.075" Quilted. Ok To Bend ?

[ToddW]

I'm going to try to put a quilted maple laminate on the front of a fender style headstock. The curve near the nut is pretty tight, maybe a 2" radius (4"circumference). I cut a .085" thick layer off the front of a board, and sanded it to about .07-.08".

I have super-soft 2, and was going to use that, then, about 2 hours later, heat it in wet craft paper and tin foil with a heat gun and press it against the neck with a shaped caul.

Never tried to bend anything before, and quilted maple seems pretty stiff. Do I need to thin my laminate more? I'd rather not, but I don't have a heating blanket for bending or anything like that.

Thanks,

Todd

[Hydrogeoman]

It should not be a problem. I just put a 0.09" ebony backstrap on a slightly larger radius without a problem. I just wiped the wood with a damp cloth, folded a piece of tin foil over the wood, and heated it for a short period with a clothes iron. Once the piece was hot from the steam, I quickly glued and clamped with a shaped caul as you have mentioned. Left it clamped for 4 days as a precaution and it came out fine. Good luck!

[jammy]

Definitely do-able. You should really leave the piece over-length as making a bend in the middle of a longer piece of wood is much easier than in the end of a short one.

[ToddW]

I was planning to bend and clamp it without gluing it in place. Figured I'd unwrap it after it cooled for an hour or so and let it dry completely again while clamped to see how it worked. If it didn't bend well, I thought I'd just heat it again or try a new piece.

The overlay is only 1 inch or an inch and a half longer than the headstock it's covering, so it won't overhang a lot, but hopefully it'll be enough.

Thanks,

Todd