Side Bending, the learning experience...

Thank goodness that mango is such a flexible wood. Spritz a little water on it, place in the side bender and in no time it just bends. It is also very easy to straighten out once bent. Ask me how I know this.....
Yes, I "got" to practice straightening one of my side pieces!
Here is my newly straightened side board.
I placed the bass-side piece in the bender upside-down. oooops. I caught it when I was lining up the grain on the tail end of the guitar, well trying to at least. Since the two side pieces are "bookmatched" the grain should match up on either side. It does now. This time I marked the wood and paid much attention. Going slow is sometimes hard for me. This is a good exercise.

I also finished up the 90 degree bend on the lower side where it joins the neck. I couldn't do it on the side bender so I made a bending pipe. This is one of those "old" ways to do it. I got an electric BBQ lighter and squished it in the vise so it would fit into a 2 inch galvanized pipe. Clamped the pipe into the vise and it's ready to go! I thought the electric option was better than the propane torch method given my ADD. I was amazed how easy it was. I had heard all sorts of horror-stories, but just wait till it gets hot, keep spritzing and GO SLOW. Piece of cake.

I'll get some better photos for next time. These don't make much sense without arrows and labels. Next time.


I also cut the scarf joint and glued my neck blank. The neck joint is 10 degrees, where as most other steel strings is 15. Strange. I'm not doing the traditional mortise/tennon neck joint. Since I'm part of a class they had everything set up for the scarf joint method. Which is what most people do now days.

I'm going with walnut for the neck, as is traditional to the Maccaferri guitars. Walnut is also one of those things I am allergic to (along with just about everything). I haven't noticed any itching or stuffiness (other than the usual spring time stuffy nose) or Anaphylactic shock that I get when I eat walnuts. That's a good thing. Then again, I have lots of benedryl just in case.....
I still have to trim down the sides to the right depth, rough out the head stock and laminate the heel block which I hope to get to this weekend.
I'm very excited. It's starting to look like a guitar, as opposed to just a bunch of pieces of wood.

Oh, I forgot: I still need to do the rosette, which is done (finally) and soundhole. Then glue down the braces.....

Holy Mangled Mango, Batman!

After several weeks of doing fiddly stuff and not make ANY progress on the guitar I finally got around to bending sides. This was very exciting because now it would actually start looking like a guitar. When people have asked to see what I'm working on and I show show them flat un-cut or bent wood they seem disapointed. If I say, "yes, but here are the braces I've made--no, you don't see them because they go on the inside" they doubt my sanity even more so.

Bending is also somewhat nerve wracking. Taking an expensive (about $40 a slat)piece of FLAT wood and forcing it into a couple of gentle curves and a couple of very extreme curves is daunting. If not done right, Snap Crackle, Pop and swearing will result. I practiced on some "doorskin" paneling before I used the mango.

This is what happens if you go too fast. This is the lower front of the guitar. It has a bend that's about 140 degrees. Good thing it was the doorskin. I have lots of it!

Fortunately, there was very little drama.


I got to use the class's Fox Side Bender. It's a jig that holds the wood and pipe bending forms I made earlier and heats the wood using light bulbs while you clamp in various directions.
The wood gets spritzed lightly with water and wrapped in parchment or aluminum foil (to hold the steam in) and placed between 2 steel slats. Then, it's placed in the machine and the giant clamp on top gets cranked down. Turn the lights on and let the heat and water work their magic.


Little by little you tighten the cauls into place. The big crank is first. It's the waist of the guitar, and it has a gentle curve. Next is the rear or lower bout of the guitar.




The bass side was fairly easy as it was 3 gentle curves and it bent in about 20 minutes. The treble side was the tricky one. You can see the light leaking out between the the wood/steel sandwich and the side of the bender. The side will eventually bend to the shape of the mold thanks to the springs on the caul (big wood thing on the outside) and the heat. This made me nervous! I still have to do another outside bend where it will join the neck. That gets done on the pipe bender next week.

After the bending and the cooling. the sides get clamped into the big mold so they will retain their shape and its a nice safe way to store them.


I also went ahead and pre-bent the ebony binding pieces. One less thing to worry about down the road.




Now I have to get back to the rosette, which is proving to be a major headache.
I keep wandering back out to the garage to see if there is anything else to do. I am not good at the waiting-thing.
Maybe this is good for me?