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It doesn't bend. This has got to be the toughest stuff I've ever bent. Padauk is a dream next to this stuff. Blew two sets of sides and decided that I wasn't going to build with the stuff. I bent it very slow and it just didn't want to be a guitar. Even on the pipe, I was using all my strength trying to get the stuff to move and it just doesn't. I hate to lose materials but sheesh!

hmm .. first two sets I bent were no worse than Ziricote .. so send it to me !!! I thinned it to about 80-85, spritzed lots of water, wrap in foil, bend at about 300 ....

Sorry to hear that Dave .. it sucks when good money(zoot) goes bad ... anyone here successfully bent bois de rose ??? mine cracked in more places than I thought possible. never again. and I thought rosewoods were easy to bend.

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

Tony, I had it at 3/32 where I bend everything, wrapped in foil, a layer of craft paper, everything hosed down with water, had it in the bender with my new heating blanket system courtesy of Mr. Durr, at 310F, let it sit there and get happy for about five minutes before I even started to bend, and it didn't matter. It split in the waist, it split on the upper bout! It just didn't want to be a guitar.

David, I have bent a few sets of MBW and had no problems with it. Were the sides well quartered on rift to flat sawn? I bent my at .070" with a blanket.

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

Tim, you're laminating, it doesn't count. It was well quartered and it blew out everywhere.

SuperSoft 2 ...grain relaxer...JoeWoodwoorker.com or Highland hardware. It has bent all other impossible woods.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Tim said he bent at .070 which is probably not laminating or double sides.

Another vote for Super Soft, we have had many rave reviews of it here on the OLF.

I have bent both Malaysian Blackwood and Bois De Rose with no problems even with a pretty tight cutaway, but I am laminating so sides are thin, about 1/16". Sorry to hear you're having problems but thanks for the heads up.

1/16 is actually OK for single sides if you want to build very very light, right? ...as long as they are no ripples / grain raising / scorched zones that would need much sanding scraping after bending....

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Build log

Alex buddy 1/16" is pretty thin at .0625 which is thinner then I would want to go. I think that some folks get this thin in say the cut-away area and after final sanding. It's still pretty thin for the entire side and I don't recall ever hearing about anyone going this thin. This is of course for single sides. The double side guys can get into the .040 range.

I haven't bent Malaysian blackwood yet, but I have bent Bois d" Rose. It is difficult to bend but can be tamed if you take your time and be persistent. It doesn't "blow out" unpredictably, it just doesn't want to bend at all. Once bent, though, it makes a fine sounding guitar !! I think I bent it at about .090" on a pipe.

Mark

Yes thats pretty scary thin alright. But I always think about Torres whose sides were usually not more than .04 (1mm) ! according to Romanillos. But ofc classicals are a different animal with lower tension. If that matters, I bend at 2mm which from my very limited experience is a good compromise and after all the scrapings on both sides they probably end up at 1.6 or thereabouts.

Still, I read here a while ago about a nice Gibson from the 30's which was 0.06 thin, if i remember correctly.

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Build log

bent 2 sets at .085" with no problems.... 310 degrees

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

Any chance of an image, would love to get a look at your set so we can see the grain type in your set, MBW varies considerably from log to log.

Cheers

Kim

That is where I am at -- about .045" for the outside lam, and .04 for the inside lam. Sanded out I get them finaled to about .08".

Sorry David.... Waterfall bubinga is my kryptonite. I have never got that to bend successfully.

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

I used MBW for most of my guitars, I normally bend the sides with 2.8 - 3mm thick, so far have no problem bending it with heating blanket.

Jeffreyyong

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Nice Guitar!

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