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A friend of mine and my self tried bending tiger myrtle wood with no luck at all. Process was a fox style bender layered from the bottom up: steel, aluminum foil, wood, aluminum foil steel, heat blanket at about 300 for about 5 to 10 minutes before bending the cut away. It broke both times at the cut away. I soaked in fabric softener for about 1/2 an hour. Wood was .080 so i don't think it was the thickness, pretty much quarter sawn as well. Any ideas?

Blake.

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Blake Dixon
Kelowna B.C.

Sounds like you over cooked it, 300 degrees is 300 degrees no point in waiting 10 minutes, to bend.

Blake I/ve bent myrtle for a Cl. the sides were old .I used vy little water just a light mist and started bending at 250 deg f on an overholtzer cl alum bending form.which heats up vy slowly. I worked at it vy slowly took abt 1ominute per side.

I'd say that 5 - 10 minutes at 300 degrees dried it out. I've found that there's no point in letting it sit at any particular temperature, just start bending when the temp gets to about 220 or so - when you see steam - and go slowly.

Chuck

I made this video about a year ago. It wasn't meant to be informational, but I do note the routine, and you can see how easily the tiger myrtle bends. What isn't noted is that I let it sit around 300 for about 20 minutes to set the bend.

Bending Sides

Ask his ex. I think she had him bent over pretty well.

Took me a minute!

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Blake;
did you try to make the bend quickly?

I always bend every side & especially cutaways
very slowly.
If I feel any resistance I stop!
let the wood get more heat & the fibers set to
go again.

Mike

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Mike Collins

Thanks so much for your help however my problem bend is the cut away. After the bend. The cut away is cracked. All the other bends are good. Any ideas about concentrating on the cut away bend?
Thanks
Blake

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Blake Dixon
Kelowna B.C.

Can you post a pic of the crack? The nature of the crack can be pretty revealing.

I'm not sure Lance is going to like the direction this is going.

K will do next week I'm away right now I will post the photos and let you guys decide what I did wrong

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Blake Dixon
Kelowna B.C.

For cutaways or even non-dreadnaught sides, you want to thin the side down to no more than .07" or .065". It doesn't seem like much but the extra few thou of thickness really reduces stiffness by quite a lot and can solve most bending problem.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

So .08 is to thick?

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Blake Dixon
Kelowna B.C.

It's too thick for cutaways. Even Robbie O Brien recommends thinning to .065" for cutaways and that's for an easy wood like Indian Rosewood.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

K will do I'll take it down to just over .65 thanks
Blake

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Blake Dixon
Kelowna B.C.

Is this a crack that follows the grain of the wood?
Or a fracture that goes cross grain?

Mike

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Mike Collins

Fracture across the grain almost a if it was bent to cold.

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Blake Dixon
Kelowna B.C.