Official Luthiers Forum!

My iron just crapped out on me, sent it back for a refund. Any recommendations? The LMI one looks nice.

If you don't want to spend much money, I recommend some muffler pipe with an electric BBQ char-coal starter on the inside. The BBQ starter element can be bent to fit in the pipe and should be plugged in to something like a router speed controler to control the power (i.e. temperature). The pipe can be held in a vice.

Pat

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There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

All I know is you should not have to send a brand new unit back twice... so I just said to hell with this and got my money back.

Stewmac's and LMI's are the same Ibex bender, right? At least they look alike. I think I got mine from Stewmac and it's been great, but I'm not a heavy user. I didn't even know there were any others commercially available.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

If you want to save $20, go to Pilgrims Projects:

http://www.pilgrimsprojects.biz/bend.html

I've ordered a couple of items from them. Same product, 10-15% less.

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Ken Mitchell
Durham, NC

What kind of bender was it, the only electric irons I have seen are the IBEX unit everyone sells the same one.

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

I will second the recommendation for Pilgram's Projects - nice folks.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I'll second the idea of using a bbq starter and a pipe, if you are DIY inclined. The temp control is a must though...the bbq starters get HOT!

Ken, Thanks for letting me know about the pilgrim site, just the sort of thing I was hoping to get out of this post (decent savings)

Fred, I want to give the guy the benefit of the doubt and not mar his name... after all he was courteous about it and I could of had it replaced.

Pat and Matt, I do like to make as much stuff as I can but I am weary of doing any kind of electric high heat stuff my self, makes me nervous.

Pat Hawley has it exactly right!! If a charcoal starter is too scarey....try a heat gun.

I converted to bending on pipes recently. I have a 3" dia with a charcoal starter and a 1-1/4" pipe with a heat gun for ukuleles. Both set ups only cost me $50 total. I'm still kicking myself for all the time and money I spent on the heating blanket and bending forms

Todd, it was not an ibex unit. Are there problems with them?

I've had an Ibex quite a while and it seems to work OK, though it doesn't get very heavy use since I have heating blankets as well. I use it for bending binding and other small jobs, touching up side bends, etc.
When I need it, I can just run it on Hi for as long as I want, so the wiring/element seems to be well worked out. I think the Ibex has been the same since the 70s?

John

I'm extremely hesitant when it comes to disparaging others out in the open, ... but in this case I'll make an exception. Just FYI, google John Raterink and make sure you are aware of his activities on the side, before you order from that site. Just want to make sure y'all are cool with supporting a white supremacist.

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"...you have to get over your strict adherence to your largely imagined notion of absolute perfection..."

Ibex here, the egg shaped aluminum element is very practical.
A lot of the home-made contraptions out there do not look safe IMHO, and are not worth the very few $$$ savings. Better to look on eBay for a used Ibex.

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

Wow... forget that then.

I use a few different size pipes mounted to a piece of wood with a blow torch inside to heat it and a little steel wool in end.
Works great! The pipes are a few dollars and the fuels cheep.
I like the barbecue muffler bender! Great idea.

Good looking out Enainetram, dang nazies.

I'd like to try using a bbq iron + muffler pipe.
Will a light dimmer swith work for a temp control? Or do I really need
something heavier duty like a router speed controller?
Chris Nielsen
Soquel, CA

Try Lynn Dudenbostel style.. no wiring.

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Chris Oliver
Infinity Luthiers
...in the shop.

live every minute...

edited

.
Well dudes
is like dis...me finally of the pot.
Use to use an old pot. Clamp the handle in de vise and applied open heat ... sorta like Chris Oliver and his pipe.




One day me picked up an old BBQ starter from the good Rev. Jim"s Junk Store for 5 bucks, (him also runs a soup kitchen for the less privileged) shoved it in a piece of exhaust pie, plugged her in and never looked back. See pic.




No rheostat or temp gauge. Pedal to the metal and away we go. You see. Watch for burning.


blessings,
peace and carrots,

Duh
Padma

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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


.

My favorite bending iron likes to mutli task by making dinner while I'm bendin...,
the thing I like best is it really makes it easy to feel whole sections give and then I move to the chimney for smaller radii, got mine for 75.00 though
http://www.brinkmann.net/shop/Detail.aspx?category=outdoor+cooking&subcategory=Charcoal+Smokers+%26+Grills&sku=805-2101-W&seriesname=Pitmaster&seriessku=OUT-1001-9&id=2807

I also use one of these also picked up at a yard sale cheap.
http://www.americanbeautytools.com/site/index.php?req=prod&cat=heavyirons

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"It's a Tone Faerie thing"
"Da goal is to sharpen ur wit as well as ye Sgian Dubh"
"Sippin Loch Dhu @Black lake" ,Kirby O...

I like the Ibex unit too. Just bent this cutaway tonight, didn't want to modify my Fox-type bender for the cutaway. Marbled French walnut, doesn't get much easier than this.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Router Speed Controller = $20 Harbor Freight
Elec BBQ Starter = $13 OSH
13" of 4" Pipe = $10 Muffler Shop
Total $43 mounted in my $43 Parrot Vise from Grizzly Tools
Grand Total = $86

About 8 years ago I was on a much stricter budget and my first bending iron was a selection of 2" galvanized pipe and a propane torch. Nothing wrong with homemade benders at all and mine worked just fine although one of the things I like about the Ibex unit is the shape of the pipe. Using the longer/flatter side seems to make it easier to bend without faceting although it may just be that my technique is improved.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Chris-
Check the wattage rating on your dimmer switch (usually 600W) and compare it to your BBQ heater. There are 'heavy duty' dimmer switches available (my local HomeDepot has them) but they are more expensive than the cheap Chinese router controllers, I've found.

I went straight from the propane torch and pipe setup to the Ibex, then added heat blanket to the tool kit. The Ibex takes quite a while (10min?) to heat up, which seems like 'forever' if you have been using a propane torch. OTOH, it usually took me 10 min to sweep up all the shavings, etc to get the area safe for using an open flame. I don't like using a torch in the shop, much. Or grinding sparks, or.....

Cheers
John