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?

[FRANK]

RV in the House

[Bob Webster]

Of all the cryptic things you've said, this one is the best.

Bob

[FRANK]

thanks Bob I dig you a lot to actually a big fan Cheers

[Ron Frazier]

If the splatting is just blue lines I wouldnt wory about it. If it is punky like rotten dump it!

I had a request for a juniper guitar and I thought clear wood no problem but there was no clear!! So I picked sides with lots of small knots 1 inch or less and used my Fox stile bender I made that used a stainless over the wood and under with a blanket under the top stainless and on the wood. It bent very well . Each knot had a small crack so the super glue filled that. Eight years later it is still as sound as new.

Try any thing and have a ball

Ron

[Bob Webster]

Holy cow, Ron. I've never heard of using juniper for sides and backs. What insoired the client to request it? Where on earth did you get it? Might be kind of cool to play a guitar that smells like a gin and tonic.

Bob

[FRANK]

Ron please send me a photo of some clear juniper wood please I have never seen any

[FRANK]

HERE are some photos of the boards I was considering for acoustic Material

[Steve Frost]

Paul- my horseback guess is that the first one looks dubious, bit the other two may work out OK. The reason I mentioned epoxy is that West System epoxy is commonly used to stabilize dry rot in windowsills, thresholds, and other places that are susceptible to water infiltration. I'm not sure where the sides sounding " like a rubber sheet" comment came from- quality epoxy dries hard.Don't use hardware store stuff. I have some backs and sides that I haven't got to yet. You go first!

[Bob Webster]

If you stuff a punky piece of wood with a bunch of epoxy, you're going to increase the vibrational damping of the wood dramatically. Although, with punky wood, one could ask "How would you know?".

I once followed the advice of a self-appointed guru from Oregon who recommended sealing the whole guitar with a coat of West System epoxy/alcohol mix prior to finishing. It absolutely ruined the tone of the guitar. I had to sand out the top and refinish it to recover some semblance of decent tone and, still, it wasn't really up to snuff.

Bob

[FRANK]

Bob when you reefer to punky what are you suggesting that the integrity of the wood is less because?

[Bob Webster]

...because all that new color and streaking in the maple is the result of bacteria and molds digesting the wood (rotting it). What's left is bacteria poop in place of the lignin and cellulose that give the wood form and rigidity. The pieces in pics 2152 and 2154 are probably going to be your best bets just because they lack that huge swatch of rusty colored material that I expect would be rather weak.

Bob