Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey all,
Took some time off work to be with the family.

This lead me to try out the bending iron I put together ages ago. Have been wanting to try it forever but (insert excuses here).
I tinkered around with some ebony sides that i had previously butchered in my side bender while learning to use it.
After some experimenting and not caring about ruining the sides any further, I started to get the knack for it and enjoyed the process.
Wasn't as scary as I had imagined.

Now, the iron is rather crude and yes those are axle stands. hahah
I learned that it was getting far too hot that's for sure. Don't remember the specs on the charcoal heater and I have no means of controlling current on hand.
After being unplugged, it would reach a sweet spot where the wood was just bending beneath my hands rather easily.
To be honest, I felt more confidence here than I have with my side bender.

This experience convinced me that I wanted to buy one.
Is anyone familiar with The Luthier's Bench and if they are open for business or not?
https://luthiers-bench.com/

thanks and take care.
g

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Wake up and smell the rosewood!

The LB irons are highly regarded by violin makers on maestronet. I thought of getting one for guitars, my cheap Chinese iron for.violins worked for.my archtop , and the little baroque, but the iron is only the height of the sides, 3.5" so I. need.something.else for anything deeper. It's probably what I will buy. The Chinese form is horrible. One.long side is flat! It.was.cheap.

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Why be normal?

I use one, they're good, IIRC you have to send an email to order what you want.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I've had the LB for 2-3 years. It's excellent and worth the money to me. Good heat regulation because of both the electrical circuit and the heft of the metal. It seems much more substantial than the common LMII/SM variety. It's expensive but the quality is there. From my experience, the maker isn't going to invest a lot in back and forth communication. You place the order on line and in a few weeks the unit gets shipped. No muss, no fuss.

They have a FB page, nothing saying they're not working.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Those LB irons look awesome. Hadn't heard of them until I read this, thanks for making me aware of them.

Thanks for all the responses guys.
Concerning the site(s), i saw zero recent activity. I am still to hear back from them regarding my website query.
Gave me a feeling that they were on hiatus or not in operation.

Perhaps its as David mentioned and they are not interested in a whole lot of conversation.
Place and order, then they will talk. : ) ... i get it.

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Wake up and smell the rosewood!

Update. Purchased. : )
Thanks for the feedback David.
g

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Wake up and smell the rosewood!

My pleasure, Gregor.

Just an update.
Purchased the iron.
Everything looks fantastic.
As noted above. There is no communication whatsoever! Its almost funny.
So if you decide to order, that's what your in for but don't let it scare you away.
Unit was built and shipped across the water in record time.

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Wake up and smell the rosewood!

You won't regret your purchase!

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I just ordered one of the their bending irons and if you use the website they now have an order handler with the usual features such as a cart, checkout with pay options and shipping section. A few minutes after I ordered I received a confirmation email with an order summary and order number.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

How quickly does it heat up?

I bought a side bender machine a couple months ago because I got some BRW that is too high priced to mess with even though I am confident bending on a pipe. After practicing on 5 sets of various woods in goes the BRW and.... CRACK!

I don't get it?

But anyway...

The shape of that pipe is ideal for many different bends. It looks like a really nice tool.

The website says it takes 12 minutes to heat up.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

That may be with the control turned to the max. I leave mine set at the target temperature so it settles on its own close to where I want it. I haven't timed it but it certainly takes longer than 12 minutes. However long it takes, it's a really nice piece.

Was your thickness at 2mm ?

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"Practice enough till the results aren't hopes but expectations" forum member Peter Havriluk

Just about, very very slightly less then 2mm but close enough. I bent test pieces thicker then that though too. This BRW is going on 60-70 years old now. I think that has somehting to do with it becasue BRW should bend like butter.

Just timed mine. 17 minutes from 80F to 400F with the pot set to the target temperature rather than turned up to the max.

BRW always was prone to cracking. The workers at Martin were really happy when they went to IRW.

I ordered a Luthiers Bench bending iron a few weeks ago, and it arrived yesterday. My test heat-up period was basically the same as what David saw. It looks to be a good purchase for me. I like the profile of the iron (flattened oval, not completely symmetrical), and the temperature control is a welcome change from the Ibex iron. Mounting on the bench is going to be easier for me, too. This is a high quality tool, for sure. I’m a happy customer!

Funny, I got mine two days ago. I really like the shape, the super sturdy base and the controls. Can't wait to try it out.

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I think I will either install T-nuts or threaded inserts into the wooden base, or just replace the wooden base with a board that has such hardware. I like attaching things to my bench through my bench's dog holes when the opportunity presents itself. It helps lower the risk of banging my legs against clamps.

That's a good idea

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

How does this one differ from the Stew Mac version?

Ed

Ed--

In my view, the Luthier's Bench (LB) bending iron differs from the Ibex/StewMac iron in these ways:

1. The profile of the LB iron is less of an egg shape, and more of a flattened oval, and one long side is flatter than the other (but neither is perfectly flat).

2. The LB iron heats up way faster, and can get hotter.

3. The LB iron has a more reliable temperature control, and nifty red and green LEDs for target temp status (red for wait, green for go).

4. The base of the LB iron provides more options for how to attach the iron to your bench, and it is more stable (larger footprint).

I understand that one can retrofit the Ibex/StewMac iron with a better heating element and better potentiometer for controlling the heat. And the profile is not bad. Just different. But if one were to buy new, I think the LB iron is superior in quality, without the need for any modification.

Both get the job done, though.