using 'Veneer Tamer'

[peter havriluk]

Today I bought a spray bottle of this 'veneer flattening and softening solution' (says the label). I'm trying to figure out how to use it as it pertains to side bending on a pipe and in a Fox bender. The label instructions don't seem to be transferable to that use, near as I can tell. I'm told to spray the wood, stick it between layers of newspaper for an hour, repeat half a dozen times, and then glue down the veneer with a weight press or vacuum. All good ideas if I'm doing a tabletop.

Any suggestions as to how to use this stuff for guitar bending? Do all that the label recommends except then start bending? And as for integrating Ken's advice to pre-bend the waist on a pipe before doing the rest in the Fox bender...howzat integrated.

This brand of veneer relaxer is the only one I found locally; I think I need to try to make it work for me.

Any advice will be gratefully received.

Thanks, folks.

[Dave Bagwill]

I don't know that particular product, Peter, but I use one called Super Soft 2; I think most of the softeners work the same way.
I spray the stuff on the sides the day before I'm to bend, keeping the sides upright so nothing absorbs the liquid except the wood.
Next day, just go for it. Heat is okay, it does not affect gluing, and it does help though it is not a panacea - the usual precautions when bending wood are the same - this is more of an insurance policy.
I do pre-bend on a hot pipe the day after using the SS, not a problem.

[peter havriluk]

Dave, thanks very much.

A few questions:

Is there a need to keep the sides damp with softener up until pipe-bending?
Or does allowing the wood to dry seem to be acceptable?
Does dampening the wood with water before pipe-bending help the bending?
Is dampening the wood with water necessary before pipe-bending and Fox-bending?

Besides all that, I've got the process down cold.

[Dave Bagwill]

Hahah. Well said.
With SS, just spray it on once and it's good for up to 2 weeks.
Now it is designed for thin veneers, ok? - but it does help to relax the fibers to an extent on thicker woods.
I do spray a little water on the wood before pipe bending.
Other guys will have to give you advice as to Fox benders and such.

[peter havriluk]

Thanks, Dave. Enough insight to encourage a pass at bending with the stuff. Good part is I have two sets of sides for the one back; room for 'experience', shall we say.

[Kevin in California]

Good luck Peter.
My next guitar is going to be a cutaway, had no luck on that the last time I tried it in my bender, but now I have the heat blanket so hoping for the best. I'd be wise to get the veneer softener too. Tried my home made stuff on some cherry and I think that's where I got staining from, but never heard that happening with the real stuff.

[peter havriluk]

Well, we'll find out if I can successfully bend sometime Monday, I think. What I won't be able to tell is if the stuff makes any difference whether I use it or not. Might offer up a sacrificial cutoff strip from narrowing the sides, treat one, not the other, and see if the untreated one breaks and the treated one survives.