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Yes. We are talking, the Urkel experience. Where you can't believe what you did. Dropping something off a sawhorses that shouldn't be on a sawhorse? That's my latest.

I decided to put the ground coat on the ribs of the cello, after doing the top and back. Then, after gluing the top and back on, I would just need varnish. No easy way to hold it. The form is ridiculously heavy, being 3 layers because the belly is bigger than the back. Why. Make it feel more comfortable?

Anyway, I had it on a sawhorse, and it fell off. The upper and lower bouts splintered.

Instantly.

I found rib repair wood from Old World Tonewood for a great price. So I COULD, fix it.

The problems?

The back and belly are to size. The ribs have to get where they were before.

Did I mention the ribs are tapered?

But when I did them I was really surprised. Glue the corners in tight, and then the rest just EASILY drapes over the 3 layer form. It could be that easy.

Problem 2. I used David Burgess's rib iron. I just have a violin one. I works for archtops, and small guitars, but not cellos. But I have seen cool, hand made ones with tubes, flanges, and incandescent bulbs. Not as cool maybe as a new one from Luthier's bench; but cheaper; and I like the idea of making it horizontal and not vertical.

This looks easy enough. Maybe I could make two? A 3" pipe, and a 4" pipe. The upper radius on the cello is tighter than 2". 1.5" might work. For a real cello bender, you need a 2" pipe, for the c bouts. Guitars would probably be fine with just a 4" pipe. I think.

https://youtu.be/VgcCPaUq5us

Problem 3. Not really a problem, but the next step. I have to get the ribs off. Will not be a problem. That Ken guy used HHG.

Smart choice.

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Why be normal?

I came up with a way to hold the rib form that works.



Even WITHOUT the clamps it isn't a precarious as the saw horse! The next pic shows it from the working side.



The "light flame" rib wood I got is very similar to what was there:





Has anyone MADE a light bulb bender? I've seen people with thermocouple whatevers. I have no idea about electronics. A light fixture, and a rheostat I can handle.

Does a 4" pipe do it for a guitar? I will need the 3" for the cello. I really don't like my violin iron.

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Why be normal?

I got a 3” aluminum pipe from LMI a long time ago. I squeezed down a $15 500 watt Lowes charcoal lighter and stuck it in the pipe. I control the temperature with a 600 watt light dimmer. When I want to bend a smaller radius than 3”, I start it on the pipe then flip the side over, heat the bend on the outside while I squeeze the side to the radius I want.

Mine is almost the same as Bob's, except 3" steel pipe from the muffler shop scrap bin, and mounted with L brackets. These days I usually just plug and unplug periodically to control the temperature instead of using the dimmer.

Get a heat blanket and run it through a large wattage dimmer switch. Much better results than the light bulb version and not that much more expensive.

I did use a heat gun for years under a chunk of aluminum. When the gun died the new one only worked one time on it, so I bought the cheap violin iron. I think the chunk was too close, and it got the barrel too hot. I thought of checking out actual sizes of radii on patterns I use; but I'm still battling this head cold and don't want to do ANYTHING.
The mind is active. The body says no. The 6,5,4,3,2,1 Prednizone says YES. The head cold says NO. My glasses work on the new 10" Kindle with a keyboard. But they don't work now on the iMac. 2 X readers work. Nothing works on the nasty text of my Hebrew New Testament. Weirdness.

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Why be normal?

Sounds like a good time to stay out of the shop for a few days.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I took those pictures the other day, and came right back up.

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Why be normal?

I ventured into the basement today. 2nd sunny day in a row after what seems like a month of total gloom. Not a fan of gloom at all.

It seems that the Cello, and a cutaway would be happy with a 2" pipe. A 4" would do small classical and early guitars. Baroque could be made with a 6" pipe; the waist has the biggest radius.

Something 2" to 4" with a curved transition between would be ideal. Probably what you get for $200.

I'll probably just make a 2" and a 4"

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Why be normal?

Ken--

My opinion: I like hand bending sides, but the fact that I enjoy it is, in part, due to the fact that I use a serious bending iron:

https://luthiers-bench.com/products/ben ... 9642213639

If I had to still tinker with the DIY things I did before I bought any bending iron, or use the bending iron commonly sold in the US that I used to have, I would not enjoy hand bending nearly as much.

Don,
You aren't the first person to tell me of the quality of the Luthiers Bench Iron.

I've wondered about the difference between the Cello form, and the Guitar. Since the Cello works for Violin too, I would guess the smallest radius might be about a 1/2 inch. I needed that, or smaller for my 13" archtop, but that is a very rare bird. The corners of the bouts on my cello are about 1 1/4" radius. The c bouts are a little over 1", but I don't have to re-do them.
Could you tell me approximately what the small radius is on the guitar form?

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Why be normal?

The guitar iron has about a 3/4" radius on the small end, Ken. I just now measured it with a set of dividers.

Thanks Don!

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Why be normal?

Ken, I built this one 20+ years ago using 4" x 1/8" wall steel pipe squeezed into a teardrop shape, a ceramic light bulb base, a 300 watt incandescent and 600 watt dimmer and ceramic fiber and screen from a muffler repair kit to isolate the hot pipe from the hollow plywood box. I keep meaning to build a fancier cover for the top but the light sheet metal insert you can see works great for retaining heat so....

I had a basic plan from somewhere on the net. It heats up in 5 to 10 minutes max to sizzling temp and I also have a magnetic stove thermometer that I stick on there as it's heating up. I did buy 3 or 4, 300 watt incandescent bulbs a while back as they are tougher to get now although I'm still using the original bulb! I built another one at the same time using 1 1/2" pipe with a 500 watt halogen bulb for doing tight cutaways etc. that isn't fancy, but they both work great.

Ken, absolutely enjoyed meeting you at the round table. Your sense of humor is awesome. I wish u luck in solving ur problem. Your work is amazing.

Mike

Darrel, that iron probably heats up like a wok! Now I like that shape better than just a round pipe, my violin iron is far too flat, even after filing it down to bolt holes! I need to go into HD to get some plywood to make a solera. I'll look around to see if anything jumps out at me. The Luthiers Bench iron is SOOO easy though.
I used to have a 300 watt halogen on a 50 gallon fish tank. I used sugar water and yeast in a 2 liter bottle for CO2. Plants grew like crazy, and the Blue Gourami's would breed regularly. It had an enclosed top of clear acrylic 2 feet above the tank. Aponogetons, and other plants would flower. That was another lifetime ago.

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Why be normal?

I hear you about the fish tank days Ken. I had freshwater and then for about four years, a saltwater tank. Amazing and fun but whoa! Very expensive and time consuming from maintenance to adding or replacing coral, fish, other critters, turbo fans etc. Towards the end of our enjoyment, we had a number of fish succumb to some unknown monster. Turned out to be a fair sized crab hiding in the "live" rocks! Anemones eating various fish and some foot long, creepy bristle worms coming out nocturnally. Loved it but too much attention required for me. I appreciate those who can manage something like it in the long term.