Incandescent light Bulb Replacement?

[tippie53]

I used to use a hot iron and here is a tip

take a steam iron and use that with the hot pipe
as the wood gets hot and with the steam you can feel
it getting floppy . at that point stop steam and dry heat to set the
bend. Watch for scortching a router speed controller can be used to
help control the heat
if you can get the hot iron to 375F ,and with the iron you can get
a good result

[mike243]

Thank you; safety is certainly my concern. At first thought, I was going to build a bending form and get a heat blanket and the rest. But that would be labor, time and dollar consuming for what may be my only build.

The heater elements I found on the link Bruce posted are brand new and still produced today. If you touch them when heated, they will burn the blazes out of you; just like a torch flame, a 300 watt light bulb, heat gun or charcoal starter ( a hand-held oven element). I've got days into researching it all and watching every video I could find. The cartridge heaters I've seen used now days are foreign to me and I've read they can burn out. Putting them in a hole drilled in packed aluminum foil, something not done in normal use, is weird to me too. In the end, having my hands working inches away from a 300+ degree aluminum pipe is enough risk for me to worry about. I'm very risk averse and never jump before I can see where I'll land.

GE made the cone heaters in the 1940s and they are being sold as vintage on Epay. The ones I've seen in photos had a sheet metal reflecting dish in back of the cone heating element and a wire cage in front, like desk fans before they started making them out of plastic. I'm sure people got burned. Funny thing; in my web searches I found that your local big box store (rhymes with bosco) is selling a new version that is almost exactly like the vintage ones, right down to the wire coil wrapped cone element.

I'll post photos when I'm ready to fire this up, so to speak. But many tools to make and experience to be had before that day.

I'm really enjoying, and learning from, this forum! Thanks all, Mike

[mike243]

Thanks for more input, John; I value your experience and knowledge. That makes sense, just like using Windex. Is it the ammonia in the Windex, or does it contain any these days? There's also veneer softening spray I've seen used. It seems like if that worked, you'd use that instead.

I've got a couple of Madagascar Rosewood sides coming and will try out my bending iron, etc. when the time comes. I notice in the many videos I've watched how one moves, rocks, keeps damp, and feels for the wood to let you know when it's ready to move. It seems like the last thing one wants to do is get impatient and force it. It will move when it's ready, right?

Thinking about the iron, do you think a clothes steamer would work as well? And did you say "stop steam and dry heat" once the wood becomes floppy? Is it then I should check it to the mold or a template? Sorry for all the questions; you've probably said all this a million times. I appreciate it.

Mike