Bending Sides in a Fox Bender

[Bob Connor]

I was bending some sides today so I thought I'd take some photos and show everyone how I do it.

This is using a standard Fox style bender



Firstly I take the sides down to about .080" I'd rather be slightly over than under. This is a Tiger Myrtle side.



I'll wrap the side firstly in brown paper.



I mark the waist with a white pencil and make a vee shaped cut in bothe the brown paper and foil to line up the waist in the bender



Give the side a very light spray with water.





and wrap it in aluminium foil.



Get it lined up in the bender



Check the time.



Start the bend when the temperature gets to 100C.



I'll do the lower bout first followed by the upper bout and then crank the waist down.

I let the temperature get to 150C and then turn the blanket off.

From the time I turned the blanket on to completing the bend took 4 minutes.



Allow it to cool to room temperature and voila.



I don't like using too much water, just a light spray. I think too much water tends to cup the sides in some woods.

Everyone has their own method but this works for me and I don't vary it for different woods. This has worked for Padauk, Ziricote, Mahogany, all of which can be cantankerous . Myrtle bends like butter, maybe easier than EIR.

[Kim]

Onya Bobster

Cheers

Kim

[Kim Strode]

Thanks for the tutorial Bob, Seeing it in pictures certainly helps.

[Craig]

Thanks for that Tute Bob . Very helpful and the end result is proof in itself . Beautiful Myrtle too mate !

Cheers

[Allen]

Thanks Bob. Where do you find a thermometer like that one?

[Bob Connor]

Allen - the thermometer came from Dick Smith. $15

I bought it last week after we had some problems with our previous one which is now measuring 20 dgrees lower than this one at 100 dgrees.

So I guess the message is check your thermometer for accuracy on a regular basis.

[Craig]

A quick question Bob . Has the thermometer ever caused problems to the sides by being tucked in there ?

[Bob Connor]

The sandwich looks like this
___________________________
Stainless
___________________________
Heat Blanket
___________________________
Wood
___________________________
Stainless
___________________________

I tuck the thermometer between the top stainless slat and the blanket. Doesn't cause a problem.

[Bob Connor]

I bent some Blackwood sides today.

I didn't want to get that green tinge from the aluminium foil so I just wrapped the sides in brown paper and sprayed them lightly.

No problems with the bend at all.

[hilo_kawika]

Bob,

I wonder if something else is happening to make the green color. The reason I ask is that simple salts of aluminum are colorless. When I bent koa wood, which has abundant amounts of organic acids, using brass sheet instead of aluminum, the sides were quite green. I'm sure this was because of the copper coming out of the brass. I've never had color issues with koa and aluminum...

aloha,

Dave Hurd

[Bob Connor]

David

I noticed that there was still a slight green tinge even when bending with the paper.

I wonder if there is some copper content in our local water.

Bob

[Allen]

I bend blackwood with paper and just a damp board. No soaking. Then al-foil wrap. I wouldn't say that I got a green tinge, but it did turn a slight greyish color. The first set that I bent I didn't wrap with paper, and those turned blue green. Don't know what the cause is, but if wrapping in paper cures it, than thats good enough for me.

[Dominic]

I read about a wood worker in a recent Aust woodwork mag who uses Tas BW and he mentioned how he liked the slight green hue that the wood has naturally. Maybe the the bending is just bringing out natural colours.
Dom

[kiwigeo]

Nice pic of your Tag Heuer watch there Bob. And heres me bending sides wearing a $35 Cheap as Chips plastic special (good for 30m or is it 3 months?).

[hilo_kawika]

Bob,

One thing you might try is replacing the brown paper water source with paper "work cloth". I buy mine at the local stationary outlet (which has all sorts of office equipment, party supplies, etc.). It's blue, looks like heavy duty paper toweling and come pre-folded in a cardboard dispenser box.

I like to use the brown paper, which I bought in a large roll, as a covering for my work bench. Every week or two, after I notice appreciable grunge on the bench, I strip off the old paper and lay down a new sheet. It's great for off-hand calculations and of course provides a clean, smooth work surface.

aloha,

Dave Hurd

[Luke72]

I know this is an old post, but i have just set up a heat blanket for the 1st time and this post was useful. I'm bending blackwood, and covered the 1st side in paper before bending. Set blanket to 120 C, and it bent real easy, but slightly burnt inside the waist area. It'll sand out OK i'm sure. So for the 2nd side, i also used Al-foil in the wrap, and it came out with a green tinge. Does anyone know if the green tinge will sand out?

[Bob Connor]

Blackwood doesn't play nicely with aluminium. Koa does the same.

It really depends on how deep the green tinge is on whether it'll sand out. In my experience it should sand out.

Over the years I've used less and less water while bending to the point where I now use no water. But that's due to using double sides with the inner being .040" and the outer .060". I bend them both at the same time.

Regards

[Allen]

Unless you have gone crazy with the water it should just be on the surface. If it's too deep, the oxalic acid will get it out.