Bloodwood binding whoas

[darren]

Sounds like a good plan Kevin. I had similar problems bending ebony. One thing I did with the bindings bent and in the half mold, was take the mold and run it over the hot pipe. In a fox style bender you can turn on the heat again to 'set' the bend, I thought this was the same concept, and it helped take out some of the differences between my bending attempt and the correct shape. I hope that makes sense, I'll find a picture if not.

by the way I love the title of this thread. woes - problems, whoas -wow(?) ha ha.

[kencierp]

I have only started supplying pre-bent Bloodwood bindings in the past year or so. My findings indicate that the number one cause of breakage is material that is too thick -- standard .0625" material whether slab or 1/4 sawn will bend easily when sprayed on both sides with a generous amount of water, also like any good bending procedure a backing plate must be used --- mine are made of .020" aluminum. Note that even Ivoird, fiber and plastic bindings are only .062" thick so this is by no means a compromise in appearance.

[Ken Hundley]

I guess I should have clarified, Darren, I use a side bender I built, similar in concept to the FOx benders. It bends easier (to me) than a pipe, allows me to totally sandwhich the wood between metal....backing plate on both sides, so to speak. Wrapping it in tinfoil keeps the steam in the immediate area of the bend too. I have never had to do more than spritz any wood before bending. I have broken stuff I have tried to bend too thick, though.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Alright, I have two pieces of binding thinned to around .063". The first one I planned and sanded, as I was making my LAST stroke with the sanding block, the block picked up the end of the binding slightly, and.............SNAP went the binding in the middle. Sheesh! But, I didn't get mad, I just reached for the next one, learned another lesson, and got two thinned nicely without breaking them.
Then I set out to make the forming mold. I already two pieces of MDF cut out to one half of a drednaught, so I made the cutaway piece, joined it all together to make a mold. Now I need to cut out the other part of the mold that will clamp down on the binding to form it.
I still haven't figured out what I'm going to use to soak the binding in with the boiling water. I am still afraid that this is not going to work, but I am equally afraid of trying to bend this thinned binding on the hot pipe too.
So this week I will try and get it all done and ready to try it next Saturday. When that happens I'll let you all know how it goes.
I have one more pair of binding left to use if needed.

Anymore ideas, experiences, etc. you all have had bending binding this way, please chime in. What did you use for soaking, how long did you soak, etc. You probably didn't bend bloodwood though, right.......I must be crazy..

Kevin

[Ken C]

Hey Kevin,

I'm with Ken H, have you ever thought of getting a Fox style bending machine? I got mine from John Hall a couple of years ago and love it! I made up some bloodwood purflings over the weekend and bent those without a hitch. If you are going to keep building guitars, you wouldn't regret it.

Ken