony (definitively not the easiest bends as I've seen with binding strips) and also because it is so heavy. It much easier to plane the weight off than sanding the guitar. I am actually thinking about making the second side 2mm and give it a try. If it breaks...oh well dark wood makes invisible repairs

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Build log

Mac is stunning under finish, from black to tan, some red and some green hues. The wood (at least my set) is not at all brittle, much less so than African ebony or Brazilian-Amazon-Madagascar rosewoods. When I broke the flatsawn back offcuts, they took a heavy arch before failing. Do that with the fancy rosewood and they split before you even start bending.

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Build log