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Bowl Bending Attempt

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MWoody
Posted 2014-12-31 5:46 PM (#504328)
Subject: Bowl Bending Attempt



Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13987

Location: Upper Left USA

Having practiced on Lyrachord left overs and having some success on a 1615 Pacemaker I thought I'd try a bowl bend on Deluxe Balladeer Serial 1096 which had gone back to the Mothership some time ago and received the maximum benefits short of having to decide to keep the top or keep the body... I kept it all and thanks to Mr. Budny and company it came back patched and buffed with a slightly high action.

Do not expect any "Dan Savage" level jigs or fixtures... just some simple physics, a $10 laser temperature gage and my trusty Mother Tested ergonomic Work Bench (ironing board).

What I learned was that the early glass bowls don't go to "Plastic" until around 250 degrees F and my next attempt will require three people. Two heat guns and someone wearing oven mitts to tell when an area is ready to bend.

The net result was a gain of the the strings riding 1/32" closer to the fretboard at the 12th fret.

Enjoy!

 

http://www.ovationfanclub.com/megabbs/photos/photo-thumbnails.asp?albumid=1188&useralbum=2043

http://www.ovationfanclub.com/megabbs/photos/photo-thumbnails.asp?albumid=1188&useralbum=2043

 



Edited by MWoody 2014-12-31 5:51 PM
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Jonmark Stone
Posted 2014-12-31 6:31 PM (#504332 - in reply to #504328)
Subject: Re: Bowl Bending Attempt


Joined:
May 2008
Posts: 1555

Location: Indiana		Nice job. Love these old Balladeers.
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moody, p.i.
Posted 2014-12-31 6:52 PM (#504334 - in reply to #504328)
Subject: Re: Bowl Bending Attempt


Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15664

Location: SoCal		Cool, but that wasn't a Deluxe Balladeer, Woodrow......
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MWoody
Posted 2014-12-31 7:20 PM (#504335 - in reply to #504328)
Subject: Re: Bowl Bending Attempt



Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13987

Location: Upper Left USA		But it was a lovely chardonnay I was sipping whilst putting together that post!

Back on track...
It amazed me how the material was really good at dispersing the heat I was applying. The trick is to use the heat gun set at 1050 watts to heat the material to 250 f but without bubbling the paint (over 300). I could only work one side at a time.

Maybe this would be a good OFC Gathering project on a different guitar.
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moody, p.i.
Posted 2015-01-01 2:48 PM (#504354 - in reply to #504328)
Subject: Re: Bowl Bending Attempt


Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15664

Location: SoCal		You know, at least with the older bowls, there are a lot of guitars that can be brought back to life with the bowl bends and other work that you and Dan are doing. This has all kinds of possibilities......
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SOBeach
Posted 2015-01-01 5:56 PM (#504355 - in reply to #504328)
Subject: RE: Bowl Bending Attempt


Joined:
April 2010
Posts: 823

Location: sitting at my computer

Cool! ...er hot?  250 degrees F, that's toasty.

"Mother Tested ergonomic Work Bench" ...that's definately BFLG-worthy gear. 

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arumako
Posted 2015-01-01 8:43 PM (#504364 - in reply to #504328)
Subject: Re: Bowl Bending Attempt



Joined:
October 2012
Posts: 1034

Location: Yokohama, Japan		Beautiful and creative use of the "jigs" that are just "around and available" MWoody! I don't have an O that needs any bowl bending right now, but I sure would like to try it one of these days. My Fxxxxr F-330 12-string, and Yamaha FG160 could sure use a "bowl bend" (only a soundboard replacement will help those wood boxes)! An elegant solution only available for Os. Nice!
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DanSavage
Posted 2015-01-02 10:03 PM (#504395 - in reply to #504328)
Subject: RE: Bowl Bending Attempt



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2316

Location: Pueblo West, CO

MWoody - 2014-12-31 3:46 PM

Do not expect any "Dan Savage" level jigs or fixtures... just some simple physics, a $10 laser temperature gage and my trusty Mother Tested ergonomic Work Bench (ironing board).

What I learned was that the early glass bowls don't go to "Plastic" until around 250 degrees F and my next attempt will require three people. Two heat guns and someone wearing oven mitts to tell when an area is ready to bend.

The net result was a gain of the the strings riding 1/32" closer to the fretboard at the 12th fret.

Enjoy!

Nice job! I like your fixture and your portable workbench.

Ha ha! The only reason why mine was so 'advanced' was that because I had removed the top I had to make sure the bowl didn't twist when I softened the bowl.

Dan

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