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As some of you know I had a bad day yesterday bending ovangkol. I'm looking for something easier.Right now I have mahagony the easiest,then mrtyle then...? How does Palo Escrito bend,or walnut,zebrawood,wenge or lacewood. Can some of you more expierenced builders rate these woods for bendability? I'm sure there are others that would like to know to make a more informed decision. Clinton

I would rate EI rw, cherry and walnut some of the easiest, followed by imbuya, mahogany (although sometimes it doesnt really bend, rather it folds in on itself at the waist) - plain then curly and quilted/birdseye maple. A little tougher are cocobolo, mad rw and braz, but for me not by much, in fact I would rather bend these than mahogany. Curly koa is OK, macassar eb, ziricote, wenge and bubinga are tougher still, worst for me is usually padauk, but at about .085 it bends well. I did have some lacewood of some kind a couple years back and it either burnt, or broke ... I gave the rest of it away !!!

I would imagine that palo should bend well - its a rosewood afterall. never bend zebra, but I would say of what you have the walnut is the easiest

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

I can vouch for cherry. Three guitars, bent with light bulbs, one at .125" thick (by accident). Very easy.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

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

My first sides were Palo Escrito. There was no problem with bending. Walnut and maple are not bad either. I've just about given up un lacewood (Brazilian), and padauk. They both tend to break with little or no warning.

Al

I'd have to say that camatillo rosewood bends very nicely.

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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

ditto on what Ron said, Cherry is really nice to work with, Maple, Ribbon/Striped Sapele,Curly Oak,Walnut, and Myrtle have all been easy bends for me. I have had trouble with Bubinga on two guitars, had to replace a set of rims on one I cracked them up so bad. I have sets of Padauk and Ovangkol/Shedua but have not built anything with either woods. I am a Light bulb bender as well.

Mike

walnut is the easiest wood I've ever bent...

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

I'm really looking forward to working with walnut. I happen to also have some cherry.

East Indian rosewood is easy to bend too.

I assume that everyone is talking straight grain here.....

EIR & walnut are easy

but oak? I've bent 4mm oak using a wallpaper stripper!!!

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My soundclick xx luthier blog xx luthier soundclick

Mmmm, do you think the stripper would work on my Master BRW                                                              

Stripper will work on almost everybody's budget me guess!

Nothing like a HOT STEAMY stripper ..

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Dear oh dear oh dear oh dear.......

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My soundclick xx luthier blog xx luthier soundclick

[QUOTE=John Mayes] walnut is the easiest wood I've ever bent...[/QUOTE]

Yep... I agree. I have literally bent walnut bindings in a spiral (just for fun). It is very easy.

Myrtle and holly bend really easy too.

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

[QUOTE=TonyKarol] Nothing like a HOT STEAMY stripper .. [/QUOTE]

LADS!!!!! Cut it OUT!!!!!

Ya guys, there are Ladies present! Nice, classy ones too!

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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."

I'm working on my first build now and I used Walnut.
I can't compare it to others yet, but I can say that it was very easy to bend.

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Thanks,
Blain

http://www.ullrichguitar.com

"89.67% of all statistics are made up on the spot."

Paduak was brittle and "sprung" at unseen grain weaknesses even at0.085". Unlikely to try again soon. Lacewood was fine at 0.085". The "lace" spaces do snap a bit but easily cleaned up with gentle scracing and sanding. I'd do it again. Kow was good also. Hearing all this about walnut makes me want to try it.

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Greg
http://garibaldiinstruments.com/

walnut, myrtle, EI rosewood, Camatillo rosewoodare the easiest I have ever bent...

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

EIR,MMMM, I'm going to have to buy that next. I broke down and bought some ply to build a fox style bender. I also sent a PM for some replacements for the side I broke yesterday. I wonder how good EIR sides look with a shedua back?? Clinton

Sam, please accept my apologies

Clinton, way to go my friend, i think you'll just love bending with such a set up!

Apologies to the ladies present.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

The yellow siris that is on auction this week bends beautifully. We used it for shipwright work for years and all accounts from luthiers have been very positive.

Palo Escrito is easy easy easy. I've built three guitars with it and bent two of those on a hot pipe. They were also bent quite thick 3-4mm.

EIR is of course the defacto standrd for "easy to bend" wood.

Bubinga for me has been nothing but a huge PITA. It is however beautiful and I'll continue to use it and see if I can get better with it

Ebony and Flamed maple bindings have been a problem to bend on a hot pipe. In a fox style bender they are pretty much a non-issue.

The only wood I have bent succussfully is flatsawn maple at .125" for both the mandolin & the archtop I made.   I tried some 1/4" FS H mahogany for binding & it cracked all over the place (using a hot pipe) -- Finally gave up & switched to walnut & it was like butter- Of course, it was veneer (maybe .030") also. My next guitar will be QS mahogany sides & back bound in maple/walnut maple & am wondering what thickness it (the mahogany) should be to bend easily
Phil