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Has anyone experienced Brazilian rosewood sides darkening, due to the heat, during bending, and then not matching the back in color? What is the solution when that happens?

I have experienced this on many occasions, especially with BRW that has very high resin content. The heat from the bender will also fade the brick orange/red color. Fortunately, much of the color will return and lightening of the wood will happen after you scrape and sand the sides.

You can mitigate the color loss and darkening by being very mindful of the heat during bending. I try to limit to 250 F max or even a bit lower temp.

Try to stay away from products like super Soft because they really leach out the color of BRW.

Mike Franks
http://www.mjfranksguitars.com

As mentioned in previous posts on bending, rosewoods do not benefit from use of veneer softeners like SS-2, and higher resin content woods like cocobolo and better Brazilian will bend at very low temperatures, avoiding the resin bleed mess and excessive oxidation. When I was at Greenridge, the preferred method to avoid any color differences with cocobolo bindings, etc. - which has a much more pronounced color change than Brazilian at significantly lower temperatures - was to sticker and weight the back, head plate, tail graft, etc. and to bake at the same temp as the binding, sides, etc. for roughly the same duration. A couple of ramekins at the bottom of the oven filled with water kept things from oven-drying at the 250 degree bending temp mentioned by Mr. Franks. Allowing the over to cool to room temperature after the treatment avoids any heat-related distortion.

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A constellation only takes shape when one maps the whole.
- Beth Brower

I actually just bent some Madagascar sides with my typical 230-300 degree swing (start around 230, cap it around 300), and they got REALLY dark. Wish I would have seen this last week!


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windex doesn't darken . I stopped using ss2.
you can use any wood bleach to lighten

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Windex original (blue, ammonia)? Does it lift oils like SS2?

use ammonia D windex
it does a good job with minimal water staining. I also don't use foil I am a paper guy
Prefer untreated butchers paper.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Have u ever noted blue staining on light colored woods?

never
use it all the time instead of water.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it