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Hi all,

I have started building a guitar from Oregon Myrtle (aka California/Bay Laurel). I have never worked with this type of wood before. So I have no experience bending it. Can anyone tell me the temperature(s) to use on a Fox-type side bender for this type of wood?

A bit of additional information - this will be a classical size guitar with no cut-away.

Thanks,
Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

Forgot to mention that this wood has quite a bit of figure (moderate fiddleback), like a lot of Myrtle.

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

Max, I have bent two sets over an iron (so no idea about what temperature) and had no problems of any kind.

The least figured of the two sets had the most amount of "ripple" which easily sanded out. Probably could have avoided that with backing.

My thought would be to bend at the same temp as maple to avoid scorching. It should go easier than Maple.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Max -I can't tell you the temp. because I have NO way of knowing it.
BUT - I get the side bender so the water dances off -then sprits(with water) the Myrtle and it always bends great !
Just make sure it's supported on both sides by the slats.
I just bent Wild figured Brazilian & Ebony the same way with NO breakage.-GO slow-listen for the click tone of a wood splitting .

My sides are .080 -or 2mm
Mike

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Mike Collins

Bump

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

Thanks for your responses, Mike and Steve. Your input is greatly appreciated.

Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

Max,

I have bent two sets now on a Fox style bender and it really is a dream to bend. I probably went overboard, but using the following technique resulted in absolutely no springback at all.

Package from bottom to top:
Stainless steel slat
Brown "Kraft" paper wet with distilled water.
Myrtle side wet with distilled water
Brown "Kraft" paper wet with distilled water
Stainless steel slat
Blanket
Spring steel slat

I start the bend at around 270*F (lots of steam) and when the bend is complete set the controller to variable and adjust the temperature to stay around 300*F. I set the timer at 40 minutes when I start the bend so I let it cook for whatever time is remaining after the bend is complete. Of course, let it cool completely before removing from the bender.

This method has been demonstrated for bending highly figured or difficult to bend woods, but I really like the stability of the wood so I just use this method for everything. Here is a picture of some myrtle I just pulled out of the bender a few days ago.

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Dan

Thanks, Dan.

You gave me everything I was looking for. I'll actually bend the sides in week or so.

Thanks again,
Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

Max- I've bent two sets for classicals recently with no problems using a Fox bender. Only differences from what DanR did are the following:

Started to bend at 240 F.
Did not wet my parchment paper, just spritzed the wood.
Cooked only for 15 minutes.

The first set had a small kink where the grain took a 90-degree turn, but that sanded out after closing the box. The second set was perfect (or as good as one could wish). No springback on either set.

Good luck!

Thanks, Steve

Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan