Building an iron

**simso** · 9th September 2010, 06:21 PM

Hey guys and gals,

Has anyone built a successful iron for bending/steaming sides up for an acoustic guitar or is it simply better to order one from some one like Stewmac in the states

**stevemc32** · 9th September 2010, 06:30 PM

I was going to buy one of these since they were already in Australia but just when I'd decided to go ahead with it they ran out of stock so I just got one from Stewmac and paid the shipping.

Looks like they're back in stock now.

ALS Iron

I've seen some quite successful home built units though also searching the internet.

**simso** · 9th September 2010, 07:05 PM

yeh basically they seem to be a distributor for stewmac, everything they have is almost identical to the stewmac site. However I have an account with stewmac, so I might just buy from them 215 plus international shipping to my door, or 259 plus domestic shipping to my door

**mic-d** · 9th September 2010, 07:06 PM

This is the one I built from some scrap wood and an inch black metal pipe. Uses a bernzomatic burner. I needed a small pipe for a tight radius but should work with a bigger pipe. I read somewhere it helps to fit some baffles on bigger pipes. Someone used an aluminium can to make a baffle.

Cheers
Michael

**auscab** · 10th September 2010, 01:14 AM

I built one based on the one in the Cumpiano and Natelson book,it has the oval shape they recomend, but it took about eight hours ,I forged the pipe in to an oval shape first then used an angle grinder to level and then polished the oval,there is a picture of it in my first build thread, page 1,ten posts down from this one, post 3 september .

It works well ,but it would have been cheaper in time to buy one,I could have forked out $260 and mowed the lawn instead then sat down and watched tv .

With the oval shape you can heat a wider section then move it left or right to the tighter radius for bending.

I read somewhere that it could be done with an upright brass pipe possibly 2" diameter,with a brazed in bottom , they would drop in cotton balls soaked in metho ,it would need breather holes drilled above the metho balls , I think a lot of balls would have to get tossed in ,my first two sides took five and a half hours to bend in total,1.5 for the first side and 4 for the second when it went a bit wrong .

cheers Rob

**CameronPotter** · 10th September 2010, 10:58 PM

I bought a bit of an old sign post pole from the local tip shop, clamped it in my vice. Stuck a propane torch in the end. Done. The whole lot got a bit hot though. Best be careful if you go this route.

Worked OK for me though.

Cam