Wow, that is a shame...such beautiful wood. Do you soak them in wood first?
Maybe that's how the first violin shape came aboutThat break looks almost perfectly placed for some violin-style cut-outs
Eh ?....can you please rephrase that question
Sorry, I meant to ask if the wooden sides get soaked in water prior to bending with heat?
Next I'll try some chemical treatment..or starting the waist on the hot pipe first...or making the sides thinner..using more heat...or whatever it takes.
I don't stock ammonia..will urine work ? I can get plenty of that.I feel your pain Ken... It seems I remember a while back you using a shaped caul and a hot pipe to prebend the waist on your sides which I thought looked brilliant. Always wanted to try that but never got around to it... By the way I use an ammonia soak to pre-treat my wood and wrap in foil prior to bending. Works well and the wood bends like a noodle. The main problem with this method is some discoloration of the wood which has to be sanded out. The method has worked with every type of wood EXCEPT bloodwood and ebony, two woods that do not absorb well.
eccept for a lot of staining there is a lot of tannin in this wood.
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