www.KitGuitarsForum.com

I just received my "new and improved", signed, dated, numbered, "Limited Edition" Fox Style bending machine from John Hall of Blue's Creek Guitars!!! OK, so maybe it's not improved, or signed, or dated, or numbered, or even a limited edition but it is NEW!
I just couldn't wait to take it for a test spin a so I thought I would share with y'all my first attempt at bending a guitar side (everybody could always use a good laugh). The machine comes with a pattern of choice and I elected to go with a OO-14 pattern.
I had some Stewmac practice pieces, Maple, lightly figured. The third picture I'm all set up and ready to go with everything laid out.

David L

The first thing I did was check the pattern against my Waldron template. I will be using these templates for the top and back of the guitar. As you can see, not quite a perfect match but not off by much.

David L

The next fit check that I made was fitting the pattern to the mold (mold also purchased from John at Blue's Creek). Again, not a perfect fit, very slight gapping in a couple of spots but I believe to be within acceptable tolerances.
All of these fit checks were probably unnecessary as John builds guitars (professionally) using these same set-ups. I just wanted to do it because it makes me feel smarter than I really am.

David L

Before I get to the actual bending, A little bit about the wood that I am using. As I stated, these are practice pieces purchased from Stewmac, I purchased them at the same time that I bought the Stewmac electric pipe bender. I was really discouraged after my first attempt to bend over a pipe. It took me a really long time to end up with unacceptable results, I may re-visit pipe bending one day in the future. Now about the wood, first, it is a little bit thick, around .112", I think I should be bending somewhere between .085" to .095". I could be trying to bend at up to .030" too thick. Secondly, the wood is too short, I have a set of OO-14 sides that John bent for me and after the sides are trimmed to final length to fit in the mold they measure 28 1/2". I accomplished this measurement by lining up a piece of purfling at one end and following the contours of the two bouts and the waist and stopping at the other end, then straightening out the piece of purfling and measuring the length. The piece of practice wood is 25" long. When I set the wood in the machine I set it so that the finished (bent) piece would be 1 3/4" short at each end. This put me at a real disadvantage because I believe that it is common practice (and easier) to start with longer than necessary pieces and then trim the ends to fit the mold once they are bent.

David L

Now on to the actual bending. I stacked as follows: slat, wood, parchment paper, slat, heating blanket. I'm thinking that it would be better to have an additional slat on top of the blanket, this would allow the spring loaded thingies to slide easier and prevent possible damage to the blanket. Feedback on the pros and cons anyone?
Note the temperature in the last picture, from here I set the temperature on low and let it bake for the remainder of the 15 minute timer, shut it all down and let it cool for about 45 minutes before removing the side from the machine.

David L

Here's the final results. The inside came out really nice.

The outside got scorched in a few spots, I let the temperature get to hot, also got a crack on the edge of the lower bout, more like a split as it does not go through to the inside.

David L

The fit came out really well, I'm quite satisfied with the results of the fit. One other thing, I didn't get the wood completely square in the machine and as a result it rocks a little when set on a flat surface.
I am really surprised at how well I did on my first attempt at using this machine, I'm not especially skilled at much of anything so that is a testament to the fit, form, and function of this machine. I learned a lot about how to avoid mistakes (all on my own) from this first try and hope to learn even more as others (hopefully) throw in some feedback. BTW, yes, yes I know the date on my camera is off a little!

David L

David, this is what works for me -

Once I've made the bends and the temp gets to 375 switch the controller to variable and dial it down to the 220 mark (should be close to that on yours), then what time is left on the timer (about 10-11 minutes) cool down. At the end of the time you should be re4al close to 220 again. Then unplug it and let it cool down. The 145 mark is for another repair process I use, not for bending.

Was that 446 deg F? Ouch. There's your scourching problem. Those puppies get hot!!