Bending Iron Alternatives?

[Hughes]

hi, i was curious if i did not have the money to buy a wood bending iron, is there stuff lying around the house i could use to make one? thanks

[n8rofwyo]

First off, I have never tried this, but... I was a watching a program not to long ago in which a luthier was soaking his sides in a tub of water for a half an hour and then laying it across his "homemade" bender. His bender was just an 18" long piece of aluminum electrical conduit ( he didn't give the conduites diameter, but it looked like maybe 3 or 4 inches to me) He used U bolts to secure the pipe to his bench with twelve inches or so hanging over the side of the bench. Then he got really technical and put a standard propane torch on the bench and positioned it so the flame went into the pipe. He let the pipe warm up for a few minutes and then went to bending the sides on his "bender" pipe. Anyway, like I said I haven't tried it myself but it looked like a sound idea. Good luck in any event.

Nate Robinson

[tirapop]

Try this.

[Hughes]

haha wow talk about simple

thansk for the link

[fryovanni]

I built my bending machine for under $50, and $13 of that was for three flood lights. You may have a lot of the required parts around the house. Here are a couple of pics.Side guts.

When I do bend sides and binding I usually sandwich it between two metal sheets and seal it up with a bit of tin foil. The goal for me is to use as little water as possible and still be able to use the steam to heat the wood evenly. The steam oven kinda thing has worked very well for me even on woods that require that you use as little water as possible (just misting with a spray bottle).

If you would like more info or have questions on the parts or what have you shoot me a PM.

I also have a pipe (3" trade size) similar to the one desribed above (just heavyer wall) that I use for touch up. My biggest challenge with the pipe was getting control over the temp. I actually wound up sticking a charcoal (ala BBQ) igniting element 1200watt with a thermostat on it to keep it from getting too hot. Takes a bit of trial and error but once it's dialed you are Golden.

Peace, Rich

[Hughes]

pretty ccool

[Drak]

Go over to the MIMF library.

There are TONS of old threads about all kinds of alternative benders out there.

[donald k wilson]

I made mine out of a heat gun, a piece of 2" muffler pipe and a cap on the other end. I describe it in the archtop thread in work in progress. It works pretty well. good luck. dkw