Official Luthiers Forum!

Greetings! I'm new to this forum and look forward to learning a lot and hopefully contributing as well. Just a brief intro...I'm a semi-professional luthier from the Philadelphia area and have recently found myself commissioned for two builds, one of which the customer has selected quilted Sapele with a cutaway. Here lies my quandary. Using a small piece of scrap, I did some practice bends on the iron (I'll be using a bending jig/form for the actual sides) just to get a sense of it's properties and tendencies. It didn't take long to realize this stuff likes to separate, cup, warp, spring back, all that fun stuff. My question today is...what are your methods? Reading back on past threads I've seen it made reference to but no specific procedure. Temperature, moisture, preparation, etc. I'm also considering using SuperSoftII to hopefully give me a slight edge. Any input is welcome and appreciated!

I've not had the pleasure of bending quilted Sapele but I have bent heavily quilted Maple successfully a few times. I use a Fox style bender with the wood wrapped in foil and supported between steel slats. I use very light moisture, just lightly misted onto the wood and wiped with a bare hand before wrapping with the foil. I leave a quarter of an inch or so open at the ends for steam to escape. I bend the waist about 2/3 of the way when temps hit 250 degrees and then do the bout and shoulder bends. I shoot for a peak temp of 350 by the time the waist is finished, then cool down to 250 for 10-15 minutes. If the wood is prone to springback, such as Mahogany, I'll go through another heat and cool cycle with the bent side still in the bender. I leave the side in the bender overnight and then it goes straight into the mold with a spreader to maintain the shape until the other side is bent and the blocks are glued in.

Figured Maple is of course usually flat sawn to show the best figure so it is prone to cupping. This can be somewhat helped by adding an extra cawl to the bender at the widest part of the bout. I may also use slightly beefier side braces inside the guitar to help flatten the sides. I should add that my sides are about .080, maybe thinner for the cutaway.

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It will probably be alright.

I've never bent quilted sapele; I just wanted to say that Super Soft II will give you more than just a slight edge.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Such great information, thank you guys. Bryan - when using SuperSoftII, do you still incorporate water just prior to the bend in the same way you would with a piece not treated with the softener? I've heard great things about this stuff.

That's what I did on this most recent guitar with pretty highly figured koa sides. I used the SuperSoft II per the directions on the bottle, then bent as normal. For me that meant wrapping the side in wet Kraft paper and bending with temperatures more or less the same as Greg described (but I try my best to top out around 300°F).

Yes, I bend as normal after SSII. The stuff works well.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.