Official Luthiers Forum!

I used LMI double length black white black purfling for the first few
rosettes and had no issues. It comes wrapped in a loop so there was no
bending required. I'm trying to use their bold black maple black purfling
that come in 32" strips, straight. They break if you try to bend them into
a rosette. I dont have a bending iron so I tried to heat them up with my
iron for my shirts. It softened up and bent, but delaminated.

I have a little bundle that I started dry bending. Its been a week and its
about half way there. I tryed doing a couple 16" BMBM strips at the same
time, but broke em. Any tricks for doing this a faster without
delaminating the strips?

Get a bending iron or make one.   Or try bending around a lightbulb...carefully...

And if you use a lighbulb, get one of those heavy duty hard service types...they've got thicker glass.   Or try a heat gun.

I've used a heat gun in a pinch more than once. Clamp the handle in a
vice, let it get hot, and just use the metal protuberance.

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

You get an award for the best use of the word "protuberance" in relation to luthiery for January, 2008. Outstanding!

Bill, is that a protuberance in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me...

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

The warm air from a common blow dryer will soften purfling enough to bend it without delaminating.

Mark

I use them pretty regularly. I don't bend them on a pipe I running the purfling back and forth between two fingers. This will cause them to start forming a radius. The longer you do this the tighter the radius gets. YOu don't have to get them to exact size. Once they are withing an inch or so of the correct radius you have enough play they will go without breaking.

Of cource on a pipe works as well and may be a bit quicker but it is not hard

I use them pretty regularly. I don't bend them on a pipe I running the purfling back and forth between two fingers. This will cause them to start forming a radius. The longer you do this the tighter the radius gets. You don't have to get them to exact size. Once they are within an inch or so of the correct radius you have enough play they will go without breaking.

I bend stuff like herringbone using a tray of hot water.(less than ten minutes)

AS soon as it becomes Limp, or wet noodle-like, I tape it to a plywood backer around a shape identical to the mold.

I then let them dry for a day with a fan on them before use. They look just like the ones I got from Martin on my kit guitar #1.

It's nice having perfectly formed purfling, especially the wider stuff. Works fer me. I forget who showed me this?

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Check out Stew-Macs bending iron,It works well

bender

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

[QUOTE=Bill Greene] You get an award for the best use of the word
"protuberance" in relation to luthiery for January, 2008. Outstanding!


Bill, is that a protuberance in your pocket, or are you just glad to see
me...[/QUOTE]

Thanks, Bill. I'm already planning to take February as well.

I think I first heard the word used by Frank Zappa. "Mammalian
potuberances!"

_________________
Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

If you are building guitars, a bending iron is a basic tool. Making a guitar is hard enough. If you need a kluge for basic procedures, you will keep having problems or taking a week to bend a piece of purfling half way. If you can't afford to buy an iron, a usable one can be made from a piece of pipe and a cheap propane torch.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

I use blankets to do sides and side purflings.  I didnt want to drop $170 for a iron only to bend rosette purflings.  I'd rather but another nice B+S set or another plane or whatever.  I'll dig out a heat gun and try that, or the pipe meathod, or the hot water method.  I dont have a hair dryer.  Im a single male.

For  $5.95 at the local pharmacy, you could be the lucky owner of a fine hair dryer.  A curling iron might also be a good thing to use, come to think of it.  Pipe's a little small, but it's just the heat you need.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

He doesn't sound like he has a curling iron , but for the record, that is what I use to bend all my stuff. It is an antique probably 30y old, only 15W, very sturdy, very slow too but does the job (with lots of patience) until I can afford a real bender.  

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Build log

He could have long hair!  

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

lets see... light bulb, hair dryer, and a curling iron. i just learned three great new ways to bend purfling! thanks guys .

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sweat the small stuff.

one more: a magnifier lens and the Sun ??

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Build log

A Zippo lighter...

Right, particularly one that has been leaking a little.  They get hot real fast!  Memories of a different time! 

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Computer laptops battery.

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Guitars, guitars and more guitars.

[QUOTE=Rick Turner] A Zippo lighter...[/QUOTE]

Don't use that on the celluoid bindings.   

POOF!

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

For shorter lengths (i.e. rosettes) wind them up in a wet paper towel and put them in the microwave for about 3 minutes.

One of these with a 100-Watt bulb will do the trick with the added value of being able to find the pieces when you drop them. Cage removal maybe required.

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Michael Lloyd

“I was born to ignorance, yes, and lesser poverties ...
I was born to privilege that I did not see ... I didn’t know it, but my way was paved” – John Gorka

Just as a follow-up, I tryed the boil em like a noodle method and it
worked like a charm. I found that a perfect way to form them is to use a
Tuperware lid. Push the purfling down into the crack that the bowl pops
into and put it in front of the fan.