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I am brand new to guitar building as you will see from my question. I have bought the plans for the Fox bending jig and hope to build it soon. As I was looking at the plans I noticed the width was about 6 inches between the side pieces. This would mean I could bend one side at at time. Is there a reason while I could not make it a little over 12 inches wide so that I could bend both sides at the same time?

If it will work to make it 12 inches would I need to increase the three lightbulbs to 6 light bulbs?

I can see a difficulty if I were making a cutaway as I don't believe I could put in both sides at the same time but if I am not building a cutaway would there be a problem and also is it a good idea?

Thanks for your help,
Chuck

Even with a Fox style bender, it's still a relatively delicate job...one that requires attention, proper timing, monitoring, etc. I'm in agreement that one at a time is still the best way to go, although I admire the thought process.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Better yet then building two at first buy a heat blanket .

I can see that there may be more consistent heat with the heating blanket but is there any other advantage? I will be still bending one side at a time correct?

Thanks for your help.
Chuck

Chuck, I heard of people bending both sides at the same time in a 6" bender with a blanket or two.You don't have to make it 12" wide.But with bulbs it might not be a bad idea to be 12" wide as bulbs take longer to bend with and doing both at the same time would be alot faster.I'm sure what your talking about could be done if time was an issue.Just remember that if something goes wrong , you have both sides in there.

You will soon find out 12 inch bending machines are not as good as you may think. Things as simple as slats are an industry standard of 6 inches. Then when you look into the thermal load it can get very complicated. Good luck in your endeavor and let us know how you make out.
It is going to take about 100 hours to build a guitar and about an hour and a half to bend one. Don't rush .
john hall

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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

It will be very difficult to keep everything nice, level and square on a 12" span. I see no advantage in bending two sides at once, except maybe for a factory. You can always do something else while the side is cooling waiting for the 2nd one.
Heating blankets are a big improvement over bulbs, if only because the heat is much better distributed, especially with steel slats. Make your machine a little over 6" wide to have some play to slide the blankets/slats sandwich in and out.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Thank you all for your input. I am building it 6 inches plus and not 12 plus.

Thanks again,
Chuck

Just to be difficult,
I've built all my benders at 12" and have never had trouble bending both sides simultaneously. I cut the taper, put the square edges together and tape them together at the ends and away I go. I use a paint stripping gun for heat. I prewarm the steel sheeting and slats from the inside with a blow torch, I've bent 40 plus sets this way with only one breakage, and that was a set of flawed grenadillo. I use the same technique for bindings. That being said, I'm expecting delivery today of my new machine from Blues Creek, heating blanket and all!
Cheers

Just remember that if you are bending preshaped sides, you have to flip one relative to the other. Or you will be getting the ironing board out to reflatten. How do I know you ask?

Have to admit, I never thought about this. I have yet to have a "creative" moment... I'm still doing what I do based on what I have read or heard from others here. If you do build a 12"er, let us know how it works out. BTW, you can get around the 6" slat problem by going to your local Borg store and buying one of those stainless steel "back splashes" use in kitchens behind stoves. Get a metal cutting blade (carbide disks I think) for your table saw and you will have the width you want. And just buy two blankets.

What I really like about the Fox bender is the waist caul and screw system. What I would like to see improved is the need for springs. Don't take your eyes off it once you get them situated!

Mike