Kevin,
Sorry that neck isn't going to work out for you. I'd carve that heel - you don't quite know what the joints look like until you get it to size anyway. I realize that we all have our own opinions of what is acceptable or not; but here is a shot of a maple(or sycamore, i don't quite remember) stacked heel by Colin Symonds, a very generous and skilled luthier in England. The lines are visible, but don't detract from the beauty of the instrument, in my opinion.
I know. I just get bugged by the seams showing. I guess its just me.
So onward.
I bent the first side tonight. It is still in the machine until tomorrow night. Most of you know how this works, but for those newbies, I'll show and explain. I made this bending machine and it uses 3 x 150 watt light bulbs for a heat source. The mold is removable and will take any other mold shape made to fit. The form hollow and is covered in very thin sheet metal to hold the heat in so it can build up. It gets up to 300 degrees in about 12 minutes inside. The heat that gets to the side being bent is less than that, but not much.
So I have two slats of stainless steel that the side fits inbetween. I have spritzed the side with water to the point it drips off, and laid it on the form on top of one of the slats. I turn on the heating unit, which by the way is on a timer. I then place the top slat on top of the side and bring the waist caul down so it just starts to bend the side with pressure to hold it in place. Be sure your side is lined up square on top of the form. I then connect the springs on the side to the support bar that fits in a slot under the waist area of the form. This bar helps to support the side at the waist as it bends so it doesn't crack. I let this sit like this until the temperature gage reaches 300 degrees, then I slowly crank the waist down almost all the way, but not quite. At this point the side is steaming and crackling. I now attach the sliding caul for the lower bout on top of the form up by the waist and slowly, actually in small increments, move it down over the form to bend the lower bout. I don't go fast here. I pause every inch or so for a few seconds to let the heat penetrate the side as it makes contact with the metal surface of the form. Once over the outside curve of the lower bout, I go ahead and slide the caul the rest of the way down. Now I crank the waist caul the rest of the way down, and unhook the springs holding the waist bar up as it is no longer needed at this point. Then I do the same to the upper bout. All this time the temperature stays in the 300 degree range. This all takes about 4 minutes to do. I let the unit sit with the heat on for another 10 minutes or so and then turn it off. I went back an hour later and heated it back up for another 20 minutes and turned it off. I will leave the side in the form until tomorrow evening when I will bend the other side.
This bender was pretty cheap to make, and it works great. I use to bend by hand on a pipe, and although I enjoyed that, this is great, and the sides will come out and fit in the mold almost perfect. I like that part.
Until tomorrow!
Kevin
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Last edited by Kevin Sjostrand on Tue Jan 29, 2013 2:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
The table saw works perfect for the bending machine, and it is on casters so I can move it out of the way while the side cools.
Tonight I hope to get the other side bent, and get this guitar build finally going.
Bent the other side last night,
nothing to show, pics would be the same. :>)
But I have to tell you how GOOD it feels to be started on this build. I finished my last one (#6)
early in Oct. last year so its been a few months. It is as fun and exciting as it was on the
first one.
Hopefully I will make good progress this weekend and post more pics.
