Building Sides bender.

[Zen]

I have a friend with a cnc building me a side bender based on the fox bender and he already has the heating blanket. But, I'm finding it hard to find the other parts needed to control the heating blanket ie temperature controller, heat synch and especially K-Type Thermocouple Probe Wire Leads needed to wire it all up. Has anyone here had any experience of making their own bender ? I was think about using parts from an old computer but all I know is that it too has a heat synch but I have no experience of electricity.

Thanks
Kevin

[tippie53]

Runningdog is 100% correct. Wood is stupid , it gets hot it bends . The more complicated the machine the more it costs and more can go wrong. KISS Keep It Simple
Rick knew me when I started doing this in 2003 when we met at the ASIA symposium in Westminster Md. While I don't make a bender with light bulbs anymore , I do use the heating blankets. You just need to get to a good working temp to bend.
Most woods will work well in the 275 to 325 F degree range. The most common mistakes are
1 going to fast
2 going to slow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFNy93PM0Kc
this vid will show you the process. I have upgraded my technique a bit , I now use this layer
Pattern slat wet paper wood wet paper BLANKET slat

The thermometer is placed between the top slat and the blanket. I found that when you are using water , the steam is often cooler than the wood at surface level so I want to know how hot my blanket is. I start bending about 220 degree on the lower bout 250 on the upper and then drive the waste down allow to build heat to 325 to 375 .
The key is that you are done the actual bending part in 4 min and then you allow the heat to set the bend , then Once the upper heat is attained you set the unit to find 220 to 250 F for about 5 to 10 min to dry things up. Allow to cool then place in the mold and bend the other side.
On a good day I can bend about 8 sets ( 16 cycles )

We are here to help. I personally want to thank Mr Davis for his participation in this forum and his mentorship, he was a big help to me in my early days.