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For those who might be thinking about the electric charcoal igniter, I picked one up tonight to give it a try. My pipe is 2 1/2" stainless tube with .050" thick walls. The igniter itself had to be bent to fit into the end of the pipe. I did this in my vise, closing up the bend just a little here and there until I was able to slip it into the pipe with a snug fit. Had to be very careful about not crimping the middle of the bend on the element. Crossed my fingers, plugged it in and I`m bending away! I placed an oven thermometer on it at the point where the end of the element is and it`s keeping a steady 350 degrees for about 2 1/2 hours now. That`s as far as I am at the moment. I haven`t mounted it up to anything solid other than in the vise, but if anyone is interested, I`d be happy to keep posting on this topic.
Coe

_________________
Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

mike, thats a great idea! Thanks for sharing!

Coe, where did you buy your electric charcoal igniter?


Thankspeterm38804.5306597222

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

Very cool Coe, 350 degrees? WOW, that's good enough all right, any pics of this?

My bender is a piece of 3" (3.5"? I'm not home to measure) dia
electrical conduit I picked up for nada from a commercial electrical
contractor, cut to about 10" long. I cut the one end w/two tabs
which I bent outwards and screwed them to a piece of 2 x 8 with a
hole in it. I mounted a 200 W lightbulb inside connected to a
dimmer and fashioned a sheetmetal "plug" for the end. I'll see about
a pic if you are interested.

I bought the iginter and oven thermometer from Wally-World (Wal mart) for about $14.00 total. I think the igniter was 9.86 or something like that. Basically, it`s just an oven heating element on a handle.
Can`t post a pic just yet. My battery sucking camera ran out of juice early this morning when I was shooting pics of my rosette project.
I think I`m really gonna like this pipe bender for the reasons that there`s no open flame, no fumes, constant heat, and if you stand close to the end of it, the heat goes right up the front of your shirt. (yeah, I`m cold-blooded).

_________________
Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

[QUOTE=Miketobey] Anyone have a definitive bit of advice on a long(8-10 inch)2 1/2 inch max width heating element? I'd rather use something like that than a torch on my pipe bender.[/QUOTE]

I've been considering my toaster-oven lately - thinking about the fact that it has temperature control, nice heating elements, ceramic standoffs etc.

I wonder how long it would take for the wife to miss it...

The heating element from an electric BBQ grill should work as well.
Not an endorsement of this specific one, but just a "For instance" on how cheaply they can be had:
Heating Element

-j.
j.Brown38804.8330671296

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“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”
-jack handy

I like the Cartridge Heaters from
McMaster-Carr
go to the link and search for 4877K425

I've used one with a variac for temp control. The lower the wattage, the lower the temp it will achieve. I have the 1500, I think, and it gets orange hot under 120 volts. The 220 volt models should deliver half the heat output using 120 volts. I want to permanently mount it in a piece of aluminum, but it works great jammed into a 1 1/2" diameter piece of thickwall stainless tubing.

Coe, do you know what was the wattage of the one you bought? I think a constant 325 would work great for me!

Thanks!

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

500 W, and plenty hot!

_________________
Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

BINGO! Thanks

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all the great tips (especially that
steel wool is flamable! )

Sorry I'm a little late on this, but here are some pics from my
bending trek last night: front, back, and control views, and a shot of
the finished product from the session (my 1st attempt at a
mandolin...flattop w/back and sides of birch ply and top from a
sweet sounding 2x10.)








I hope this helps those who are visual learners. (I'm also a HS teacher
)

God bless
KerryLanceK38806.5971990741

Kerry -
it seemed your image link was broken so i fixed it

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

[QUOTE=Kerapp]

[/QUOTE]

Kerry, I take it you don't have any problems with the heat damaging the
brass socket?

Jay

Is the "right" temprature a matter of trial and practice? I guess we could just lay a piece of bacon on it for a bit...
Coe

_________________
Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

I use an interesting vaariation of the heating element idea. For the heat source inside my pipe I use an aquarium heater as it has a dial so I can regulate the output. I do not use on of the ones in a glass tubes that stick on the side, I use one of the submergible as it has a metal tube (instead of glass) and can get as hot as needed...if it is too hot I dial it back a bit.

For years I used for the pipe a section of 3 inch thick walled aluminum pipe which I squeezed in a vice so that it looked like an egg shape. I worked fine and I had no problems with it but then at the ASIA symposium I saw a "deluxe" bending pipe from LMI that is slick.

It is also made from a piece of 3 inch aluminum pipe with a piece of flat stock 3 inch long by 1 inch high by 1/4 inch thick which is welded onto the pipe as fin to make it easy to clamp in a vice. On the other end of the pipe was a nicely welded piece to seal the end and then for air release a series of 1/4 inch holes drilled through near the end for escaping heat.

It was too cool and finished looking to pass up so I treated myself...it works even better than it looks...I no it is a niceity but it makes my old, oxided, scorched (but very functional) old pipe look beat.

No problem with oxidation on the aluminum staining wood?

_________________
Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

I dont use the pipe bender much since switching to a fox bender + heat blankets. When I do use it is for touchup in which I use little to no water and the water I do keep in a spritzer is distilled to minimize discoloring.

My old pipe is oxided from years of service...I have used it since about 1973 so it is just showing its age. Up until about 10 years ago I did all my bending on a pipe as that is how I learned and was comfortable with.

I have been using a small tube element heater for years, one of them had the crimp connector break from taking it in and out of the two pipes I use (and they are long gone form where i got them for 3 bucks each - should have bought ten). Yesterday I bought a charcoal bbq starter element for 20 bucks, and tried it out last nigh. I had to flalten the round end down to make it fit the 2 inch steel pipe I prefer, but after I did it still worked - so into the pipe and fired it up - full blast, 500 watts was too hot, so I variac'd it down to about 100 volts, and its great. WIll likely buy another to fit my other pipe as well.

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

Jay:
No problems at this point.

Coe:
Trial and error, and "Watch the the water droplets dance on the hot
pipe" initial setting.

Have fun!

Kerry

Thanks for the fix Lance. You da man!Kerapp38807.3513773148

Tony

Is this like the starter you got?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001B50BM?v=glance&n=28616 8

How do you vary the temp with it? Does the coil part touch the sides of
the pipe?EHeisler38809.5140162037

Very similar Evan ... the one I got is from GrillPro, possibly a cdn company/mfr. It has the same idea, just a different shpae to the element - I had to squish the end to fit the pipe. It was 500 watts @ 115v. so its toohot for sure. I found the sweet spot is somewhere around 85-90 volts. I use a variac to control teh voltage, but a dimmer would work great as well at that wattage. 600v dimmers are abotu 6 bucks at home depot here, which is what I have on my 550 watt blanket.

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