www.KitGuitarsForum.com

I have some padauk which I cut into sides and had them sanded to .08" for my dred. I also had one set of mahogany practice sides. I tried bending the hog sides on a heat pipe with some success but the side snapped at the upper bout. I chaulked it up to impatience and was more careful and slowed down for the next one. I also tried a padauk side on the pipe and the side was unwilling to bend at the upper bout I tried and tried and snapped that one too.
So I broke down and bought heating blankets and made a form and tried bending a padauk side and the freaking upper bout snapped again. I tried again with the other side with another snap.
I used slats with two blankets. I built my sandwich, layed it accross the form and turned on the blankets. I sprayed the wood with distilled water till pretty wet and shook off the excess water before heating. I turned on the heat and in 5 minutes it was at 290 deg and I started bending while the heat continued to rise to around 350 deg during the second five minutes then turned it down all the time trying to bend. The lower bout and waist bent with no difficulty. But that upper bout was very resistant and snapped. I let it cool in the form overnight and when I removed it there was alot of spring back. I'm really disappointed and discouraged.
Could it be the padauk? heeeelp!!

Hundley has bent Padauk, perhaps he will chime in here.

Kevin

heres some pics...

Could be a tad too thick still -- but it appears to me that your method may be part of the problem -- are you working the slowly around the curve by hand? Or pulling it down with the big caul section? Usually you need to work the tighter curves with the slat moving in very, very short increments.

I was pushing it down by hand very slowly from the top along the length towards the bottom before dropping the caul but it snapped as I was working it.
Perhaps this padauk is particularly stubborn. Do you think I should take it down to .07"?

I am hardly an expert regarding Paduk but yes I believe it needs to be thinner .07" is on the very thin side, my personal low end is .075" for most woods. Maybe Rick or John have bent some that was stubborn like this seems to be. With the exception of figured Mahogany I use much more water then I see normally recommend. I like to make sure plenty steam is being generated. Again, I have bent my fair share of sides but only a few paduk.

5 minutes the blankets should have been 400 degrees.
Paduck likes heat so you also need some water to go with it. Layer wet paper between the slats and the wood . Heavy white of Kraft paper will work. You want to soak the paper about 1 to 2 min. This will bring more water to avoid the wood drying out.
Once you have the sandwich in the bender turn on the heat. Let the heat get to about 350 for the lower bout then the upper and then the waist . Keep a check on the wood for dampness . don't let it dry , it is ok to be damp . Once this wood dries and becomes case hardened it won't bend anymore. Don"t PUT THE THERMOMETER ON THE WOOD You want to look at the blankets heat . The moisture of the wood will show a lower temp as water boils off at 212 and even though the blanket is hotter as you see the wood heat spike you have lost moisture
How were you doing your bending process/??

Thanks John. As I said above I sprayed it with distilled water then used parchment paper. I have another set. I could try soaking it in the bathtub for half an hour would that help?

I was waiting for John to chime in on this.

My initial thought was that it wasn't hot enough, but after looking at the picture, the wood appears scorched?

I think it's scorching but not sure. It's actually dark purple so I'm thinking it might be paduak juice. It sands off fairly quickly. I did have the thermometer next to the wood and it left a dark purple scorch mark along the line of the thermometer.