Official Luthiers Forum!

Well after weeks of reading I finially finished my side bender. It is basically a Doolin inspired side bender with a few modifications. Last night grabbed a scrap piece of wood to give it a shot. During the first bend the wood cracked. I checked out a few posts and realized that my first test piece was on the thick side (about .150). Tonight I tried another test but this time I used a test piece that was .085 thick. It worked great! Well now it is time to finish my mold and start my first build of an SJ. Thanks again to everyone for sharing information.oOLF.

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Brad
Avon, OH

Very professional looking! Good way to start!

Are you going to use a heat blanket?

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

awesome, are there plans available for this?

I like it! A lot!
I can't stand my Fox style bender. What a PITB that press screw is...

Can you give us some close-up shots of the details? I'd like to build one of those...

Thanks...

Don Williams38952.9207523148

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

[Quote=peterm]Are you going to use a heat blanket?[/QUOTE]

I am using a heat blanket with a router speed control to control the heat. I still need to come up with a good way to measure the temperature.

[Quote=molitovv]are there plans available for this?[/QUOTE]

At this point I am still very new to this and will need to prove out the design before I post any plans.

[Quote=don williams]Can you give us some close-up shots of the details?[/QUOTE]

I will post more pics tomorrow.

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Brad
Avon, OH

[QUOTE=Brad Way] I am using a heat blanket with a router speed control to control the heat. I still need to come up with a good way to measure the temperature.

[/QUOTE]

Candy thermometer. Wally world has 'em. They measure up to about 500 degrees. Just slide the probe in next to the blanket.

Nice bender!

Welcome to the forum, Brad.
Mine is similar to yours except yours is a lot more polished/professional looking. Good job.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

[QUOTE=Hesh1956] Brad if you build that SJ half as nice as you built your bender you are going to have one great guitar! [/QUOTE]
I was thinking the same thing. Nice work, Brad!

Walmart also sells digiatl food thermometers for about $10 that work fine!

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

very nice bender,,, I built a similiar one except i used bolts in the side instead of the dowels, and i added the cutaway w/insert to my bod shape. If anyone wants to see some details of the Mike Dolin version,, just go to the top of the OLF page, look under the ON LINE RESOURCES section for the Mike Dolins side bender... I believe i have some pics i took along the way of the construction if anyone needs them. Since unlike most of you who actually build guitars, i still just build jigs and must get my thrills from that. It is also in one of the GAL issues, 48 maybe.. that and a few notes to Mike, who was very helpful, and I was all set..      Mike

Great looking bender Brad! You sure will have lots of fun bending this way, yours is really neat compared to mine also!

Brad, whats your sandwich composed of? Metal slats/blanket?

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“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”
-jack handy

Welcome and well done, very slick look'in bender.

Cheers

Kim

That's a great bender Brad !. I'll bet any money your first guitar will be fantastic .

Regards KiwiCraig

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CRAIG LAWRENCE of AUSTRALIA
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Very professional job. I think you are going to be super happy with that bender Brad.

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Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice

Nice looking bender Brad, I like the simple approach to benders and the more hands on technique they give, so that the reaction of the wood can be felt. The one modification I made to mine was to move the pivot for the upper and lower bout cauls to the centre of the 'arc' of the bout. This means that you can slide the caul round the bout giving it it's final tightening when the bout is bent, before finishing off the waist bend. Bit like this.



Colin

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

Yes,That is a very nice bender Brad.
pro-looking. Welcome to the OLF,The friendliest forum you will ever find,IMO. Good luck with your first guitar.

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

[QUOTE=Hesh1956] Brad if you build that SJ half as nice as you built your bender you are going to have one great guitar! [/QUOTE]

Ditto

[QUOTE=Dickey] [QUOTE=Hesh1956] Brad if you build that SJ half as nice as you built your bender you are going to have one great guitar! [/QUOTE]

Ditto[/QUOTE]

That was my first thought too.

[Quote=Don Williams]Can you give us some close-up shots of the details?[/QUOTE]

I finished a few details tonight and attached a few close ups pics of the details. I am using a heater blanket and cut a small hole in the top spring steel sheet to allow the cord to stick through on the opposite ends of the springs. It seemed to get in the way when I had the other way around (with the cord on the spring side). As for the form itself..it was made from many sheets of MDF. A few of the sheets have cut outs in the middle that allow a few eye bolts to be run up through the form to bolt the form to the base. You can see the bolts sticking through the base on the previous pictures. This basically allows the whole things to be taken appart easily and the hardware used for different forms. As for the springs...they attached to the wood blocks and both slide over the steel extension rods. When everything is put together the steel rods slide through a two holes on the front of the base. At the bottom of the holes are a few rare earth magnets that hold the rods in. This allows springs to stay tensioned even with the front hold down clamp is not tighted. Well I am sure as I learn more I will continue to make improvements but so far I am pleased with the result. Now I just to get some wood and give it a shot. Thanks again for all the good feedback!

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Brad
Avon, OH

Man, you could sell those things! Excellent work and can't wait to see the guitar!!

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Those are all exceptional looking - I really need to get my but in gear and make one, although on my first build, Im going to use a male female mold for bending tasks. Wow guys good stuff!
I had to copy pictures, man my picture folder is getting huge and my custom screensaver is 70 Mb now,

Cheers
Charliewood

Charlie, keep at it, it will come in time, soon enough, you'll have more jigs than pics!

Show some pics when you get a chance!