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My First Acoustic


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Hey guys I just finished my first practice side, it went better than I expected it to go. Their were a few problems with my mold(all having to do with clamping.) But other than that I'd say it went pretty good.

BTW the burns are no problem really, I was just really sloppy at the beginning but then i got the hang of it. Also, when you start out with the sides, how wide should they be. i have a feeling the width had something to do with them being hard to bend, they're around 5 and 3/4.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

okay, so now I'm at the point where i am really ready to start this thing (only jig i have to make is my side bender). I made my go bar deck, and the bracing taper jig. i pretty much have all of the jigs that I'll need to make this thing (of course their are probably a ton that ill find i need during the build). I have no go bars, and I'm wondering what the best material to make them out of is, stewmacs are very expensive..

Anyway here are some pics of my jigs.

DSCN0087.jpg

go bar deck(this thing is real sturdy, its pretty much a gobar deck and a workbench type area for when their is too much junk on my real one)

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r191/st...17/DSCN0088.jpg (one of the taper jigs.)

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r191/st...17/DSCN0086.jpg (heating blanket and mold.)

Also, what type of pipe is the best for side benders, and how should i go about making it (I have a pretty good idea of what to do but I'm still a little confused when it comes to the press for the waste, where do you get one of those??, and are their any good substitutes)

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okay, so now I'm at the point where i am really ready to start this thing (only jig i have to make is my side bender). I made my go bar deck, and the bracing taper jig. i pretty much have all of the jigs that I'll need to make this thing (of course their are probably a ton that ill find i need during the build). I have no go bars, and I'm wondering what the best material to make them out of is, stewmacs are very expensive..

Anyway here are some pics of my jigs.

DSCN0087.jpg

go bar deck(this thing is real sturdy, its pretty much a gobar deck and a workbench type area for when their is too much junk on my real one)

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r191/st...17/DSCN0088.jpg (one of the taper jigs.)

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r191/st...17/DSCN0086.jpg (heating blanket and mold.)

Also, what type of pipe is the best for side benders, and how should i go about making it (I have a pretty good idea of what to do but I'm still a little confused when it comes to the press for the waste, where do you get one of those??, and are their any good substitutes)

Regarding the bending form, If the pipe you are talking about is the spacers/supports between the side forms. I started using aluminum bars (1/2"x1/8" thick) which seems to work nicely. You simply mark your locations for the bars and slot the side forms with a saw (I stack them on top of each other when I do this). I am able to space them closer at tighter curves than pipe which is nice). I then place a sheet of steel flashing over the top of the side form, this gives a nice even smooth surface to bend on. As for the press, you can pick them up at Rockler for $20, or I believe Highland sells them for around $15. They are easy to install, you simply drill a hole through the wood frame, unscrew the end piece and remove it, drop the screw through the hole, and attach it with two screws to the frame. You can then attach your shoe (I make these out of wood scaped to match the side form) to the end piece, and re-attach it to the end of the screw. On my first press I used 1/2" threaded rod and misc. hardware to make a press. You are better off not wasting your time and money(at best this route saves you $5), and just buy the press from Rockler or Highland.

Peace,Rich

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Go to a kite surplus store, buy their carbon fiber rods they sell for kites, they're 48" long. Buy a bunch of the little yellow end caps for those, go home, cut them in half with your dremel cutting disks, put on the end caps... voila, go bars. You wanna get at least 24 of them (so at least 12 of the full 48" length ones).

Chris

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Thanks guys,

I don't think i have a kite supply store close to me, but ordering them online still may be cheaper than the stewmac ones. Do you get as much clamping pressure with those as you do with stewmacs?

Thanks again rich, I think I'm definitely going to be ordering oe of the presses from rockler. To put the bars in place, i was thinking of drillinga hole with a forstner bit about 1/4 inch into the wood to keep the pipe in place, then use threaded rod bolted onto the outside of the jig running through the pipe to keep it together.

EDIT: actually, i might just make my own press, I don't care about the money, its going to be 15$ at least regardless of where i buy it. but after looking at these things, it looks like i could make something just as good and then i wouldn't have to wait for shipping, and i could get everything i need right at lowes or home depot.

1/2 inch threaded rod. bolts. and i could weld a little a handle on it.

Edited by carousel182
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I was on the internet looking for a way to build this thing, just about to order the press when i found this http://gicl.cs.drexel.edu/people/sevy/luth...de_bending.html

The guy in this seems to use a much better side bending system. it seems like it would be tons easier to do it his way than to get the press attached and to use springs for the ends of it. Is this really something that would be better and easier to do or am i just trying to be cheap and lazy.

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I was on the internet looking for a way to build this thing, just about to order the press when i found this http://gicl.cs.drexel.edu/people/sevy/luth...de_bending.html

The guy in this seems to use a much better side bending system. it seems like it would be tons easier to do it his way than to get the press attached and to use springs for the ends of it. Is this really something that would be better and easier to do or am i just trying to be cheap and lazy.

Not better, but certainly works. I do not like the way he is using sheet steel as the sole support for the side, but the is easy enough to get right. You can use anything that will clamp the sides(some people have even used bar clamps with a block for the waist), it is best to keep your system as quick and smooth as possible. No matter what though, you want a firm evenly supportive form (to avoid distortion).

Peace,Rich

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I do not like the way he is using sheet steel as the sole support for the side, but the is easy enough to get right.

Peace,Rich

I bend my sides in a similar manner. The cross bars that connect the sides support the sheet steel. I drill my holes for the cross supports right on the edge of the sides so there isn't any gap. I use this method only because I use incandescent lights to heat the form. If I had a heating blanket I suppose I would build a solid form.

Is that what you are using?

I also use a press screw to bring down the waist, I really don't like that it kind of removes the tactile feel you get when bending the sides by hand.

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yea, it says the sides and the bending surface are flush. thats what i think im going to go for. first i made the two sides (they were double stick taped together) when i get my pipe ill figure out the radius of it and drill 12 holes for my side support pipe the distance of the radius of the pipe from the edge of the sides then, on the insides of the sides ill drill a hole that the pipe can fit in with a forstner bit thats 1/2 of an inch deep using the previously drilled pilot holes as a guide of where to drill them. After that, ill attach the sides together with some wood, then drill the holes for the I bolts (i think thats what their called) and ill be finished.

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I modeled mine on this design, with some modifications. I would screw the dowls into the side, incase you need to adjust them later. I had to take wood off the basic body design to compesate for springback.

You can get .024 steel at any HVAC place, 10 bucks for 3

I use an on off switch with my heat blanket. Easier than the router dial thing, which takes forever to heat up the blanket. You have to be careful though, and use water to cool the wood down. ITs controlled insanity, use a practice piece first.

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well, today was kind of a bad day, although i did get the entire side bending machine done. basically, now all that i have to do is wire up my heating blanket (which i have no clue of how to do.)

Now to the bad

when i glued up the top, I did almost everything perfect, it was a seamless glue up. what i did wrong, was not put wax paper where the area being glued came in contact with the top bar that kept it down. when i took my top off, i gave the piece that was stuck to it a little yank (I didnt think it was hard enough to do what it did.) And the wood broke on an area of the top that made it impossible to use.

since that happened, i learned a lesson, alway use wax paper.

oh well, i guess ill order some ebay spruce that i can make a practice top out of. then when I'm ready for the real thing, ill buy some off of the auction.

So now this project is officially underway. My study time is pretty much over for this build (at least until i get to a part that I'm unsure of what to do.)

Edited by carousel182
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  • 2 weeks later...

Ok I just got the heating blanket wired, and my aluminum cut to size on the bandsaw. the mold looks pretty nice. i cant wait to try it out tommorow. Also, i now have a vacuum press that i can use for whatever odd uses i find. I'm thinking gluing fretboard, tops on electrics, laminants for necks, and possibly bracing but i think itll be eaier to use the go bar. Ill get pics up later after i modify my mold to make it easier to use.

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Im bending my sides in about 2-3 hours. pics will be up right when its done, i cant wait. I'm just soaking the mahogany now. If it doesn't go good the first time (im not expecting it to) I have 3 sides to bend that are matching so all is not screwed up. But the bending with this jig seems straight forward so I'm hoping it'll work. I think I'm going with rosewood for the real back and sides anyway, this is sort of a practice, and sort of a real thing if you get what I'm saying.

Edited by carousel182
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Im bending my sides in about 2-3 hours. pics will be up right when its done, i cant wait. I'm just soaking the mahogany now. If it doesn't go good the first time (im not expecting it to) I have 3 sides to bend that are matching so all is not screwed up. But the bending with this jig seems straight forward so I'm hoping it'll work. I think I'm going with rosewood for the real back and sides anyway, this is sort of a practice, and sort of a real thing if you get what I'm saying.

Soaking is not required. A quick spritz with a spray bottle is generally plenty. Use a bit of craft paper to keep the moisture stable and prevent staining. I have also sealed the metal slats you place around the sides with a bit of masking tape to keep the steam rolling inside. Be sure it comes up to temp and starts to become flexable before you bend, if you are using fairly thin slats you will see the material start to sag (you can clamp a light spring clamp on one end and watch it drop as the heat is softening the wood. Steam and sizzle will tell you when it is getting approaching temp, no steam or sizzle and your not there yet. Good luck and have fun with the bending! I am sure you will do great.

Peace,Rich

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Okay, I took it out about 15 minutes after it was bent, it seemed to bounce back a lot. I'm not sure what i did wrong. My guess is i didnt let the heat get high enough or I let the water dry up before i bent it. Also, rich, i did not masking tape the inside of my aluminum, i thought that might in some way be a fire hazard, And i read that after i bent them.

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