www.KitGuitarsForum.com

I saw this in print a very long time ago -- here it is on-line drawings and all

http://members.shaw.ca/strings/wdbendmach.htm

Charles Fox designed this machine in the 70's . It is a great design . I would not use light bulbs as the heat source. There are a few cases where the machine caught fire and burnt down the owner's shops.

John,
What would you use instead of the light bulbs?

tb

tommyboy wrote:John,
What would you use instead of the light bulbs?

tb

Heating blankets are MUCH safer and give a more consistent result.

KMG has been using light bulbs to heat the interiors of our bending forms for many, many, many years --- the precaution is (as Charles mentions) is to make sure you have a timer on the unit ( no matter how its heated) -- Can a bending machine using light bulbs start a fire yes can a bending machine using a heat blanket start a fire yes There is a safety concern regardless of heating element. Using the adhesive backed furnace tape on the inside of the forms is a quantum improvement over glued aluminum foil. Also silicone coated wire and ceramic light sockets are must. Our cutaway bender is a combination of light bulbs and a heat blanket. I should note the we do not dink around with an inside metal slat, our foil lined forms are permanently covered with .023 aluminum along the entire profile.

Ken, are you thinking of offering the spartan bender again?

Sorry Dave - that is not going to happen.

Here you go $23 but you need to put a timer on it!

http://www.lint.org/TechNotes/lowcostbender.html

And so here you go -- this is the tale of an LMII side bender with heat blankets!

http://valleysguitars.com/how-to-burn-y ... g-machine/

$23 is pretty steep. :-)