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A picture of my home built Bending Tool. Is was very cost effective and only required the purchase of the pipe and a 200 W light bulb. The wiring, rheostat, fixture base, and wood may already be in the shop. It also required some heat insulation used by plumbers and a few small aluminum elbows to secure the pipe. I also put a small grill thermometer to help regulate temperature. I used MDF originally as the base for the pipe but will rebuild that in the future using something different. The housing for the rheostat and fixture base is just scrap 3/4 plywood.

Now if I just get better at bending sides and binding, I am set.

I have not burnt the house down yet but with any heat based bending too, you have to be very very careful. I feel confident with it, but never leave it alone when heating up. I have added additional insulating material to keep the base from getting too hot.

Looks more sophisticated than mine. I just use a 1-1/4" NPT pipe mounted on a board and a heat gun
There's a hole in the board behind the flange to let the hot air out. Running the heat gun on low with the hole wide open keeps the temp just right for bending. The noise from the heat gun isn't all that annoying on low.
I got the 1-1/4" dia pipe for bending uke sides....but it works fine for me on guitars too. I don't bother with my larger dia pipe anymore.

Kevin,

Any idea how hot you get that pipe?

I never measured it. I'd guess around 350F based on how the water steams off