Thread: Bending Qld maple and wood softeners

Mate of mine has bent plenty of QM sides in a similar style jig - but with 200W heat lamps and perforated stainless screen instead of the blanket.

Fabric softener solutions may work at a pinch - my understanding is you want to "wet" the wood more through than just the surface, as the steam then conducts heat better into the centre of its thickness. That's where the softener helps, by allowing the moisture to really draw in.

If the sides are getting so hot the scorch marks can't be readily sanded or scraped out, then it's too hot - else it's fine. Have you tried any freehand bending of the QM to get a feel for temperature and progressive amounts of force?

Also - QM varies enormously in material qualities from my experience, so don't get too set on a specific recipe of time/heat; rather best to treat each set as potentially different to the last time.

Regards, Adam.

Thanks Adam. I will try more water. I also read that you can make a solution of glycerin which like fabric softener takes the water into the wood and helps makes it plastic.
Cheers
Dom

maple is not that bad a wood to bend but it does take heat to do it. Maple and mahogany along with paduck need more heed. I use heat blankets as you need to get to 350 degrees to get this stuff to bend well.
highly figured stuff you need more. Here is a tutorial on bending that may help . I am usually completed the bending in 4-6 minutes , then just use the heat to set the bend and dry out the wood. Let me know how you make out
john
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com/tutorial10.php

Hey John,

Queensland Maple is one of those misnomers. It's a completely different wood to rock maple and the like. Also there seem to be great variations in subspecies - some would nearly pass for mahogany, while other bits are nearly rubbish; soft, short-grained and fibrous.

Regards, Adam.

I've only ever bent Queensland Maple once but it was a piece of cake. One of the most beautifully easy woods to bend, using the exact same setup as you (Fox + heating blanket).

I wish I could give some advice but it was about six months ago and I can't remember exactly how I did it but I remember it being incredibly easy wood to bend.

Thanks everyone. From the range of experinces it seems QM comes in many different bendabilities. I will try a few things. This place http://www.joewoodworker.com/ sells the supersoft stuff for bending figured/burl veneer and they ship. I might give it try.

The OLF guys use it just on the waise and on cutaways on difficult figured (expensive) sides and it apparently does not affect the wood in any way. I have this beautiful B&S set of maccassar ebony with orange and black stripes that my GF bought for my birthday. Very expensive. Would hate to hear that go crack while bending.
Dom

I used information from a link in the marquetry forum to find out about using glycerine.

I needed to flatten some really wrinkled veneers - quilted maple and eucalypt burl.

Not bending wood but it might be useful.......

Glycerine is available at any chemist.
Add 10% to water and spray on the veneer. I sprayed both sides and the surface was wet.

After a couple of days pressed between laminex sheets, the veneers were dead flat.

They were also much more pliable.

Someone suggested that the glycering helped the moisture penetrate the timber. It also means that the timber retained more moisture.
I glued it up and sealed it. There has been no shrinkage or movement that undried timber might cause.

Good luck with your nice timbers.

isn't anybody worried about leaving a residue of glycerine or fabric softener in the wood?

I was at the Chicago guitar show, talking to a guy who builds archtops and he used a chemical plastisizer to do his bending (ammonia based from memory....) He made mention of old-timers soaking their wood in animal urine/water....
I agree with contrebasse, I would try a sample to see if you get any staining effects from what ever chemical you choose to use.
I bent up the sides from highly flamed hard maple for an Archtop with a cutaway on the weekend and had a shower wih the wood before bending it. It got a good hot soaking and bent like rubber.

Andrew, depending on the animal, it could be either really funny, really dangerous or both trying to collect animal urine. Maybe i could sneak up on the neighbour's dog.
I did the bending very dry, only a very quick mist so soaking may be the best best.
Contrebasse, I have read that it is best to avoid fabric softener but that glycerine and or commercial products do not affect stains or finishes or wood colour and can be used sparingly only where needed.
Dom

I'm trying to imagine a cremonese master luthier soaking his bass ribs in a barrel of ...

I was worried about glue adhesion and strength more than finish/stains

Contrebasse, they use this stuff for veneer where a weak glue joint would be intolerable.
I think you may be closer to the truth than you think with the barrel of idea. But for tops not sides.

This is a link to the guy I was talking to....
http://www.hollenbeckguitar.com/

mouse pee for uke's, cat pee for violins, horse pee for guitars and ....... ah contrebass will have the hardest job, elephant pee for basses.

Fossilised walrus is what you need for a double bass Matthew.

Bob