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Is it really hard to bend sides in paduak. the research i have done shows some beautiful guitars and lots of complaints with bending it. before anyone says it, yes i know how the dust gets into everything and how it bleeds, etc. I really am thinking of building a guitar with it. i've used it in jewelry boxes and archery bows so i know the headaches of dust and finishing. I have built one blk walnut guitar with paduak binding and rosette and didnt have much trouble?? what do you guys think???

Tony: I have used Padauk for a few guitars and found it OK to bend. It can be a bit brittle,but it is said to be one of the more stable woods. No evidence of cracks in finished guitars. Can't give you temps for bending as I don't measure them. I have used what I think are hotter temps. then for most other woods. One of the best bang for buck woods IMO. Works easy and does not clog sanding belts like some of the rosewoods.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Working on my first padauk guitar presently.
Thinned to .90.
Bent using fox style bender with blanket.
Waist at 320 (vs 240 for most other woods), the bouts at around 350-360.
Used the usual light misting of water. Cooked for an extra 10-15 minutes at 350.
Worked like a charm, zero spring back.
I go slat/ paper(wetted) /wood(wetted) /paper(wetted) /slat/blanket. From the bottom up...

Padauk is prone to compression failure... you'll commonly see it in the lumber like in the attached picture. Bend with a lot of heat and take your time and you should be fine. You might want to get an extra piece to practice with to get a feel for it.

It is well worth the effort... IMO it is one of the best woods for guitarmaking, bar none.

Padauk was the first wood I bent.

My set was well quartered & bent easily to an OM shape on a Fox style bender.

I followed Todd's technique using wet craft paper. I don't remember the temperature but I think it was around 320.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Thin it a bit more, like to .080 or so. They bend fairly well.

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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

Have built three padauk dreds. Two sounds great. The other, not so much, but that might not be related to padauk, of course. Bent using a fox bender following my usual procedure with no issues. Makes a great bridge too. Has a tendency to fade quickly under solvent based finishes. Seems to retain color with water based lacquer. Just my experience.

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk 2

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Under Compensated Nut!

I sprayed with SuperSoft II 24 hours before bending and bent very easily.
Used fox style bender (Bluescreek), thinned to .090, misted and wrapped in kraft paper and bent at 320ish degrees.
Have now bent Coco, padauk, Braz, and Indian rosewood with SuperSoft II. Have never had sides bend so nicely and retain such good shape in the mold. Granted rosewoods are generallly not difficut to bend but this stuff makes it "almost" flawless.

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Guitar Building = Continuous Improvement Process