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A perfect bend! I mostly followed John Halls recommendation.

Here's how I did it this time:
- Spray Super Soft 2 liberally on both sides and let sit on edge for 30 minutes until it soaks in. Then give a few extra sprits and wrap in craft paper.
- Spray the wrapped side with distilled water...soaking wet.
- I use light bulbs and a heating blanket on a Fox bender
- Load the wet, wrapped side on top of the bottom slat, cover it with the heating blanket and cover that with the upper slat. My slats are SS...I'm sure the spring steel ones will rust due to the wet craft paper. In that case maybe Al foil would be better.
- Turn on the heat, set the waist about half way once it reaches 290*F (top slat surface temp)
-Slowly set the lower bout followed by the upper bout
-Screw down the waist slowly over 2 minutes...by this time the temp was about 300*F
- Leave the heat on for 4 minutes...the temp got to 325*F
-Turn off the heat and let cool to 90*F
-Reheat to 300*F and turn off the heat
- Cool to room temp and gently remove it from the bender.

No scorching, tearing, splitting...just a perfectly smooth bend. I really like the craft paper...it not only keeps the wood well hydrated but it also allows it to dry better than Al foil.

Later this week I'll try to salvage the first side that I messed up when the waist slipped. Wish me luck.

OK, so I did my sacrificial duty...now it's your turn...good luck with the sister set.

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

JJ, sounds like a good recipe. One comment: I would let the super soft dry longer than the 30 minutes. I bend a set of EIR (just as an experiment, EIR certainly doesn't need SS2) and got some of the funkiest staining I've seen. I'm pretty sure it's because I didn't let it dry first.

What is super soft 2 and where do you get it?

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

So, what is WFB?

John B: WFB = Waterfall Bubinga, not so pleasant to bend.
Tim: It's a spray wood softener available at veneer suppliers. In the Woolson camp, the jury is still out on it's use. I haven't figured out the magical formula between it and heat to avoid staining. But I'm still working on it.

Paul I let it dry overnite and have pretty much avoided any staining.

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

That's my next course of action. Let it dry completely. But then when I mist it am I essentially "rewetteing" it.

Paul I use distilled water for misting or wetting. Not Supersoft. Actually I use the same method as JJ described but no light bulbs just a blanket.

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Yes, I realize the use of water in the misting but I was wondering if wetting it would remoisten the SS2. Maybe it's not an issue.

Paul, are you wrapping your side in paper or aluminum. Just wondering if your wrapper could be causing the stain.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Paul, I used SSII on EIR and let it dry overnite, and STILL got purple EIR! It worked great on everything else, but the staining is bizarre! I think it'll sand out and finish okay though.

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Larry I have had the same thing happen to EIR Turned deep purple but sanded off rather easily.

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Excellent! This one's about ready to go to Tony for finishing...it'll be the first I've sent out and I'm STOKED!

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Staining?...I got some staining on the paper but the wood seems unaffected. Perhaps it's such an even coloration that I don't notice but compared to the back wood it's almost identical in color. Then again, this wood is a little on the purple-red side to begin with.

Honestly, this was probably the best bend I ever did. It is now clamped in the mold and fits like a glove. Could be beginner's luck but I'm planning on following that same protocol on all highly figured wood until it doesn't work.

Once I get the other side re-bent, I plan to bend the Zootman's beautifully funky-looking Sapele.

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

UPDATE ON THE RE-BEND...

Remember my side where the waist slipped 1-2 inches toward the neck?

Well... I dampened the bent side with Super Soft 2 and verry slightly clamped at the waist to a table in order to coax it to relax, leaving it clamped for a day
-I then sprayed it with more Super-Soft 2 and let it dry over night.
-Next day I spritzed it with distilled water and covered it with craft paper and soaked the paper.
-I put it in the bender and very carefully aligned the correct mark at the waist. This is tricky because you now have an uneven convex surface that wants to squeeze away from the targeted concave surface.
-Heated it up to 250*F, dropped the waist caul until it was snug and set the bouts.
-once it reached 300*F I lowered the caul over 2 minutes.
-Yada, yada...and the bottom line...it came out perfectly...an identical match to the virgin bent side

Whew! I was nervous about the prospect of saving the side and was really thinking I'd have to buy a new one.

My real lesson is...do it right the first time!

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

Very good JJ, All's well that ends well, and you learned and taught us too.

_________________
Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Good news JJ. I'm glad it worked out for. Whew! I don't have any extra sides.

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

[QUOTE=Bobc] Good news JJ. I'm glad it worked out for you. [/QUOTE]

Me too!! Way to go, JJ.

[QUOTE=Bobc]Whew! I don't have any extra sides. [/QUOTE]

Groan! JJ-despite your good advice, I will most likely bend my set by hand, over my electric bending iron. So to say "Wish me luck" is an understatement. My problem is that this set isn't slated for construction for, oh, maybe 1 1/2- 2 years from now. Then I might be hitting you up for that sister set?

So JJ, what will this guitar with the WF Bub be?

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

This will be the first build for me personally. After I've given away 4 acoustics and 2 electrics to my sons and brothers it's time to be a little selfish.

This will be an SJ using Michael's OLF plans. I'm using a Carpathian top, WFB headstock, BRW FB and bridge. Haven't settled on binding yet but I'm leaning toward something subtle so as not to conflict with all the zoot.

Any binding suggestions?

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

Yes--I think just the right shade of Brazilian would be beautiful, and would work with the other darker woods on the guitar.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Where do you get the heating blanket for the Fox bender? I have only light bulbs in mine. What kind of thermometer do you use?

Thanks

John Hall has them set up and ready to go. I bought some directly from Omega too, but you have to wait quite a while to get them.

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

Ditto on the John Hall source for heating blankets.

I use a surface thermometer sold by StewMac. Others use digital meat thermometers sold at WalMart.

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

I got a new one recently from John Hall as well, wouldn't dream of going anywhere else, arrived in England within the week. Even included a thermometer for me. Great guy, great service, don't even think of going somewhere else.

Colin

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