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After reading the bubinga thread, I decided to start this one...
Anyone have experience bending Mun Ebony?
I just bought two beautiful sets. I'm planning an SJ & the sides are just big enough to do the job... No extra to play with before actually committing a side to the bender.
I was planning to go a little thinner than usual (.080" or so... I'll see how it feels once I start thicknessing) & doing the overnight supersoft treatment.
My guitars are usually pretty curvy, with tight waist & cutaway bends. If this stuff is very prone to cracking, I'll change the design a bit.
The sides are pretty much rift sawn with some, but not extreme, runout
Thanks, Dan

Sorry... What is Mun Ebony? Magadascar, Maccasar, West African, etc?!?

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Don't confront me with my failures--I have not forgotten them.

None of the above. Diospyros mun. I have two sets that will sit for a while. One real nice and one amazing set. I'm curious on this as well.

i have never bent Mun but like all ebonies I would expect it to be a bit on the brittel side. use SS2 on the sides 2-3 days prior to bendign and support your sandwich from the bottom via a spring loaded support caul or bar so that the sandwich always stayes in snug contact with the bottom of the wood and you should be fine.

Mun Ebony comes from the cambodian area aka mun lau, its a beautiful ebony and it bends quite easily but the temperature must be on the higher side. jeff

Thanks guys.
Just gonna have to screw my courage to the sticking point...
I re measured the sides & will (just) be able to get the bindings out of them. I'll trim off & thickness the bindings & bend them first, just to check it out.
Mun ebony comes from Laos & neighbouring countries. The sets I have seen are pretty spectacular. Brown to black spider webbing, dark brown to grey with pinkish (pale cedar colour) highlights. Similar "folded" grain pattern that you often see in Zircote. Hardness & weight are similar to the harder / heavier Brazilian rosewood I have played with.
It's not cheap, but it sure looks purdy!

Hi, Michael -

I'm interested in this string, but curious - what is SS2?

- John

Super Soft II, available at Veneer Supplies and Highland Woodworking, for two places.

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Waddy

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Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Thanks Waddy for picking up my slack

SS2 as Waddy said is SupersoftII. It is a veneer relaxing agent

Sounds like handy stuff. Have you tried the SS-2 as an agent while bending any other side sets? Also, is there a downside? (ie, does it stain, or release fibers in figured woods, etc?)

Thanks for the info!

- John

Hello Daniel,

I have bent some ebony mun and did not find it difficult to bend at all.
Brazilian / Madagascar rosewood are more difficult to bend then the ebony mun based on my experience,
if you can compare that as a reference point.

I attached a pic of one of my recent guitar with a cutaway, it was easy to bend on the hot pipe.

Cheers - Luc

Ooooh Luc!!! Spectacular guitar! It'll take some luck to get mine looking as good!
Thanks for the info. I will proceed with more confidence now.
Sure would like to see a pic of the back...
Dan

What are you worried about? You have two sets! Should have no trouble getting it right buy the second........

Looking forward to seeing them finished, in your new spray booth.

Cheers

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for the nice comments.

In regards to the back, I had a bit of trouble with it. After finishing and
polishing some micro cracks surfaced after a few weeks. So I had to strip it and respray it.

Tony Karol has been teaching me the finish process and a whole lot
of steel string building techniques. I have to give Tony credit, his work/teaching
is sure inspering and his quality is absolutely top notch.

One thing that I would recommend once you have your back and sides together
is to flood them with CA to help prevent cracking. Ebony, Brazilian Rosewood, and Zircote
woods can crack easily. That's another trick I learned from Tony.

When I have the guitar complete I will post some pics.

Good luck with your guitar Daniel, I look forward to seeing it.

Cheers - Luc