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I was working on some nasty upper bout back/side damage from someone's girlfriend, and I noticed the sides were 1/8 inch thick!

It's an Epiphone Masterbilt solid Rosewood. It is a dreadnought. I would not have thought that you could Bend that thick. Has anyone else seen or tried this?

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Pat

I saw some pre-bent cocobolo classical sides on ebay one time that were 1/8" thick. The oils in rosewood seem to really help with bending.

Black walnut is another of the easiest to bend. 1/8" would be no problem with it. Probably could even do OM type shapes (assuming straight grain/not too much runout).

Ebony, on the other hand, hates to bend even at 1/16".

I know a builder who many of us know although he's not a member on this forum he bends at .150" which is a bit thicker than 1/8". He uses a Fox style bender too to do this. Go figure. He mostly bends EIRW and Hog.

I do most of my sides at > 0.125".

My max is about .1in on a hot pipe. That's hard enough to bend. I could probably swing 1/8th on some of the easier to bend woods but then, why?

" I could probably swing 1/8th on some of the easier to bend woods but then, why?"

On a shape with relatively flat sections and no tight bends (dreadnought) it might improve stability with out causing problems with bending.

An eighth of an inch is nothin'......!
I just steam bent some wood for a table leg that was 20mm thick.
Boat builders and furniture makers often bend wood which is an inch or more thick, and into some pretty extreme bends. If you are interested, take a look at these couple of videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKn8sMJ5RxA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--iPQIwSEJM

I have worked on 2 tall ships during construction. One has a 96 foot hull and the planking is 2-1/4" thick Jatoba. At the bow, there is an almost 80° bend over about 12 feet of planking for about 5 planks on a side. Took 3 hours in the steambox, a dozen shipwrights, and a passel of specialized clamps to get them in place. They are still there 21 years later. Amazing to be a part of.

Ed

I tried bending 1/8" walnut, cherry and hard maple bindings, with success, just to see what would work. Not difficult on my hot pipe.

Wow, that is surprising so many have done it. Guess I've just never tried it. Seems like those going for the stiffness of double sides could just do this instead. Although, probably not quite as stiff and definitely not a split resistant but way less work.

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Pat

" nasty upper bout back/side damage from someone's girlfriend"

Man, that sounds like your worst nightmare. Don't p*ss off your girlfriend...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com