Official Luthiers Forum!

Anybody try bending two at a time, stacked on top of each other in the order they’re to be laminated?

Maybe not the answer to your question, but Micheal Greenfield bends and glues his laminated sides together at the same time

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

It’s sorta the answer…anyone else?

Saw that part of the doc but he was bending the sides as singles…

I have done double sides for probably 12 years and always bend both together. No issues. Makes laminating them easier because they fit perfectly.

I always profile first and am careful that everything is lined up perfectly.

_________________
It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Thanks Terence,

Does that include cutaways?

What thickness are you bending your lams?

I have only done it once. Does that qualify me as an expert? I bent the inside piece first, then left it in the bender and bent the outside piece.

I did wrap the inside piece after it was bent with wet paper and tin foil to keep it from getting too hot.

They fit together well so I glued on the bender.

_________________
Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I have bent archtop cutaway sides together, maple and mahogany. No flat tops.

Thickness is around .060 outer and .040-.050 inner.

My setup uses two blankets. The sandwich is slat/blanket/slat/moist paper/both sides /paper/slat/ blanket.
The moistened sides are profiled and the waist carefully marked. They stick together pretty well when moist and are cut to the same length and profiled on the same template so they line up well.

Sandwich is clamped together with spring clamps and placed in the bender lining up the waist.

Bending is routine and no issues or broken sides so far (fingers crossed!)

Here are some photos that show the profiled sides (Mahogany outer Rosewood inner), assembling the sandwich, placing it in the bender and removal and placing on the laminating form.

C18DD05D-F637-4DF3-963A-4C8508638218 by Terence Kennedy, on Flickr

1B04DD41-AB47-4885-AFB8-BE9356FFA677 by Terence Kennedy, on Flickr

AB6EAFD3-78CA-4989-B07D-7C6D57D47D9E by Terence Kennedy, on Flickr

C70042E3-801A-4E0E-813B-51A08BF3749E by Terence Kennedy, on Flickr


7FEC5B58-BEA0-4C42-AF22-E25130EA15F0 by Terence Kennedy, on Flickr

_________________
It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Thanks, that gives me something to chew on…

I bend my double sides separately because I only have a single heating blanket on one side.

FWIW - I bend lining three layers thick at the same time. Each is .065” and I bend with a blanket on top and bottom. The wood is 4” wide and as long as needed for the body shape.

I made a bending form that is reduced by .285 from the outside mold so the lining nests into the side really well.

Once I switched to two blankets the top piece held it’s shape a lot better.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

_________________
Insta - https://www.instagram.com/cbcguitars/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cbcguitars

And what wood are you using Brad?

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I’ve done both white oak and paulownia this way. Mostly paulownia since that’s what I use for ukes and that’s all I’ve been building for the last year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

_________________
Insta - https://www.instagram.com/cbcguitars/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cbcguitars