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Hey....I am going to bend a set of bloodwood sides tomorrow for a OM guitar...This is the first time bending this wood... I will be using a bending machine ...what is a good temp to start the bend on this wood and what temp will I take it up to?....Light or heavy spritzing????Larry

Don't know Larry but I am happy to bump this for you.

I can't recall seeing a guitar built with bloodwood sides but I have seen many with bloodwood bindings. So with this said and if I had to guess, with your wood...... , my guess would be to bend it just like you would bend any other wood that is not problematic.

Anyway I hope that someone who knows something weighs in to help you my friend.

Larry,

I'm getting ready to do the same. I've bent bloodwood binding before, but not sides. I've found that it cracks readily along any runout. With bloodwood binding, I've had success with very high heat and little moisture. I plan to thin my sides to around .080 or less, crank the heat blanket up to full whack, and start bending when I smell the wood. Hot and fast. No water. But ... Supersoft it first, at least overnight.

We'll compare note after, eh?

Good luck to us both

Best,

Jim

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James Warwick
J. Warwick Guitars, LLC
http://www.jwarwickguitars.com

I usually use a recommended temp for bending a specific species of wood as a ball park temperature, but pay more attention to the steam and feel of the sides before bending. I use a side bending machine as well and put heavy spring clamps on each end.
Shortly after the sides start steaming, the ends start to droop ever so slightly from the weight of the spring clamps.

I know this doesn't give you the temperature that you were looking for (sorry, I tried to find a recommendation somewhere, but couldn't come up with anything)

Blain

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Thanks,
Blain

http://www.ullrichguitar.com

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

I like to bend off-cuts from wood that is new to me over a hot pipe. That way I get a general idea of its bending properties, how much heat and moisture to use, etc. I didn't do that with my first attempt at bending curly anigre and promptly cracked it. The little bit of bloodwood binding I've bent over a pipe, and then subsequently in my Fox bender, leads me to believe dry and hot is the way to go for my first attempt at bending sides from it. I have a set of mildly curly bloodwood prepped with Supersoft as I write this, and plan to give it a try in the morning. Should be fun.

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James Warwick
J. Warwick Guitars, LLC
http://www.jwarwickguitars.com

Around 300ºF, which works for most woods. If you have adequate heat (blanket, not light bulbs), problems arise more from technique than from not choosing a perfect temperature.

Bloodwood, as has been said, has a strong tendency to crack along runout.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

It bends fine, really. Hot and dry, .080" thickness for me. As soon as the steam comes out of the blankets you can start to slowly bend the waist.
Here's a bloodwood guitar:

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Just finished bending the sides...No problems....Bent real nice , no cupping....I lightly spritzed the wood and wrapped it in foil wrap....Started the waist bend at 280 Deg and finished the final bending at 325 Deg where I let it cook off the water for about 10 minutes....Sides darkened a little more than the back but all in all,very pleased....Thanks everyone for the help....Larry

That's great Larry. Glad to hear you had no problems with it.

Laurent ... that's a striking guitar. Can we see the front, too? What's your opinion of bloodwood, tonally?

Bending mine in the morning ...

Jim

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James Warwick
J. Warwick Guitars, LLC
http://www.jwarwickguitars.com

I like bloodwood a lot, as a matter of fact I am building another one. Tonally it is with the rosewoods in the dense, reverby kind of thing. This guitar is my A-1 model, a "modified" sort of D-like guitar.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Laurent...Great looking guitar you have there....I was kind of weary about bending the Bloodwood sides to an OM shape and considered going with the dreadnaught style.... Glad I stayed on the original plan....I am going to make a Bloodwood rosette and inlay it with Abalone and trim the sides with Curly Maple...Should look good....Thanks for the advice...Larry

The only caveat is, if you make your own purfling lines, bloodwood is very brittle. At .020" it handles like glass, at .010" it really wants to fall apart. It can be done though, and one can always pre-laminate the purfs.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Laurent Wrote "bloodwood is very brittle. At .020" it handles like glass, at .010" it really wants to fall apart. "

Good advice too late..Spent half the day setting up the rosette cutter and the rosette blew apart in 5 seconds...LOL..... Oh well, "Plan B", Two rings of Abalone should look good also...Thanks ,Larry