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I think I am going with some springsteel flats for bending, does the stainless stuff bend as well as the regular? What thickness is acceptable?

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
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In stainless,.024 works for me.

I like the lighter gauge ones from Blues Creek better than the heavier gauge ones from LMI.

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

McMaster-Carr http://www.mcmaster.com/ has it in whatever thickness you need. Search for "blue spring steel"

I've used .010" - .020". Thicker supports the waist bend better.

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http://www.chassonguitars.com

Spring steel will remain flat but you have staining and rusting issues to content with. Tempered Stainless is better than the plan stainless but does take a memory bend. This can be flexed out as Todd mentions. Stainless won't stain and won't rust , and if what I have been using for 10 years.
Good luck on your decision , and have fun building. Beware that too thick of a slat can give you a headache and too thin will not support enough.
john

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

All my slats came from John at Blues Creek.

I use 3 slats and my stack looks like this from top to bottom:

5) Spring steel slat
4) Blanket
3) Stainless slat
2) Zoot/wood wrapped in craft paper
1) Stainless slat

I prefer to use stainless underneath the wood because it is less risky, at least to me, when taking the bent side out of the bender. A spring steel slat will do exactly that and try to spring back to it's flat state and when the side is already bent this can cause some damage to the side if one's sequence for getting the side out of the bender is problematic.

The single spring steel slat that I do use on the top of the stack is over the blanket and I think that it helps concentrate the heat of the blanket more downward into the stack.

The whole point of using spring steel is to provide an upforce on the wood as it bends into shape. This is why the center section of the Fox bender with its upward slat connected to springs is no longer needed since it was designed originally for stainless slats. The spring steel provides the upforce necessary so the wood will not crack. The whole point of bending wood (or anything else for that matter) is to bend it in a fashion so the material does not have any area in which it is able to not bend and therefore, crack. Stainless simply does not provide the spring force necessary to adequately protect the wood. I continually see discussions on this forum and others about individuals breaking wood while attempting to bend it. Almost always, the problem can be traced to one of two things: 1) the wood is too thick-bend at .085"-.080"; or 2) stainless slats are being used. Since I went to spring steel 15 or so years ago I have never broken or cracked a side, and this includes quilted maple and quilted (the tree) mahogany. Take the advice to heart and use spring steel slats .012-.017" thick and you will avoid all of the problems.

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Sylvan
http://www.wellsguitars.com

That makes perfect sense Sylvan my friend - I think that I will rethink my stack.

Excellent post!

Sylvan,

If you only had one set of slats, what thickness would you go with? I am thinking about either .012 or .015". Would there be any benefit to getting one of each?

I'm planning on building a bender modeled after the one on your site.
Thanks,

John

John -
Go for the .015. Two will work just fine. No need to vary thickness. Good luck!

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Sylvan
http://www.wellsguitars.com

Thanks. It is always nice to have some actual numbers to put on an order form.

And confidence based on vices of experience.

My first time bending was interesting and worked, but this time I plan on using proven methods.