What is Padauk like to build with?

[mike789166]

Hi all, I ordered a classical kit from Madinter.com in Spain and they had a special offer to celebrate Spain winning the world cup. I received a free set of red padauk back and sides for a classical guitar. Can anyone give me info on what it is like to bend etc. It will be a while before I start the project as I have just started the classical. Thanks in advance.

[JJDonohue]

Padauk is a great tonewood but very brittle and splintery. Take care when bending...I might even consider thinning the sides to .070" before bending.

Sometimes after oxidizing, the nice red color has changed to a less appealing brownish-red. But if it sounds good, who cares about the color...

Good luck!

[Darryl Young]

Maybe John will chime in with feedback on bending the sides......I've heard it can sometimes be a challenge. With a Fox style bender it's easier.

[mike789166]

Thanks for the replies, I am planning on making a fox style bender. I have ordered a heating blanket from LMI. This raises another question, how much smaller should I make the form to allow for slats and blanket. I think the blanket goes on top of the wood so that should not affect the size of the form so I suppose it is just the thickness of the wood and the slat to take into account. The guitar I am making at the moment is a Classical and it has EIR sides and back so I will get experience with that.

[kencierp]

If it's not too late I'd suggest that you check with John Hall of Blues Creek -- the forum host -- to get some info and perhaps product related to side bending. John is a good reasonably priced resource for these items.

[Ken Hundley]

I am building three Padauk guitars right now. It's wonderful stuff, but the dust stains EVERYTHING if not contained. It really does stain if it gets wet, and does not come out.

That being said, I think it works very much like mahogany, though it seems slightly harder. I have bent three sets of sides at .080" without a problem. I bent a soft cutaway and cracked it at .085" at the tight bend. I built a fox-style bender, works great. It also smells like cinnamon when worked. Good luck, I like it so far.

[tippie53]

Padauk can be a challenge. I do bend this at t higher temp than most woods. You can use the wet paper method and good luck. i have had good luck with the wet paper method and run the heat at about 375 to start bending while keeping the paper as wet as paper. This is one wood that can make you think about changing careers.

[Ken Hundley]

As I mentioned, I built a Fox-Style Bender that uses lightbulbs and no heat blanket. I heat up the metal slats until the upper bout sizzles. I spritz the sides with water lightly, and then wrap in tinfoil. AS soon as the slats are hot enough, I pull them out of the bender and sandwhich them, and back in the bender they go. I slowly bend the waist (because my waist clamp system sucks compared to John Halls), but the two bouts bend in 30 seconds or less on a standard side. Cutaways are tougher.

[Ken C]

I'll be using padauk as single pin purflings on the spalted mango FB-185 I recently started. This will be my first time working with it.

Ken

[Tom West]

Padauk is one of the better tonewoods. Right up there with some of the better rosewoods. But as others have mentioned,lots of nasty red dust and a bit on the cranky side to bend sometimes.But well worth the bit of extra effort.
Tom