Any tips on Bending Spalted Maple sides?

[FRANK]

well I am getting ready to build a couple Guitars just thought I would ask before I got in to things like bending anyone with experience bending heavy spalted areas?guys have any last minute tips?

[Bob Webster]

Are you going to bend them over a hot iron of some sort or use a Fox bender or equivalent? I've had just enough experience with maple in general to know that you should use distilled or demineralized water for wetting the stuff to avoid dark staining. One can also expect to see a certain amount of scorching if the temp is too high. I've also heard that spalted maple shouldn't be bent too wet because of the dramatic changes in grain integrity, but no direct experience. Probably slow and with the lowest possible heat consistent with getting it to bend is your best bet (as always). Better you than me. I'd be nervous.

Good luck,
Bob

[William F.Eden]

I wolud not build a Accstic Guitar out of Spalding Maple under Any condition .I tryed it on a Ukulele and that was it for me .If you ever wet it it will all go to hell. Just my thoughts Bill:::::::

[Bob Webster]

Just for my own curiosity, did you bend it freehand on a hot pipe or did you try to bend it on a form with a heating blanket and good backing?

Thanks,
Bob

[FRANK]

well Bob I haven't yet

[Bob Webster]

Time for a little liquid courage, Paul. It's good that you're going to use a blanket and a form. If you have steel slats to support both sides of the piece/blanket sandwich and you take it slow with feeling, I'm not sure how much more you can stack things in your favor. One big question mark is the temperature and the natural inclination might be to have that too low to avoid scorching. You really need it high enough that the wood will bend willingly even in its rotten state. Another thing you might want to do is wrap the wood in parchment. That will help prevent staining from the previously used steel slats and blanket.

God, this is like waiting for a space shuttle launch.

Bob

I also occured to me that, once you've bent these successfully, you might want to laminate the inside of the sides with some mahogany veneer. Just to stabilize what will be a relatively fragile set of sides.

[Mark Dobbins]

Hey paul spalted wood is caused by fungi or bacteria in other words is just about rotten and very unstable

[Mark Dobbins]

I would only build a solid body out of it ,
cheers Mark

[FRANK]

yea probably gona give it a try I will show you a photo if it works out thanks o Bob the fox bending form and heating blanket

[mathieu thomas-guy]

I had built an archtop guitar out of it and was pretty lucky with some spraying and bending on a hot pipe, altough they sold me three sides just in case... Mine was not too far in its decay, but still those bluish veins are quite nices. Carving it for the back was not that much different from any other pieces of eastern maple, that is not that fun...! Still really hard, was hoping for some "creamier" feel! Some pieces are really almost rotten but you can handpick some and it turns out well, I encourage you to try it, but as Bob mention go easy on the wetting.

[Steve Frost]

There is spalting, and there is spalting. Some of it is interesting inky-looking lines on an otherwise unblemished maple surface. More advanced stages are brown sections, and the truly punky stuff can be cream-cored or even lighter. I don't believe that a few spalt lines would affect stability too much. Beyond that- that's a guessing game. I'd want to seal it with a thinned epoxy/ alcohol mix after bending. Arrest that decay! Note- I have not yet done this, though I have some moderately figured maple waiting on me. Just my take on it!

[FRANK]

SO one might use epoxy and alcohol thinned down to stop decay?

[Bob Webster]

Bowl turners have used the epoxy in alcohol trick for a long time to stabilize bowls turned from spalted maple. On the plus side, it works really well, On the minus sice, the sides are going to be stuffed with epoxy and could end up having the tonal properties of a rubber sheet. Before you do any impregnation (of the wood) look around for the hardest curing epoxy you can find. I'd use LMII's Zpoxy were it not for the fact that the color of the material is significant and variable from prep to prep. You could call them and ask them to give you the absolutely least colored bottles they have. Lacking that, a really good boatbuilder's finish epoxy would be good for this app.

On a separate matter, WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO BEND THE SIDES? At this point, you have everyone in the forum chanting "WALK THE PLANK. WALK THE PLANK!".

Cheers,
Bob