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For sides, I'm thinking .085?

Honduran Mahogany..

Thanks all

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

I went to .080 and they bend fine with one blanket. I had a little bit of spring back but the mold took care of it.

Lance, depending on the particular piece, you should be good at 085. I've bent it at 090 and I've broken it at 075 so you never really can tell. Bend it hot, around 300? and you might consider pre-warming the sides first. I just put them in the blanket/slat sandwich and leave it all flat for about 10 minutes before starting to crank anything down. Seams to work for me. Good luck. P

Lance,

0.85 has always worked for me. Bend hot (280-300), bend very slow, very very little water. I use my bulbs underneath as well as the blanket when bending mahogany, just don't be in a hurry. I let mine sit overnight in the bender then remove it, trim it to length and put it back in the bender for five minutes, then put it into the mould while still warm, and crank up the strainers.

Colin   

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

   I just bent a few sets this weekend. here is what I do. I know some of you may disagree but I have good results .
   I pre contour the side per back radius. I then mark with chalk where the top and back relations ship is and then mark my face. This eliminates guessing later. Then I mark the waist reference for the shoe to set into.
    I then spray lightly with just a dab of water and set into the machine and align the set to one side of the pattern for square. I then bring the shoe down to contact this and work as friendly friction so I can manover things is I need to. I should say that I place the blanket on the top. Pattern-Steel-wood-steel-blanket.
   I turn on the blanket and place my thermomter between the steels so I get a more accurate read at the wood level.
   Once I hit 220 degrees I flex the lower bout and set it with the hold downs. I then being the upper bout in and once they are set and I have check the alginment of the waist reference I set the waste cawl. Takes all but 3 minutes.
   When I am happy with the location I will let the heat go and hold between 275-300 for about 3 minutes and let cool.
   Thats it and I have very good results. Every once in a while you get a piece that will spring back more than others. I don't worry about that if it fits into the mold.
   I use a side thickness .085 +/- .005

So, basically you bend in the opposite order, more or less? I'm gathering your end hold-downs allow the side to slide in order for the waist caul to be moved into position. Is this correct?

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DES - Shepherd, MI

.085 should be perfectly fine unless your planning on a tight venetian
cutaway. Cook it hot!

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

I used mahogany on my first guitar. All I had was a bending iron to bend on, and I was not very good at thicknessing so I bent them at .090. What a bad experience. Go with .080 and you will be fine.

What the hold downs do is hold the wood tighter against the pattern when the waist cawl is set into postion.
   The repeatability is much improved over doing the waist then the bouts
John

I do this too. This allows the wood to be pulled along the radii formed by the upper and lower bouts as the waist caul is engaged and gives a tighter fit to the form. I remove the hold downs at the end of the bouts and add weights on the ends of my slat as I start to bend the waist. More on the upper and less on the lower so that most of the slip is from the lower bout where there is less stress on the wood. after the wood is bent I clamp the hold downs back in place.

Thanks for the tips fellas..

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com